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!

Their research reveals important reasons to bring biodiversity into spaces where we often don't even think about it.

Dr. Estien published a series of groundbreaking papers on environmental differences associated with historical redlining – essential reading for understanding how neighborhood environments are shaped by legacies of injustice. In addition to differences in pollution, heat, noise, and vegetation, the opportunity to engage with neighborhood-scale biodiversity varies dramatically by neighborhood, based on decisions decades ago.

Dr. Barnes tested out the effects of redressing these gaps in urban nature in a fascinating school-based intervention. Working with an elementary school in Virginia, he created pop-up ecology installations that transformed a barren parking lot into a temporary nature-filled teaching space. Not only did the biodiverse installations support a diverse pollinator community but classroom behavior and learning was dramatically improved, and the temporary installation helped catalyze future site improvements at the school!

This valuable research is already shaping and influencing our work at Second Nature in deep ways. Congratulations to both!