As New York commemorates Henry Hudson's momentous voyage and honors the past, present, and future of the mighty river that bears his name, SSRC communications director Mary-Lea Cox travels back in time to the landscape Hudson confronted 400 years ago, with the help of landscape ecologist Eric Sanderson, author of Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City. In this episode of "Research Talks," they discuss Sanderson's research methods, his personal history as a transplant to NYC from Northern California, and his relationship with nature in the city, which, he says, is still around us. They go on to discuss what Manhattan's ecology might be like 400 years from now. Sanderson's next research project, "Manhattan 2409," is sponsored by the SSRC and the Van Alen Institute of New York. For information about the Mannahatta Project, visit http://www.themannahattaproject.org.
The Social Science Research Council is an independent, not-for-profit research organization founded in 1923. Based in New York City, it mobilizes researchers, policy makers, professionals, activists, and other experts from the private and public sectors to develop innovative approaches to issues of critical social importance.The SSRC is committed to the idea that social science can produce necessary knowledge—necessary for citizens to understand their societies and necessary for policy makers to decide on crucial questions.
