The graduate students who chose us this year were Daren Liu and Mew Rojnirun who are both in their second year of Masters programs at Cornell Tech. We were thrilled again to work with such steady, generous, and resourceful students.
Mew and Daren are interested in the intersections of technology, health, and nature. They began by exploring tech ideas which might be used to bring more choices, flowers, and nature to Coler Hospital residents. Then, realizing the limited access to technology in that setting, the plan shifted and broadened to include all kinds of Roosevelt Islanders. Mew and Daren created 'Outdoors on R Island' which is a live web page that we can continue to develop and share. This page is designed to help people share their connections with outdoor spaces and to realize more deeply how the amazing urban nature that surrounds us is a positive source of health and well-being for us all.
'Outdoors on R Island' is a collection of brief stories in the form of audio recordings alongside beautiful pictures of natural, outdoor spaces on Roosevelt Island. It includes a special green map developed by an artist who works at Cornell Tech. This project was cited briefly in a New York Times article about Cornell Tech. Also, one of the sources of inspiration for the design of the page was the Climate Stories Project by musician and environmentalist, Jason Davis.
We are excited about this new product that resulted from our collaboration and the careful work of these graduate students. However, once again this year as was also true last year, the process, our conversations together, and the connections we made were the real win for all! Collaborative and service learning courses and work with Cornell Tech students and RI organizations are so important for our Roosevelt Island community. We hope that they will continue.