Hanging Hope

Hanging Hope is an immersive conservation art installation created for The Explorers Club and The Leatherback Project during World Oceans Week 2024. The piece brought to literal light one of the deadliest threats facing sea turtles: bycatch in fishing nets—and showcased a simple, affordable solution already proven to reduce those deaths.

Inspired by my time on expedition in Panama with leatherback scientist Callie Veelenturf, the installation centered on green LED fishing net lights currently being tested in the field. Research shows these low-cost lights significantly reduce sea turtle entanglement by making nets more visible, allowing marine life to avoid them. Using stark contrasts of darkness and illumination, I translated this field science into a visceral public experience—making the invisible visible, and the abstract tangible.

Impact: Installed at the historic Explorers Club headquarters in New York City, Hanging Hope reached global explorers, scientists, philanthropists, and public audiences—educating them not only about the scale of sea turtle mortality, but about the existence of an immediate, scalable solution. By transforming proven science into emotional connection, the installation helped build momentum and support for the next phase of field testing and implementation. The work contributed to advancing Phase 2 funding for this life-saving technology—demonstrating how storytelling and art can accelerate adoption of practical conservation tools, and help ensure that fewer sea turtles are lost to preventable causes.