Madison Jones

I was so honored to get to share work from @dwell-lab.bsky.social on the North Woods Project in this amazing feature. Thanks @asle-us.bsky.social!

2026 ASLE Grants are open for submissions! Five $1K subvention and translation grants for projects in the environmental humanities available, deadline to apply is June 10, 2026. Read more and apply: www.asle.org/stay-informe.... #academicsky #envhum

I'm pleased to announce the release of issue 30.2 of Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric Technology, and Pedagogy. kairos.technorhetoric.net

We'll be celebrating our thirtieth anniversary in the fall (how is it possible that I've been an editor for 30 years???)

Inventing Ecosystems This open access book examines the origins of the ecosystem concept through the perspective of the rhetoric of science and technology.

I'm thrilled to share that the open-access version of my new book, Inventing Ecosystems: The Rhetoric of Science in an Ecological Age, is now available online. The print book will ship next month.
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
Direct link to the PDF: link.springer.com/.../10.1007/...

Image of the poem, "Vernal Pool, West Kingston Town Dump" Poem Text: Up the hill from the Superfund site, where remediated gravel folds into remnants of colonial settlements, themselves folded into a place far older and more hallowed than we know, where the mountain laurel gives way to a soft patch of pines that diffuse the wind and birdsong and the sound of not-so-far- away machines, laying foundations for a new age that will never arrive, an ancient pair of tire tracks became a mud pit, a murky ditch that floods each spring, just off the worn roadway to the old West Kingston Town Dump, where amphibians and bugs find asylum in the symmetry of night and day, just as the temperature shifts and the rain sets in, across uncounted seasons of hum and egg and thaw, burgeoning like tree rings each in turn: spadefoot, peeper, pickerel, green frog, tree frog, wood frog, bullfrog, hatch alongside nymphs of dragonfly and fairy shrimp— all blossom in the refuge of this muddy rut, and above them, a barred owl observes with patience another fecund season, drone of mosquito and cicada chorus, water seeping below poisoned ground, a song heard without listening.

I have a new poem, "Vernal Pool, West Kingston Town Dump," out in ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment. This piece is about the North Woods at URI, a place with an interesting and complex history. doi.org/10.1093/isle... @asle-us.bsky.social

For anyone who uses archival methods, we’ve offering a $4,000 fellowship to use any of our holdings on site in Storrs, CT. Easy application! Please apply! Please repost! library.uconn.edu/location/asc...

Do you do archival research? Do you know anyone who does? Our travel grant is a very easy application and we give $1,500 to come do research onsite in Storrs, CT. Apply! Repost! library.uconn.edu/location/asc...

Plato's Nightmare This poetic-rhetorical-epic-treatise traces the theme of disembodiment across historical, philosophical, literary, and rhetorical concepts and periods.

Here it is, a modern masterpiece by my friend and colleague @drsbk.bsky.social, parlorpress.com/products/pla..., hot off the press.

PFAS Kitchen ... ... ... ... ... ... Step ... 1 ... of ... 2 ... ... ... ...

How to Participate
PFAS Kitchen is a free AR experience can be accessed on a mobile device (Android or iOS) through Adobe Aero. STEEP is seeking users and feedback for our original augmented reality experience, PFAS Kitchen: web.uri.edu/steep/pfas-k...

STEEP is seeking users and feedback for our original augmented reality experience, PFAS Kitchen. Take a virtual adventure and learn more about PFAS in your home! The purpose of this part of the study is to explore the effectiveness of Augmented Reality (AR) technologies in science communication and understanding consumer behavior, specifically about PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). Participants will be guided through a pre-survey, augmented reality (AR) experience using Adobe Aero, and a post-survey. To be eligible, participants must be between the ages of 18 and 80, have access to a personal mobile device, and are physically and cognitively able to navigate online surveys and an augmented reality platform. There are no direct benefits to the participant. Participation will help advance research for educational technology and increase understanding of knowledge and use of PFAS in the home. Interested in participating? Read more on the STEEP website. This 30-minute research experience can be accessed at your convenience, in your own space with your personal mobile device. Data will be analyzed by University of Rhode Island Researchers Madison Jones, PhD (principal investigator; madisonjones@uri.edu) and Jaclyn Witterschein (co-investigator, jwitterschein@uri.edu). This research has been approved by The University of Rhode Island Institutional Review Board.

Please help share a resource DWELL Lab developed and our request for participation in a brief survey. The app will only be available to download until 11/6, so please help spread the word: web.uri.edu/steep/pfas-k...

