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// FROM THE ASHES
Project type
Graphic Design
This project was the Outstanding Display Winner at the 2024 Biodesign Challenge.
The Longleaf Pine Savanna, once a dominant ecosystem across the southeastern United States, has been reduced to less than five percent of its original coverage due to human expansion and fear of fire. However, prescribed burning is essential for maintaining this ecosystem, supporting biodiversity, and preventing uncontrolled wildfires.
This project is a material exhibit that aims to educate the local community on the importance of prescribed burns through charcoal ink artworks and an interactive printmaking workshop. The exhibit fosters conversation among residents who coexist with Longleaf Pine forests, many of whom are private landowners responsible for stewarding this fragile habitat. Visitors are encouraged to engage with the materials, ask questions, and explore ways to safely implement prescribed burning on their land.
The project was developed as part of the 2024 Auburn Biodesign class, where students were challenged to use biodesign to enhance the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR)—a coastal resilience research site on the Mississippi-Alabama border. Following a site visit with Dr. Ayesha Gray (Director) and Dr. Jonathan Pitchford (Stewardship Coordinator), students identified key environmental challenges, including prescribed burn management, sea-level rise, coastal erosion, water quality, biodiversity support, and invasive species control.
This exhibit originated as an individual project by Emiko Benton, Robert Gleason, and Evan Phillips and later expanded into a collaborative effort with Rae Nawrocki and Carly DeSimone during the summer. It stands as a testament to how design, science, and community engagement can come together to promote environmental stewardship and coastal resilience.
Through the interactive experience, visitors leave with a deeper appreciation for the ecological and cultural significance of the Longleaf Pine ecosystem—and the knowledge that prescribed fire is not destruction, but renewal.
