About Me
If you have use for a photographer/writer/humanistic researcher who is field-hardened and savvy with international travel and research (including expedition planning) on any future endeavors, Arctic or otherwise, please reach out or otherwise get in touch.
Last Substantial Update of this Website: March 2024
I am a world traveler, writer, photographer, and researcher. I completed a PhD in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado-Boulder in 2021 (see my dissertation here). My research integrates philosophy, literary studies, writing, and social theory to work for conservation, and environmental and related social issues. In addition to my academic research, I use writing and photography, paired with academic research, to tell stories that convey the immense environmental challenges we are presently facing. My expedition highlights include Lhotse in 2019, Greenland in 2021, the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 2022, the three highest volcanoes in Ecuador in 2013, and thousands of miles in Alaska. I have published in The Hill, Global Policy, Arctic Today, the Fairbanks News-Miner, the George Wright Proceedings, GlacierHub by Columbia University's Earth Institute, and on the Pulitzer Center website. I have been featured in the Washington Post, on Denver 9 News, and on Alaska Public Radio. I created a multimedia exhibit, which was on display for 1.5 years on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder. I was a part of a panel discussion, which took place at this exhibit. I had a prior piece displayed on campus as a part of Mapping Home/Collecting Truths: Works by Indigenous and International Artists as part of Documenting Change: Our Climate (Past, Present, Future). I have given presentations on my various journeys in Missoula, MT; Boulder, CO; Anchorage, AK; and Talkeetna, AK; and on my academic work at conferences in Anchorage, AK; Reykjavik, Iceland; Tempe, AZ; Delhi, India; and Norfolk, VA. |
All content on this website unless specifically indicated is the copyright of Chris Dunn.
RECENT PROJECTS, PUBLICATIONS, AND NEWS
I am excited to announce that I am currently living in Akureyri, Iceland hosted by the Stefannson Arctic Institute on an NSF-Arctic Fulbright grant until August 2024. My project title is "Applying the Environmental Humanities to Conservation Management and Policy in Iceland".
Direct Encounters with Arctic Landscapes Panel Discussion Video.
I arranged and participated in this panel discussion last fall on the challenges and adventures of working in the Arctic, alongside two earth scientists, a scholar of Scandinavian language and historic climate, and a very accomplished Arctic photographer.
I arranged and participated in this panel discussion last fall on the challenges and adventures of working in the Arctic, alongside two earth scientists, a scholar of Scandinavian language and historic climate, and a very accomplished Arctic photographer.
New Photos: I created a new Flickr account devoted purely to Alaska, featuring Alaska 2022 (Gates of the Arctic and Fairbanks) + Alaska from 2006 to 2019 and a Flickr account devoted entirely to Iceland.
New Article: How a New Partnership With the U.S. National Park Service Could Help Greenland Grow Sustainable Tourism (8/2022)
Here is a recent publication in Arctic Today based on my time in Greenland in 2021 including conversations with a representative from the U.S. National Park Service and a tourism specialist in Greenland. It features quite a few of my photographs as well.
Here is a recent publication in Arctic Today based on my time in Greenland in 2021 including conversations with a representative from the U.S. National Park Service and a tourism specialist in Greenland. It features quite a few of my photographs as well.
Cairns: A Photo-essay from Four Countries with Reflections on Relations with Land and Water Across Cultures (7/2022)
In this short photo-essay, I take you on a journey to Alaska, Iceland, Nepal, and Greenland, centered around my photographs of cairns from each of those countries. It includes descriptions of their local significance in combination with some of my own experiences and reflections on human relationships with land.
In this short photo-essay, I take you on a journey to Alaska, Iceland, Nepal, and Greenland, centered around my photographs of cairns from each of those countries. It includes descriptions of their local significance in combination with some of my own experiences and reflections on human relationships with land.
New Stories About Contemporary Art in Greenland (6/2022)
Here are a pair of closely related stories about contemporary Greenland that I wrote last fall and have finally just added to my website.
