Computational Ecology
Brendan Harmon
Hello.
I am Brendan Harmon,
an associate professor of landscape architecture
at Louisiana State University.
Today I will be talking about
my recent research and teaching.
While I have expertise in the spatial sciences,
recently I have been focused on
computational ecology and
computational design,
on computational methods
for ecological research
and the creative use of computation
in the design process.
My work centers on the entanglement of
humans, technology, and the environment,
exploring speculative pathways to sustainability,
grounded in a post-anthropocentric perspective
that problematizes our conception
of nature and technology as other.
Computational Ecology
My research program in computational ecology
uses lidar to estimate biomass and carbon
and ecoacoustics to study biodiversity in soundscapes.
Drone Data Analytics
Since 2020 I have been using drones
with lidar and multispectral sensors
to study the evolution of the meadow
established at LSU's Hilltop Arboretum.
Along with this research program,
I regularly teach drone piloting, photogrammetry, and lidar
to landscape architecture students
in my computational design course.
I have been surveying the meadow monthly since it was first established.
With regular aerial surveys like this
I can map fluxes of aboveground biomass and carbon in the meadow.
Here you can see the bare ground after the initial bush hogging in January.
And the evolution of the meadow over the months....
Net Annual Biomass
From this time series of data
we can calculate the fluctuations of biomass
and thus carbon in the meadow.
Here is a 3D scatterplot of the net annual biomass
of the meadow in its first year.
Net Annual Carbon
By accounting for carbon storage in meadows and prairies,
we can demonstrate their ecosystem services
and advocate for their creation or conservation.
Atlas of Heritage Trees
For another project
- the Atlas of Heritage Trees -
I am laser scanning ancient trees
of significant historical,
cultural, and ecological importance.
Louisiana has many large, old,
and culturally significant specimens
of southern live oak and bald cypress.
These trees are charismatic megaflora –
specimens that capture
the imagination of the public
and encourage broader support
for biodiversity conservation.
Here for example is the Duelling Oak in New Orleans,
a live oak infamous as a site for duels in the 19th century.
Duellists would face off between this tree and its partner
which was lost to a hurricane.
Large, old tree populations
are in decline around the world.
Louisiana's ancient trees are at risk
due to coastal change,
lack of legal protection,
and senescence.
For example this 600 year old bald cypress,
the Monarch of the Swamp,
is slowly, but inevitably dying
from salt water intrusion
as the coast of Louisiana retreats.
To preserve a record of these
irreplaceable cultural icons,
I am compiling an Atlas of Heritage Trees.
As a digital humanities project,
this research aims to document and share
the legacy of these heritage trees.
As a work of computational ecology,
this research aims to estimate the
biomass and carbon of large, old trees
which act as keystone ecological structures.
As part of this project,
I have developed a method
for building volumetric models
from laser scanned point clouds.
My volumetric modeling process
can be used to calculate
the volume of large, old trees
with extensive cavities
for biomass and carbon estimation.
It can also be used to 3D print models
of these specimens
for outreach, education, and exhibition.
Here, for example,
is a 3D print of the Big Cypress,
a 1500 year old Bald Cypress
on Cat Island in Louisiana.
It is the largest recorded bald cypress
and the reigning national champion.
Field Recordings
Recently I begun a research program in ecoacoustics,
recording the aural character of cultural landscapes
as a way to archive a trace of their biodiversity.
We have recorded soundscapes for ancient trees
and cultural landscapes across Louisiana.
We use passive acoustic monitoring to capture long recordings
and ambisonics to capture immersive spatial audio.
With these recordings
we can classify the acoustic activity
of wildlife as well as anthropogenic noise,
to map species occurrence and disturbances.
Here is a spectrogram from a burial ground in Louisiana
where the songs of birds, cicadas, and crickets
compete with the roar of traffic passing along River Road.
To engage the public,
I collaborate with musicians to create
immersive soundscape experiences.
For a recent exhibition of heritage trees,
we used tactile transducers to transform
the 3D printed specimens into speakers,
each playing its own soundscape.
Now we are working to reconstruct
the soundscape of Mannahatta
before colonization in 1609.
Landscape Ecology
In the future I am interested in teaching landscape ecology.
