The Confluence Lab

The Confluence Lab is an interdisciplinary research initiative that brings together scholars in the arts, humanities, and sciences with community members to address environmental issues affecting rural communities. Its projects use creative, collaborative approaches to explore wildfire, climate change, biodiversity, and changing landscapes, with a focus on Idaho and the wider Pacific Northwest. The lab develops public-facing research and learning experiences, including books, essays, oral histories, visual art, digital maps, exhibitions, and community conversations.

Projects include Fire Humanities, an anthology of original essays; Narrative Science, which trains science practitioners in narrative and emotional literacy; and Stories of Fire, a collection of initiatives connecting wildfire stories, resilience, and informal STEM learning. Other work examines the loss of North Idaho’s mountain caribou, climate change perceptions, and environmental change in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness through photography and oral history. The Confluence Lab also offers professional development internships for undergraduate and graduate students and an immersive residency for artists and writers