Both are closely related stories rolled into one, each on environmentally focused contemporary art in two different parts of Greenland. The first is centered on street art in Nuuk, particularly on a prominent piece known as “loading”, which highlights Nuuk’s speedy development. The second is on an international collaborative, Project 67, who are building structures in select Arctic villages along the 67th parallel using local and discarded materials. In Kangerlussuaq, I spent time with them as they built a powerfully symbolic structure of stone and wood.
Here are a pair of closely related stories about contemporary Greenland that I wrote last fall and have finally just added to my website.
Both are closely related stories rolled into one, each on environmentally focused contemporary art in two different parts of Greenland. The first is centered on street art in Nuuk, particularly on a prominent piece known as “loading”, which highlights Nuuk’s speedy development. The second is on an international collaborative, Project 67, who are building structures in select Arctic villages along the 67th parallel using local and discarded materials. In Kangerlussuaq, I spent time with them as they built a powerfully symbolic structure of stone and wood.
Adventure and Environmental Presentation in Boulder, CO (6/2022)
If you are in the Boulder area this summer, please mark your calendars for June 2nd at 7pm at Neptune Mountaineering. I will be presenting on some of my global packrafting adventures, often motivated by environmental issues - what I call "Expeditions With Purpose". There will be a fundraising raffle for the Wild Foundation and it is a good idea to register ahead of time.
If you are in the Boulder area this summer, please mark your calendars for June 2nd at 7pm at Neptune Mountaineering. I will be presenting on some of my global packrafting adventures, often motivated by environmental issues - what I call "Expeditions With Purpose". There will be a fundraising raffle for the Wild Foundation and it is a good idea to register ahead of time.
New Article: Satellite Data Offers a Broad Array of Policy Insights (5/2022)
A newly published article I coauthored summarizing how satellite data is rapidly growing in importance for informing crucial policy decisions. Insights offered fall into one of three main categories: energy security and assessment, emissions and environment, and human and national security.
A newly published article I coauthored summarizing how satellite data is rapidly growing in importance for informing crucial policy decisions. Insights offered fall into one of three main categories: energy security and assessment, emissions and environment, and human and national security.
New Article: Tension and Trade-offs Between Protecting Biodiversity and Avoiding Climate Change (2/2022)
A newly published article I coauthored examining the difficult position we face between the significant environmental impacts of mining required for the renewable energy transformation, particularly the negative implications for biodiversity, clean water, and undeveloped lands, and the profound impacts of climate change.
A newly published article I coauthored examining the difficult position we face between the significant environmental impacts of mining required for the renewable energy transformation, particularly the negative implications for biodiversity, clean water, and undeveloped lands, and the profound impacts of climate change.
New Exhibit Open on CU-Boulder Campus: Sensing Ice (1/2022)
After many months of hard work, I am excited to announce the opening of a new exhibit on the University of Colorado campus at the Earth Science library in the Benson building. Read about it here.
Denver 9 News – Sensing Ice – I was featured in this short local Denver TV news clip about an exhibit I recently completed centered on my photography from Greenland, Iceland, and Nepal – 2022
After many months of hard work, I am excited to announce the opening of a new exhibit on the University of Colorado campus at the Earth Science library in the Benson building. Read about it here.
Denver 9 News – Sensing Ice – I was featured in this short local Denver TV news clip about an exhibit I recently completed centered on my photography from Greenland, Iceland, and Nepal – 2022
Graduate Student Spotlight – CU Center for the Humanities and Arts (11/2021)
I was featured in this short article regarding my attendance at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland as a PhD student.
I was featured in this short article regarding my attendance at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland as a PhD student.
Pulitzer Center Stories and Photos: Stories of a Changing Greenland (11/2021)
Online reporting on COP26 in Glasgow, climate change in Greenland, and new scientific studies related to the remnants of the Cold War military base, Camp Century, still buried within Greenland's ice.
Online reporting on COP26 in Glasgow, climate change in Greenland, and new scientific studies related to the remnants of the Cold War military base, Camp Century, still buried within Greenland's ice.
RECENT EXPLORATIONS*
Colorado River Through the Grand Canyon (2022)
Photos from a 21-day self-supported river trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.
Also see this video I created from a series of timelapses I shot during the trip.
Photos from a 21-day self-supported river trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.
Also see this video I created from a series of timelapses I shot during the trip.
