Anna Davidson
Senior Research Associate/Lecturer, Natural Resources and the Environment
Davidson works and teaches at the interface of art and science. She holds an MFA in visual art and a PhD in plant science from University of California, Davis. Her experiences in the arts and natural sciences coalesce into an interdisciplinary research-based artistic practice grounded in the ecological arts. Her expeditionary field-based artwork investigates topics in climate change, land and ocean use, ecological memory, and biological/ecological systems.
She currently teaches ecological art in the Environment and Sustainability Program at Cornell University. She has also taught art at the University of California, Davis, San Francisco Art Institute, California State, Sacramento and Sierra Nevada University. She has participated in residencies including the Arctic Circle, Djerassi, Tropical Lab-Singapore and was Artist at Sea on an expedition to the Lost City hydrothermal vent system. As a member of the Ocean Memory Project, she has co-organized and participated in interdisciplinary residencies at Wrigley Marine Science Center, Catalina Island, CA and Friday Harbor Marine Laboratories, University of Washington WA. Davidson has exhibited internationally and has an extensive research record in tree ecophysiology.
Education
- MFA, Art Studio, Department of Art, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 2016
- PhD, Department of Plant Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, 2014
- BA, Biology, Ripon College, Ripon, Wisconsin, 2006
- Art Studio, Massachusetts College of Art and Design Boston, MA. Hellenic International Studies in the Arts, Paros, Greece, 2005
Awards & Honors
- National Academies Keck Futures Initiative-Ocean Memory-Decent & Transformation, 2020/2021
- Margrit Mondavi Fellowship, UC Davis, 2015
- Freeman Gadberry Award, UC Davis, 2015/16
- Jack Pickett Agriculture Scholarship, UC Davis 2014
- Davis Henry A. Jastro Research Award, UC Davis 2011, 2014
Contact Information
Fernow Hall 119
Ithaca, NY 14853
adavidson [at] cornell.edu
Additional Links
More information
- Arctic landscapes, ocean hydrothermal vents and deep sea mining, ecological memory.
- Tree ecophysiology (non-structural carbohydrate dynamics in trees-Co-founder of the Carbohydrate Observatory).
- Innovating interdisciplinary field-based teaching and learning experiences in art, ecology and land use.
- Tropical Lab Online Exhibition. La Salle College of the Arts, Singapore, 2020
- The Performer, Loosenart Gallery, Magazine & Millepiani Exhibition Space, Rome, Italy, 2020
- Exquisite Corpse: Art in the time of the Corona virus. Online Exhibition. 2020
- Art in isolation. Santa Clarita Arts Virtual Gallery, Santa Clarita, CA, 2020
- Arctic Makes: Observations, Lessons and Solutions from the Geographic Periphery. Arctic Design School, Urals State University of Architecture and Art, Ekaterinburg, Russia. 2020
- Au-delà du Nord (Beyond North) Galerie d’art Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen Université de Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, 2019
- The Arctic: Documenting Nature, Sidespace Gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 2019
- Tiny Little Life Boats, The Wurks Gallery. Providence, RI, 2018
- Science Inspires Art: OCEAN New York Hall of Science, New York, NY, 2017
- Djerassi Resident Artists Program-Open House, Woodside, CA, 2017
- 81 Degrees North, Galleri Metripol,Tallinn, Estonia, 2016
- Pole Saw, Pyramiden, Svalbard, Norway, 2016
- Having Happened, Verge Center for the Arts, Sacramento, CA, 2016
- Cocktail Party Effect, Embark Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 2016
- Third Space Art Collective, Davis, CA, 2016
- Consilience, Art/Science, The Pence Gallery, Davis, CA, 2015
- Mental Throes, Third Space Art Collective, Davis, CA, 2015
- Tropical Lab, La Sale College of the Arts, Singapore, 2015
- Subject to Change, Beatnik Studios, Sacramento, CA, 2015
- White Line Fever, Third Space Art Collective, Davis, CA 2015
- Third Space Art Collective, Davis, CA, 2014
- Organism, Art exhibit fusing Art, Science & Technology. Old Nelson Gallery. Davis, CA, 2013
- Consilience, Art/Science, The Pence Gallery. Davis, CA, 2010
Artwork
- Performer, Loosenart Magazine, 2020 www.loosenart.com
- Human, Murze Magazine. 2020. Issue 12 Murze.org
Scientific Work
Davidson, A.M., Cooper, K., Le, S., Lange, E. Zwieniecki, M.A. (2021) No time to rest – seasonal dynamics of non-structural carbohydrates in twigs of three Mediterranean tree species suggest year-round activity. Scientific Reports, 11, 5181
Sperling, O., Kamai, Tixier, A., Davidson, A., Jarvis-Shean, K., Raveh, E., DeJong, T., Zwieniecki, M. (2019) Predicting bloom dates by temperature mediated kinetics of carbohydrate metabolism in deciduous trees. Agriculture and Forest Meteorology, 276-277
Davidson, A.M., Da Silva, DeJong, T.M. (2019). Rate of shoot development (phyllochron) is dependent on carbon availability, shoot type, and rank in peach trees. Trees, Structure and function. P.1-8 DOI: 10.1007/s00468-019-01881-y
Davidson, A.M., Da Silva, D., DeJong, T.M. (2017) The phyllochron of well-watered and water-deficit of mature peach trees varies with shoot type and vigor. Annals of Botany, Plants, 9(5): plx042
Davidson, A.M., Da Silva, D., Saa, S., DeJong, T.M. (2016) Elevated CO2 increased photosynthesis and carbohydrate status but did not affect the phyllochron or incremental shoot growth in young peach (Prunus persica) trees. Horticulture, Environment and Biotechnology, 57:364, pp. 364-370
Davidson, A.M., Da Silva, D., Quintano, B., DeJong, T.M. (2015). The phyllochron of Prunus persica shoots is relatively constant under controlled growth conditions but seasonally increases in the field in ways unrelated to patterns of temperature or radiation. Scientia Horticulturae, 184, 106-113
Davidson, A., Keller, F., & Turgeon, R. (2011). Phloem loading, plant growth form, and climate. Protoplasma, 248(1), 153- 163
Anna in the news
News
Through the capstone course Art and Science of the Mohawk River Watershed, a group of environment and sustainability majors studied the river through the lenses of art, science and culture, deepening their understanding of a complex natural...
- Nature
- Natural Resources
- Natural Resources and the Environment
News
Twenty-five faculty and academic staff from nine Cornell colleges and units are Engaged Faculty Fellows for the 2023-24 academic year, with projects dedicated to advancing community-engaged learning at Cornell and within their respective fields.
- American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program
- Cornell AgriTech
- Department of Communication