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Santa Barbara, CA – September 4, 2025 — The National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) marked its 30th anniversary during Santa Barbara’s First Thursday Art Walk with a one-of-a-kind Art + Science exhibition. An evening of scientific discovery, sensory exploration, and community engagement—highlighting the innovative ways art and science can come together to tell ecological stories.
At the heart of the celebration was the debut of Taste Cartographies: Documenting Anthropocene Terroir Through Systematic Flavor Analysis, a new body of work by NCEAS’s 2025 Artist-in-Residence, Beth Ames Altringer Eagle. Her multidisciplinary installation transformed data about regional ecological disruptions into edible scores paired with data-driven abstract drawings, inviting guests to perceive ecology through taste.
The night began with a toast from NCEAS Director Ben Halpern, who reflected on the center’s three decades of transformative research. While highlighting NCEAS’ legacy, he emphasized how the organization serves as a global leader in synthesis science —from looking at data in new ways to utilizing artificial intelligence. In celebration, NCEAS staff joined a wine tasting curated by Nate Axline, founder of RZN wines, who collaborated with Eagle to highlight subtle differences in paired natural wines. The tasting underscored the evening’s theme: noticing how small shifts in flavor can reveal larger environmental changes.
Eagle’s exhibition let visitors taste four gelato-based pieces, each telling a different ecological story. “Taste is an instrument—not a metaphor—a way to perceive ecological relationships,” Eagle said. The series traced tastable information from four California shifts: kelp-forest collapse, Pacific trade and agriculture, Mediterranean crops under changing fog and temperature, and the renewal of fire-adapted landscapes. Each work includes three lasting elements: an instructional certificate (edible score), a data-driven abstract drawing, and a taste-centered Bioregional Context Dossier.
One of Santa Barbara’s notorious invasive species took center stage in one of Eagle’s creations: iceplant-dusted strawberry gelato. The piece highlighted a powerful contrast—strawberries, a delicate yet highly valuable crop that thrives on the Central Coast, set against iceplant, a hardy invader that spreads aggressively and damages native habitats. “Edible materials contain stories about ocean and soil health, ecosystem relationships, weather systems, and more,” Eagle noted. Guests were equally surprised that iceplant is not only edible when correctly identified (e.g., Carpobrotus edulis) but dehydrating its leaves reads like a briny finishing salt that amplifies strawberry flavor and some people describe its fruit as “tasting like purple Skittles,” sparking conversations about food systems, introduced species, and ecological management. Iceplant is part of one of NCEAS’s most prominent initiatives—AI for the Planet, where, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and the Dangermond Preserve, uses satellite imagery to map the spread of this destructive nonnative species.
Carmen Galaz García, an NCEAS scientist studying iceplant invasion, was moved to see her research subject come alive in an unexpected way. “It was very exciting that our research could inspire a gelato recipe!” she said. “This shows the potential for creatively communicating science. We can use all our senses to understand the world around us—and that’s a big part of what art can do for us.”
For Eagle, the residency was transformative. “This wasn’t just art inspired by science,” she said. “The collaborative environment revealed how scientific methodologies could inspire artistic approaches while contributing visual and sensory translation methods that might make research findings more vivid and accessible to broader audiences. I’d love to expand the series to more regions.”
Beyond Eagle’s tasting installation, the exhibition invited guests to step directly into the science of NCEAS. Visitors traced their wildfire evacuation routes on an interactive map from the Wildfire Resilience Index team, cast votes for meaningful ocean places while learning how the Ocean Health Index measures global marine health, and journeyed through the 26 sites of the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network via a digital story map. Others discovered the language of data through hands-on activities from the Learning Hub and Master’s in Environmental Data Science program, while the marine spatial planning tool SeaSketch could be seen in action in Santa Barbara and around the world. Surrounding these experiences were engaging displays of how programs like DataONE, the Arctic Data Center, the Permafrost Discovery Gateway, and the Gulf Ecosystem and Morpho Initiatives safeguard data, reveal ecological change, and drive collaborative solutions at every scale.
Attendees described the experience as filled with “joy, wonder, and excitement,” noting that the mix of data, flavor, and design got them “thinking about how we process information in such a human way.” Attendance surpassed expectations, with visitors lingering to taste, engage, and learn. Many were discovering NCEAS for the first time and expressed excitement that such world-renowned science is happening right here in Santa Barbara. Together, the event and anniversary celebration underscored NCEAS’s enduring mission of accelerating discoveries that deepen our understanding of the world and benefit both people and nature.
About NCEAS
Founded in 1995 at UC Santa Barbara, the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) accelerates scientific discoveries that inform solutions to pressing environmental challenges. By bringing together researchers across disciplines, NCEAS transforms ecological data into knowledge that supports sustainable futures.