Greenland - Nuussuaq (2021)
I spent summer 2021 in Greenland and Iceland (and briefly Denmark) on two related grants: one for a journalism project on behalf of the Pulitzer Center, the other for a photography and media project on behalf of the University of Colorado-Boulder's Nature Environment Science and Technology (NEST) Studio for the Arts.
I spent summer 2021 in Greenland and Iceland (and briefly Denmark) on two related grants: one for a journalism project on behalf of the Pulitzer Center, the other for a photography and media project on behalf of the University of Colorado-Boulder's Nature Environment Science and Technology (NEST) Studio for the Arts.
Wood River, Alaska (2019)
A week-long backpacking and river trip through interior Alaska as part of my ongoing attempt to cross Alaska.
A week-long backpacking and river trip through interior Alaska as part of my ongoing attempt to cross Alaska.
Nepal Research and Climbing Expedition (2019)
Three months in the Himalayas of Nepal from March to June 2019 as part of a scientific research expedition in the Hinku, Gokyo, and Khumbu Valleys with successful summits of Lhotse, Mera, and Lobuche Peaks. Plus two weeks trekking in 2015.
Three months in the Himalayas of Nepal from March to June 2019 as part of a scientific research expedition in the Hinku, Gokyo, and Khumbu Valleys with successful summits of Lhotse, Mera, and Lobuche Peaks. Plus two weeks trekking in 2015.
North Slope Alaska: Anaktuvuk and Colville Rivers
Glaciers to the Sea, episode III (2018)
220ish miles from Anaktuvuk Pass to the Arctic Ocean beyond Nuiqsut in July 2018. Highlights included fossils, coal seams, exposed permafrost, oil development, native Alaskans, mosquitoes, and sailing, all in a vast landscape that defies comprehension.
(Link on picture just below).
Glaciers to the Sea, episode III (2018)
220ish miles from Anaktuvuk Pass to the Arctic Ocean beyond Nuiqsut in July 2018. Highlights included fossils, coal seams, exposed permafrost, oil development, native Alaskans, mosquitoes, and sailing, all in a vast landscape that defies comprehension.
(Link on picture just below).
This website is a place for me to bring together my disparate interests and projects.
All photographs are by the author unless otherwise noted (usually when they are of the author) and are the property of Chris Dunn.
All photographs are by the author unless otherwise noted (usually when they are of the author) and are the property of Chris Dunn.
*“We don’t live on the Earth. We live in the Earth. Or rather in the EAIRTH"..."And we, imbibing and strolling through the same air, do not then live on the eairth but in it. We are enfolded within it, permeated, carnally immersed in the depths of this breathing planet.”
-David Abram (Source) + Becoming Animal
*When I use the term "exploration", I mean it in a personal sense (discovery for myself, or at a unique moment in time [everywhere after all--even crowded cities--endlessly await rediscovery--by new eyes and in new moments]), not in an absolute sense. With few exceptions (notably Antarctica), almost everywhere on earth has had other people around for a long time (though to varying degrees - high mountain tops or places like the interior of the Greenland Ice Sheet for instance were far less visited and populated, and undoubtedly at least some pockets of the earth were never visited or populated). It is an enlightening experience though when on an isolated ridge in what feels like the middle of nowhere to wonder if anyone has set foot there but never knowing for sure. What is significant is that the landscape itself is left in such a condition that it isn't evident. Some places ought to be kept that way.
*banner photo by Susan Brown
-David Abram (Source) + Becoming Animal
*When I use the term "exploration", I mean it in a personal sense (discovery for myself, or at a unique moment in time [everywhere after all--even crowded cities--endlessly await rediscovery--by new eyes and in new moments]), not in an absolute sense. With few exceptions (notably Antarctica), almost everywhere on earth has had other people around for a long time (though to varying degrees - high mountain tops or places like the interior of the Greenland Ice Sheet for instance were far less visited and populated, and undoubtedly at least some pockets of the earth were never visited or populated). It is an enlightening experience though when on an isolated ridge in what feels like the middle of nowhere to wonder if anyone has set foot there but never knowing for sure. What is significant is that the landscape itself is left in such a condition that it isn't evident. Some places ought to be kept that way.
*banner photo by Susan Brown