The Nature of Nature: Bridging the Social and Natural Sciences Through Geography

In 1909, Estonian naturalist Jakob von Uexküll proposed that living beings perceive their surroundings in subjective reference frames that he called “Umwelt.” We pattern-seeking and problem-solving humans, however, have pushed the boundaries of our umwelten by developing extra-human sensors and flight, and even by putting satellites in space to gain a vantage beyond our proximate environment. I want to share with you my affinity for aerial and satellite imagery, which tells us interesting stories about both our natural environment and the telltale signs that people leave behind as we interact with each other and our surroundings.