Landscape Ecology
Pattern & Process
Ecosystems
Structure
Flows
Disturbances
Succession
Conservation
Biogeography
Biodiversity
Bioacoustics
Connectivity
Rewilding
Design
Complexity
Restoration
Phytoremediation
Aesthetics
Philosophy
I would like to develop a landscape ecology course
that addresses not only theory,
but also conservation, design, and philosophy.
Giant Panda National Park Studio
Advanced Topics Studio
• fieldwork in Sichuan
• ecological simulation of panda movement
• model network of habitat corridors
• accounting for sensory ecology
• and stochastic variation
• parametric reforestation
In my upper level studios,
students have an opportunity
to apply creative computational thinking
to ecological problems.
In a studio on computational ecology, for example,
students designed a masterplan
for giant panda conservation
in Sichuan, China.
After fieldwork in the mountains,
they used ecological models to simulate a network
of ecologically functional corridors for giant pandas
that accounted for sensory ecology and stochastic variation.
Then they used Grasshopper to rapidly design
ecologically diverse reforestation schemes
for these habitat corridors.
Drone lidar can be use for landscape archeology.
Since lidar can penetrate forest canopy,
it can reveal hidden landforms, traces of past landscapes.
Le Petit Versailles
was the 19th century pleasure garden of Valcour Aimee.
Long abandoned, the ruins of the garden
are lost beneath dense overgrowth
and a canopy of mature southern live oaks.
In the future I plan to use these techniques
to reveal lost histories and landscapes of the enslaved
throughout the southern United States.
African American Burial Grounds
Ecological Robotics
I have been developing methods for
robotic planting in the lab and the field.
In the lab I developed a process for 3D printing with seeds.
I use a robotic system to extrude seeds in a paste
of clay, planting media, and water.
With robotic paste-based extrusion,
seeds can be precisely planted
in computationally generated patterns.
With robotic planting,
we can computationally design
and autonomously plant
ecological gradients.
To scale up, I will deploy this
planting system on a field robot.
After autonomously seeding a test plot
I will use lidar to monitor growth.
Computational Design
I also regularly teach a course on computational design
that introduces the basics of visual programming with Grasshopper.
Computational Design
Fundamentals
Grasshopper
Algorithms
Stochasticity
Noise
Attractors
Modeling
Tessellations
Physics
Simulation
Point clouds
Voxels
Fabrication
Machining
Printing
Materials
Robotics
Construction
This course teaches creative computational thinking for design problems.
It introduces a procedural approach to design and making.
Topics include randomness and noise, physics and simulations,
ceramic 3D printing, and robotic construction.
Thesis, Andrew Wright, 2020
• designed offshore structures
• to catalyze emergence of wetlands
• using a physical hydrodynamic model
• for simulations with tracer dye
• of flow and accumulation of fine sediment
I also regularly teach research methods
and advise capstone and theses.
Here is an example of a thesis I advised
that uses simulation for speculative design.
This thesis - the Siltcatcher -
envisioned a system of offshore structures
for accumulating sediment from the Bonnet Carré Spillway
to catalyze the development of new wetlands.
The student used a physical hydrodynamic model
to test and evaluate design ideas.
He used simulations with tracer dye
to study the flow and accumulation of fine sediment...
and develop a design
that would catalyze land building
in Lake Pontchartrain.
GIS for Designers
I have regularly taught an introduction to
geographic information systems for designers.
GIS for Designers
Fundamentals
Intro to GIS
Geodesy
Cartography
Map algebra
Programming
Landscape
Lidar
Terrain
Hydrology
Visibility
Solar
Urban
Urban data
Demographics
Walkability
Map overlays
3D printing
Topics covered include cartography, map algebra,
terrain modeling, hydrology, urban analytics,
visual programming, and digital fabrication.
For this course I have developed extensive tutorials,
a collection of Youtube videos, and datasets.
I also publish open education materials online
including tutorials, videos, and datasets.
Future Work
Book: GRASS Geocomputation EngineResearch: Welikia Soundscape EngineSoftware: Earthworks in GrasshopperSoftware: Massive point clouds in Grasshopper
Ideas
Research: Lidar for mass timberResearch: 3D printing mass timberResearch: Neural rendering for biomass estimation
