Alexis Williams is a spore spreader, silk moth protector and the director of the Biophilium, a scientific research program for artists. As an eco-art teacher inspired by biologists, she specializes in directing the attention of her students to the intricacies of ecology through wildlife appreciation in a collaborative attempt to develop new ways to describe and celebrate the value of life. Her studio/lab/ field work and courses shed light on the boundaries between wild and domestic to show that there is no real distinction and aim to encourage people to notice their roles in ecology.

Alexis is an enthusiastic believer in the Symbioscene, the post-wild epoch after the Anthropocene, when humans develop (intentional) practices to cohabitate the Earth and to live in reciprocity with all non-human life in novel, (choreographed) ecologies. She believes that humans are hyperkeystone species. We influence every habitat, ecosystem and species.

Our cultures are ecocatalists we initiate complex cascading ecological interactions whether we mean to or not. This achievement grants us both the privilege and the responsibility to design and maintain Earth’s ecosystems, and therefore climates, intentionally. It’s time to develop a goal, agree on a set of values, plan the world we want to express, and then bring it to life. We are in a time of frightening dissonance, when our cultural practices contradict our values, but a growing appreciation for the complexities of ecology and a clear human desire for clean air & water and policies that support biodiversity is emerging and our behaviors are following. Alexis’s ecological optimism does not deny the urgency of conservation, but is a call to action.