“Temporal ecologies: Widening engagement with phenology through design and environmental humanities approaches” is a PhD research project that takes an interest in how to invite more people into observing and noticing more-than-human entanglements through the lens of time. Through a design practice-based inquiry, it studies the practices around phenology recording, and explores possibilities for new observation and recording tools to support attention to more-than-human temporalities. Phenology is the study of seasonal change in plants and animals (budburst, first flowering, leaf fall, migration times, etc), and nowadays it is often examined to better understand how species and ecologies are impacted by climatic and other environmental changes. The wider goal of the project is to support people’s first-hand connections with non-humans (especially local plants and animals) and curiosity towards changing ecological time.

This PhD project is funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) via the Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities (SGSAH) Doctoral Training Partnership and a Collaborative Doctoral Award.  It is undertaken with partner organisations Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Woodland Trust Nature’s Calendar and Joint Nature Conservation Committee, who are interested in inviting more people into capturing and recording seasonal phenomena.

Keili Koppel is a PhD student at the Edinburgh College of Art, with a master’s degree from Glasgow School of Art in Design Innovation and Environmental Design programme.