Calder Sell is an undergraduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he will graduate in Spring 2020 with degrees in Environmental Science and Fine Art. He began working in the Gibbs Land Use and Environment Lab in 2018 when he completed an independent project under the supervision of Dr. Tyler Lark. His research focuses on examining impacts of cropland expansion on threatened and endangered species across the United States.

Calder’s artistic practice is centered in photography but also enters into the realm of collage, sculpture, and installation. His work aims to construct identifiable narratives around systemic issues relating to the environment. He is especially interested in problems in the energy, fashion, and food industries.

His project entitled, Views from a Butterfly, consists of images that are photographed through the lens of the threatened and endangered species he studies. The photographs take place across the Midwestern landscape and within the boundaries of species such as the Whooping Crane and the Topeka Shiner. The project asks the viewer to enter into an alternative perspective to consider themes of space, mortality, and extinction. Click here to see Views from a Butterfly.

Outside of the Center of Sustainability and Global Change, you will find Calder working as a student assistant at Phil Townsend’s Forestry Lab or at the front desk of Mills Music Library.