PROJECT NARRATIVE:
Planting the Estuary on Campus is an interdisciplinary project bringing together the John Jay community to explore the Hudson River estuary as a site for ecological learning, reflection, and connection, drawing on traditional wisdom, environmental justice, and urban ecology. The project consists of a reading group, guest speaker events, a professional development immersive experience, and an on-campus native pollinator and food garden. The project leaders subsequently were awarded a Professional Development award from John Jay College’s Office for the Advancement of Research for an overnight kayaking trip on Sept. 18 & 19, 2026.
Painting by Hannah Chu
PROJECT LEADS:
I am an ecologist, educator, scholar, and creative whose work centers ecology as a practice of collective care, attention, and connection. I earned my PhD in Entomology at the University of California, Riverside, where my research focused on the ecological relationships among blow fly species across space and time driven by the flies’ reliance on ephemeral resources. At John Jay, I am housed within the Sciences department as a Doctoral Lecturer of Biology. I primarily teach foundational biology and invite students to show up with curiosity and their lived experiences so we can make connections together in a collaborative classroom space. As a human, I am fascinated by ephemerality and by questions of attachment, ownership, and responsibility, especially how these influence scientists’ relationship to land, resources, each other, and their communities.
Julie Kiss is an accomplished professional currently serving as a Career & Academic Advisor at The City University of New York’s Inclusive Economy Initiative (CIE) Sciences program at John Jay since May 2023. In addition to this role, Julie has been an Adjunct Instructor, Research Assistant, College Laboratory Technician, Professional Tutor, and Teaching Assistant at John Jay College since August 2016. Prior experience includes working as an Academic Teacher and Tutor at The Beekman School, and as a Research Assistant at Columbia University, where research focused on the molecular mechanisms of cellular arrangement within Pseudomonas aeruginosa colony biofilms under Dr. Lars Dietrich. Julie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cell and Molecular Biology from John Jay College and an Associate’s degree in Occupational Therapy.
I am an eco-centric artist, educator and scholar. Currently I am Doctoral Lecturer in the Interdisciplinary Studies and the Environmental Justice and Sustainability Programs at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY. I specialize in education’s role in magnifying climate action and justice through situated pedagogies and regenerative lenses. I have designed and implemented a week-long pedagogical experience for educators in the Hudson River estuary, gaining access to remote areas by kayak, facilitated workshops, and designed and conducted semi-formal interviews with communities across NYC about environmental issues. My expertise and collaborative experiences as transdisciplinary artisteducator are key for mentoring community leadership, integrating academic and non-academic knowledge generation, while building relationships across constituencies and sectors. My recent scholarship includes “Form, Shape and Content of an Industrious Unconscious—Becoming with Noisy Storks” and “Walking the Land where Fountain Avenue Begins.” I hold a PhD from CUNY Graduate Center, an MFA from Queens College and a BFA from Wesleyan University.
