An artist and educator based in Brooklyn and Troy, New York, Ellie Irons works in a variety of media, from drawing to gardening, to reveal how human and nonhuman lives intertwine with other earth systems. Her recent work focuses on plants, people and urban ecology in the so-called Anthropocene. Irons received her BA from Scripps College in Los Angeles and her MFA from Hunter College, CUNY. She is currently pursing a PhD in Electronic Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she is researching the intersection of socially engaged art and urban ecology.
Ellie is an invaluable member of the NATURE Lab team, leading the science gallery’s weekly open hours with an assortment of science, art and urban ecology activities. She also produces a reoccurring radio segment called “Urban Ecology” for Hudson Mohawk Magazine, the Sanctuary’s own local news show broadcast on WOOC 105.3 FM.