Rutgers University

Projects 2023

Soil:P, The Living Prescription for All Your Urban Soil Needs

Makeda Smalls, Celeste Rodriguez, Tracy Tse, Elena Whiteman, Charen Lloyd, Hugo Bastidas

To identify and support microbes in urban soils, Soil:P is a targeted soil testing kit, a statewide database, and an app that allows users to share soil data. Based on the data, the team proposes sending users fertilizer packages to improve their yards and gardens.

Elizabeth Demaray builds listening stations for birds that play human music, cultures lichen on the sides of skyscrapers in New York City, and fabricates floraborgs––robotic supports that allow potted plants to freely navigate in a domestic environment. Demaray is currently an Associate Professor of Fine Arts and the head of the sculpture concentration at Rutgers University, Camden where she teaches classes in sculpture, physical computing, art/sci collaboration, and eco-art. On the Rutgers New Brunswick campus, she is an advisor at the Art and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, which is a platform for the artistic use of machine learning and computer vision.