Think Tanks
The Blue-Green Institute
The Blue-Green Institute (BGI) bridges multiple stakeholder communities to understand the varied human experiences at shorelines across geographies, times, cultures, and value systems.
The BGI is designed to make sense of dynamic human-water relations using a confluence of methods in the blue humanities: harnessing human and natural narratives, oral histories, poetics; the digital humanities like oral history repositories, interactive mapping, and digital dashboards; and water information literacy through data-driven artistic expression through visual arts, music, and ethnomusicology. These data are at the heart of the everyday sites in which people both define and defy their expectations for water.
Our work braids together the living knowledge of shorelines by involving everyday people as experts alongside scholars (from university faculty to K-12 students), artists (visual, sculptural, musical) and informal educational communities (like librarians, museums, and supplemental education providers).
Together, we learn the heartbeat of where water meets land.
Blue-Green Institute Team
Thomas Hallock (Professor of English)
Dr. Hallock teaches courses in early American literature and environmental literature, with a particular focus on nature in the city. Hallock's recent publications include A Road Course in Early American Literature: Travel and Teaching from Atzlán to Amherst, and Happy Neighborhood, essays and poems. Along with Theresa Burress and the USF Libraries, he is curating an online map of narratives called #Creekshed, asking "what are the human and natural stories that drain into Tampa Bay?"
Heather O'Leary (Assistant Professor of Anthropology)
Dr. O’Leary has over 20 years of experience as a global water anthropologist. Dr. O’Leary served on the International Science Council’s Water Task Force and represented Anthropology as a delegate to the UN Water Conference and the World Water Forum. Dr. O’Leary has conducted extensive ethnographic research on water in urban India, as a Wenner-Gren and Fulbright Fellow and on water in coastal Florida through NSF, NOAA, Mote, and GCOOS grants. She co-leads the USF Think Tank, Oceans of Data, USF’s Blue Green Institute, and is the PI and Director of CRESCENDO, a groundbreaking interdisciplinary project transforming crucial water data into music to increase everyday water data literacy through collaborative public engagement. Her work has been published in top-tier transdisciplinary and anthropological journals and featured on All Things Considered and CBC Radio.
Catherine Wilkins (Associate Dean for the Judy Genshaft Honors College at USF St. Pete and Professor of Instruction)
Dr. Wilkins has a Ph.D. in Cultural History from Tulane University. A native Floridian, her work at USF has focused on community-engaged high-impact practices that empower students to have an impact on our local environment. Signature projects include collaborations with the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum and Heritage Village, in which students prepare historical resources for the impact of climate, sea-level rise, and natural disaster. With students, Dr. Wilkins creates physical and digital museum exhibits and archives, and conducts research on contemporary issues via methods such as oral history collection and photo voice. She is also a faculty contributor to Honoring the Ocean, a collaboration between Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO), JGHC, and five other Honors colleges in the State University System. A mini-course provides interdisciplinary students with exploration of Blue Humanities, then travel aboard FIO research vessel.