3BB: Loss and Remembrance in the Anthropocene

Author

Amanda J. Woolsey, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkFollow

Date of Degree

2-2025

Document Type

Capstone Project

Degree Name

M.S.

Program

Data Analysis & Visualization

Advisor

Michelle McSweeney

Subject Categories

Digital Humanities | Interactive Arts | Natural Resources and Conservation | Other Computer Sciences

Keywords

biodiversity loss, big data visualization, conservation, data art

Abstract

Undisputedly, we are living in a time of tremendous and unprecedented ecological loss. Various forms of life on earth are disappearing at a rate unheard of in human history, with a growing amount of evidence suggesting that we are in a period of mass biodiversity loss and extinction. This extinction event is marked by a series of environmental catastrophes that vary in acceleration, intensity, and impact, such as climate-change driven weather events wiping out an endemic island species, to habitat loss and fragmentation leading to the slow death of a once-common species. One such piece of supporting evidence is Rosenberg et al.'s widely cited 2019 paper Decline of the North American avifauna, estimating a net loss of nearly 3 billion birds since 2019. Anthropogenic causes of biodiversity loss are well documented, however, less present in this dialogue is the “landscape of damage we carry inside of us”; the collective sense of grief felt by humans in response to the deterioration of nature.

“Extinction studies” arises from the multi-dimensional entanglement of ecological losses, with “hope, biodiversity loss, extinction, and grieving complexly intertwined through topological, temporal flows”. Central to this field of study is the understanding that extinction is a multispecies, biocultural phenomenon with cascading effects on humans and non-humans alike. Grounded in the tenets of extinction studies, “3BB” examines the power of a slowed approach to ecological mourning in the form of a data visualization representing 3 billion lost birds as stars in the sky. By engaging in slow ecological mourning through data storytelling and aesthetics, this piece seeks to demonstrate that a thoughtful engagement with grief in the context of biodiversity loss is not only insightful on its own, but ethically necessary to inform structural change to build a better world.

Recommended Citation

Woolsey, Amanda J., "3BB: Loss and Remembrance in the Anthropocene" (2025). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/6180