NYSCI (2018 – 2020)
Carbon Sponge launched in 2018 at the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) as part of the museum’s Designer-in-Residence program. The project was active at and supported by the museum for two years under the guidance of Liz Slagus, Director of Public Programs and Residencies.
Carbon Sponge at NYSCI (2018-2020) was an exhibiton garden that was also a scientific study, co-designed by Brooke Singer, Dr. Sara Perl Egendorf and Dr. Maha Deeb in collaboration with Dr. Peter Groffman at the Advanced Scientific Research Center at The Graduate Center, City University of New York.
Core members also included Katharhy Flores and Marisa Prefer. During the residency, three NYSCI Explainers, or Science Career Ladder participants, assisted the project: Sahery Ahrain, Cara Lambrento and Anghelo Guerrero.
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Sahery holding a sorghum stalk in 2018 in the Carbon Sponge garden at NYSCI.
Carbon Sponge started with two basic questions:
The experimental design of the Carbon Sponge and laboratory testing reflected the first question and public programming and prototyping by the team were addressing the second.
The experimental design (illustrated below) compared raised beds planted with cover crops, edible crops, sunflowers, and their combinations alongside bare beds (control). The grow medium across all beds was the same. It was a human egineered soil that was a mix of glacial sediment from a nearby construction site, courtesy of the Office of Environmental Remediation’s Clean Soil Bank (formed approximately 20,000 years ago), and NYC Department of Sanitation’s compost (constructed in 2017).
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Original design and layout of the 24 raised beds in the Carbon Sponge at NYSCI. Drawing by Maria Prefer 2018.
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Glacial sediemnt (~20,00 years old) on left and NYC compost (made in 2017) on right were combined to create a technosol or human egineered soil for the Carbon Sponge study at NYSCI.
During 2018-2020, the Carbon Sponge team led tours of the Carbon Sponge and workshops for museum visitors including: “Take Cover! Nitrogen Seed Bombs,” “Cooking with Cover: Growing food for soil and people,” “Build and Plant a Carbon Sponge” and “Harvest and Eat a Carbon Sponge.”
Brooke Singer, Cara Lambrento and Anghelo Guerrero designed a Carbon Sponge demonstration for the NYSCI museum floor that was called “Explaining Carbon Sponge and Soil Power.” This demo was incorporated into the museum’s regular rotation during the 2019 grow season. The script for the demonstration is included in the Carbon Sponge Guide.
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Anghelo Guerrero leading the Carbon Sponge demo at NYSCI and highlighting a legume root nodule and nitrogen fixing bacteria under a pen microscope.
Below is a short video that explains the origins of Carbon Sponge and some of the big ideas. This video was produced for The Awesome Foundation’s “Live Pitch Night! with NYC Mayoral Candidates” in April 2021 and we were the winning team (thanks, Awesome Foundation!).
Carbon Sponge at NYSCI (2018-2020) was an exhibiton garden that was also a scientific study, co-designed by Brooke Singer, Dr. Sara Perl Egendorf and Dr. Maha Deeb in collaboration with Dr. Peter Groffman at the Advanced Scientific Research Center at The Graduate Center, City University of New York.
Core members also included Katharhy Flores and Marisa Prefer. During the residency, three NYSCI Explainers, or Science Career Ladder participants, assisted the project: Sahery Ahrain, Cara Lambrento and Anghelo Guerrero.
Sahery holding a sorghum stalk in 2018 in the Carbon Sponge garden at NYSCI.Carbon Sponge started with two basic questions:
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What is the potential of urban soils to store carbon?
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And can anybody (i.e. non-scientists) track the increase or decrease of carbon in soil over time?
The experimental design of the Carbon Sponge and laboratory testing reflected the first question and public programming and prototyping by the team were addressing the second.
The experimental design (illustrated below) compared raised beds planted with cover crops, edible crops, sunflowers, and their combinations alongside bare beds (control). The grow medium across all beds was the same. It was a human egineered soil that was a mix of glacial sediment from a nearby construction site, courtesy of the Office of Environmental Remediation’s Clean Soil Bank (formed approximately 20,000 years ago), and NYC Department of Sanitation’s compost (constructed in 2017).
Original design and layout of the 24 raised beds in the Carbon Sponge at NYSCI. Drawing by Maria Prefer 2018.
Glacial sediemnt (~20,00 years old) on left and NYC compost (made in 2017) on right were combined to create a technosol or human egineered soil for the Carbon Sponge study at NYSCI.During 2018-2020, the Carbon Sponge team led tours of the Carbon Sponge and workshops for museum visitors including: “Take Cover! Nitrogen Seed Bombs,” “Cooking with Cover: Growing food for soil and people,” “Build and Plant a Carbon Sponge” and “Harvest and Eat a Carbon Sponge.”
Brooke Singer, Cara Lambrento and Anghelo Guerrero designed a Carbon Sponge demonstration for the NYSCI museum floor that was called “Explaining Carbon Sponge and Soil Power.” This demo was incorporated into the museum’s regular rotation during the 2019 grow season. The script for the demonstration is included in the Carbon Sponge Guide.
Anghelo Guerrero leading the Carbon Sponge demo at NYSCI and highlighting a legume root nodule and nitrogen fixing bacteria under a pen microscope.Below is a short video that explains the origins of Carbon Sponge and some of the big ideas. This video was produced for The Awesome Foundation’s “Live Pitch Night! with NYC Mayoral Candidates” in April 2021 and we were the winning team (thanks, Awesome Foundation!).
Carbon Sponge at NYSCI partners included: Advanced Scientific Research Center (ASRC) at The Graduate Center, City University of New York; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Brooklyn College; Pioneer Works; the NYC Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation (OER) and La Casita Verde (a GreenThumb garden).
Funders included: NYSCI, Patagonia, Brooklyn Arts Council, The Awesome Foundation (NYC), Globetrotter Foundation, CUNY’s ASRC.
Special thanks to: Elizabeth Slagus (NYSCI), Erin Thelen (NYSCI), Dr. Peter Groffman (ASRC and Brooklyn College), Dr. Joshua Cheng (Brooklyn College), Judith Fitzpatrick (Microbiometer), James Sotillo, Jon Pope, Corey Tegeler, Daniel Fabricant, The City of New York Department of Sanitation, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, New York Restoration Project, the Queens Botanical Garden and Eyebeam Art & Technology.
Funders included: NYSCI, Patagonia, Brooklyn Arts Council, The Awesome Foundation (NYC), Globetrotter Foundation, CUNY’s ASRC.
Special thanks to: Elizabeth Slagus (NYSCI), Erin Thelen (NYSCI), Dr. Peter Groffman (ASRC and Brooklyn College), Dr. Joshua Cheng (Brooklyn College), Judith Fitzpatrick (Microbiometer), James Sotillo, Jon Pope, Corey Tegeler, Daniel Fabricant, The City of New York Department of Sanitation, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, New York Restoration Project, the Queens Botanical Garden and Eyebeam Art & Technology.