News + Updates
Cesar O. Estein’s new paper: "Leveraging urban greenspaces to bolster regional conservation priorities."
August 2026
Cesar O. Estein’s new paper: "Leveraging urban greenspaces to bolster regional conservation priorities."
Robin Grossinger Joins IUCN Academy Faculty for Nature for Cities
August 2026
Robin Grossinger Joins IUCN Academy Faculty for Nature for Cities
Erica Spotswood Presents at Google’s AI for the Planet Event in London
June 2026
Erica Spotswood Presents at Google’s AI for the Planet Event in London
Second Nature at the California Green Building Conference
May 2026
Second Nature at the California Green Building Conference
Robin Grossinger Gives Keynote at the State of Stevens Creek Summit
January 2026
Robin Grossinger Gives Keynote at the State of Stevens Creek Summit
Myla Aronson’s NYC Fire Research Featured in The New York Times
March 2026
Research by Second Nature Senior Ecologist Myla Aronson on how fire affects plant communities in New York City parks was featured in a New York Times story on urban wildfire and prescribed burning.
Biodiversity Benefit Accounting (BioBA) Guidance Released
February 2026
Second Nature co-authored the final 2026 guidance with the Pacific Institute, CEO Water Mandate, LimnoTech, and The Nature Conservancy. It provides a practical methodology for quantifying and evaluating biodiversity benefits from water stewardship projects.
"Our Future is a Forest": Second Nature’s Winning Entry in The Resilient Campus design competition.
January 2026
The University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning has selected the winner for The Resilient Campus, an international design competition!
Collaboration with Google Platforms & Devices featured in White Paper
December 2025
Our work with the Sustainability team for Google’s Platforms & Devices on the potential for nature enhancement at manufacturing sites is summarized in a new white paper.
Empowering Local Youth To Become Community Scientists
November 2025
In partnership with Greenbelt Alliance and Latino Service Providers, Second Nature Ecologist Cesar Estien recently led a hands-on workshop empowering local youth to become community scientists.
Second Nature featured in The Guardian
November 2025
Director of Science Erica Spotswood, and our recent publication on urban biodiversity and human health, are featured in an excellent article in The Guardian.
Second Nature presents at World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi
October 2025
Second Nature's Kevin Vega presented "Nature-Based Development: Catalyzing Biodiversity through Buildings, Regulation, Design, and Markets"at the World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi, sharing our work with IUCN and Holcim to advance biodiversity policies in European cities and highlighting inspiring examples of cities leading the way.
ASLA 2025: Rewilding New York City — History, Design & Ecology
October 2025
At the ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture 2025 in New Orleans, Robin Grossinger, Founder of Second Nature Ecology + Design, joined Eric W. Sanderson (New York Botanical Garden) and David Seiter (Future Green Studio) to present Rewilding New York City: History, Design & Ecology.
Second Nature Selected for The Resilient Campus International Design Competition
October 2025
We're excited to announce that Second Nature is part of one of the seven teams selected for The Resilient Campus, an international design competition hosted by the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning!
Will Biodiversity Actions Yield Healthy Places? New Publication Released!
September 2025
Over the course of several years, and with a team of leading collaborators, Second Nature has created a novel synthesis of urban health research to apply to nature-based design.
SN Founding Principal Robin Grossinger invited to the Inaugural Biomimicry Co-Lab on Nature-Positive Buildings, Cities & Infrastructure
July 2025
Convened by The Biomimicry Institute, the Biomimicry Co-Lab is a 12-month collaboration bringing together global innovators, design practitioners, and implementation experts to explore and co-create the frameworks, tools, and strategies needed to realize a nature-positive paradigm shift in the building sector, using nature as our blueprint.
Meadowall Community Event
July 2025
Second Nature Ecologist Emily Erickson joined our Habitat Horticulture collaborators at a community event for our biodiversity-oriented living wall.
Plant Native: comparing biodiversity benefits, ecosystem services provisioning, and plant performance of native and non-native plants in urban horticulture
June 2025
Second Nature Senior Ecologist and Rutgers professor Myla Aronson and Rutgers ecologist Elena Tartaglia, Ph.D. recently released an important systematic literature review of over 150 studies on the value of native plants in cities.
Congratulations Drs. Cesar and James!
June 2025
Second Nature Ecologists Cesar Estien and James Barnes recently completed powerful research projects while gaining their doctoral degrees!
National League of Cities Article on Urban Biodiversity Policy
May 2025
In this guest article in CitiesSpeak, Second Nature Senior Policy Associate JD Brown expands on the "Catalysing Biodiversity on Buildings" report we recently released with IUCN and Holcim, with some additional US examples.