Celebrating the Solstice

Up in the Andean highlands, we have just celebrated our winter solstice with a festival we call “Inti Raymi”. On this day when Inti, the sun, is at its most fleeting, we gather to honor a bountiful harvest with an abundance of pastries, dancing, and theater. We use this time for reflection, emerging into longer days; a renewal of the Incan calendar.

Derek Russell - Mentorship Director

Things to be inspired by - Mentorship Spotlight

Valentina Arros @bio_visual (2024-25 Mentee) recently published a comic Buzzing About: The Journey of a Wild Bee in Search of a Nest, created as part of her mentorship project:

—— “This project, ”Bee Connected: Stories, Games, and Interactive Learning” focuses on raising awareness about the conservation of wild bees in urban areas with a particular emphasis on Munich, Germany. Through visual storytelling and interactive experiences, it engages people in understanding the diversity, behaviors, and ecological importance of wild bees. By exploring three different formats - a comic, a board game, and interactive panels, this project seeks to make scientific knowledge accessible, inspiring both curiosity and action.”

“Buzzing About: The Journey of a Wild Bee in Search of a Nest” Comic Cover by Valentina Arros

Ariel Kleinberg @arkleinberg (2024-2025 Mentee) is exploring the life cycles of cicadas in the form of a multidisciplinary project imagining them as human-insect-hybrids:

—— ”This project, “Mysteries and Transformations of Cicada People” explores the mysteries and dramas of cicadas through the lens of an alternate world where chimeric cicada people fall from the stars and undergo a series of physical and spiritual transformations. Painting, Poetry, and performance illuminate the strangeness of biology and invite audiences to engage in their own reinvention.”

Helmet for the Cicada Priestess by Ariel Kleinberg

Things to look forward to

Fundamentals Workshops: Register for a Workshop and Join Our FREE Live Session

We designed our Fundamentals Workshops so you can take them at any time in any place, and work at your own pace. We know that having a live conversation can be very rewarding. With this in mind, we invite all who have taken one of the Fundamentals Workshops to join us for a FREE quarterly live session. We discuss the content of the workshops, any questions or feedback you may have for us, and encourage you to continue gaining new skills. Our goal is to support you as you grow your art-sci pathway for wildlife conservation.

Our next quarterly LIVE session with Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Lucy Spelman will be on June, 29 2025.

Creature Needs: Do you have your copy yet?

Published by University of Minnesota Press. Edited by Christopher Kondrich, Lucy Spelman, and Susan Tacent with illustrations by Franco Zacha. Cover artwork by Lisa Ericson. Watch the book trailer co-created by Lizzie Brown and Deanne Fernandes.

Anything you want to share?

We would love to hear from you. You can reach us via email at the following:
connect@creatureconserve.com
media@creatureconserve.com

This newsletter is sent from the land of the First Peoples of Northeastern North America, including the Narragansett Nation.