Mrill Ingram
An environmental writer and geographer, I am passionate about public space as inclusive and nurturing of humans and other beings. My recent book Loving Orphaned Space the art and science of belonging to Earth emerged from years of reading, writing, thinking, and crashing around in abandoned spaces in the company of artists. I call attention to the plethora of ignored and abused space we create and maintain all around us, and offer such space as a portal via which we might connect to a vibrant Earth, reckoning with the past and imagining vibrant futures.
In a time when people need places to gather and be outside in nature, Loving Orphaned Space is an essential guide for how to activate forgotten spaces in our landscape. —Stacy Levy, environmental artist
Mrill Ingram gets it right in this hopeful yet haunting book: the only way to restore purpose and power to abandoned, uncared-for spaces is to re-story them as places of the heart. Always a deep, compassionate thinker, Ingram now joins the ranks of America’s most compelling writers—Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gretel Ehrlich, Janisse Ray, and Rebecca Solnit—who help us reflect on broken landscapes and our longing to heal them to heal ourselves.
— Gary Paul Nabhan, author of Food from the Radical Center: Healing Our Land and Communities.
Ingram’s stories have changed the way I see and think about the land around me. I now see orphaned land wherever I go, and because of this book, I know how—and why—to love and care for these places. —-— Samuel Dennis Jr., Director of the Environmental Design Lab UW-Madison
I'm currently Participatory Action Research Scientist with the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, and Research Fellow at the Center for Integrated Agriculture Systems, UW-Madison. Previously, I worked with the Farley Center for Peace, Justice, and Sustainability supporting immigrant and underserved farmers, ran the website for The Progressive magazine, curated environmental content for Upworthy, and edited the journal Ecological Restoration. I've written about environmental art-science collaboration, alternative farming and food systems, storytelling in environmental networks, organic agriculture, microbial biopolitics, and social movements. I've extensive experience in project management, working with multidisciplinary teams, as well as publishing, editing, grant writing, website management and design, social media, and basic data analytics.
Each image below links to a different collection of my work.