We've extended the deadline for submission to the 2026 ASLE Spotlight series on the #envhum to October 6! Read details and get your application in (it only take a few minutes) at www.asle.org/stay-informe...

A photo of a person writing in a journal in the woods. Heading text: Write Out: Awaken the Senses in the North Woods Smaller text: October 16 & 17, 8am-5pm Rain dates: October 20 & 21 Join the URI Department of Public and Professional Writing and DWELL Lab for a day of writing and connection outside at North Woods Teaching Forest!

If you're a Rhode Island writer with a passion for science and the outdoors, this event is for you! The URI Department of Public and Professional Writing and @dwell-lab.bsky.social are hosting a local Write Out Oct. 16 & 17, 8 AM-5 PM, at North Woods! #uri #writeout
web.uri.edu/dwell/write-...

PFAS Kitchen As part of a collaboration between DWELL and STEEP, this project developed an interactive augmented reality experience designed to educate the general public about PFAS. Using Adobe Aero, viewers are ...

Here and Gone: PFAS Kitchen is available until 11/16/2025

PFAS Kitchen is a free augmented reality application developed by the DWELL that can be accessed on a mobile device (Android or iOS) through Adobe Aero. You can learn about the project and access the experience here: doi.org/10.23860/pfas

Kairos 30.1: Jones et al., North Woods Project: Mobilizing Digital Field Methods and Art-Based Research for Science Communication and Environmental Advocacy This webtext juxtaposes six exercises in place-based writing, locative, media, and creative methods during the BioBlitz held at one of University of Rhode Island’s natural reserves. Joe Ahart and Madi...

Our Assistant Director Erin Edmonds was published alongside the URI @dwell-lab.bsky.social team! The North Woods Project is a blend of AR, GIS mapping, web technologies, and field‑based methods showcasing the area as a vibrant site for learning and SciComm!
kairos.technorhetoric.net/30.1/topoi/j...

Flyer for a digital humanities workshop with Drs. Sarah Brown, Madison Jones, and Jeremiah Dyehouse. It will take place from 9:30-12:30 on 09/29, 10/01, 10/06, and 10/08. Please join us if you are interested!

Join us for an introductory workshop on digital humanities tools! Visit drsmb.co/idh to register today! This workshop is open to all.

Carolyn Miller in the recent RSQ: "I will just question whether it’s helpful to think of rhetoric as having “methodologies.” Does this language engage in a kind of science-envy? Isn’t rhetoric, as a discipline, rather a set of questions, a habit of mind, an interpretive vocabulary?"

Read the whole amazing issue, focused on Science Communication and Writing Studies in a Multimodal World, here:
kairos.technorhetoric.net/30.1/

The North Woods Project Reenvisioning the “Groves of Academe” Through Locative Media The North Woods Project (NWP) blends art and science through an immersive multimedia “classroom in the forest” experience for the North Woo...

This webtext is the culmination of several years of collaborating with numerous faculty, students, and community partners on Dwell Lab's North Woods Project: web.uri.edu/dwell/projec...

Kairos 30.1: Jones et al., North Woods Project: Mobilizing Digital Field Methods and Art-Based Research for Science Communication and Environmental Advocacy This webtext juxtaposes six exercises in place-based writing, locative, media, and creative methods during the BioBlitz held at one of University of Rhode Island’s natural reserves. Joe Ahart and Madi...

We have a webtext in the incredible new issue of Kairos, "North Woods Project: Mobilizing Digital Field Methods and Art-Based Research for Science Communication and Environmental Advocacy." NOTE: the experience may take a moment to load. kairos.technorhetoric.net/30.1/topoi/j...

Sylvan Rhetoric in the Planes of Plato’s Phaedrus Over the past few decades, Plato’s Phaedrus has become an important text for scholars interested in tracing new materialist approaches to the history of rhetoric and writing. Drawing on rhetoric an...

Thrilled to learn that my article, “Sylvan Rhetoric in the Planes of Plato’s Phaedrus“ has been awarded the Schachterle Essay Prize from the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts!

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Don't forget - only TWO DAYS left to submit to the preconference at NCA!

#ARSTM #NCA2025 #ARSTMPRECON2025

A screenshot of a Newsweek article with the headline "Americans Told to Avoid Exercise in 6 States" with a map of the United States in green and six New England states in grey.

Me (Homer Simpson voice): Woohoo!

The book cover for Inventing Ecosystems, with a blue background and white text. The cover image shows a scientist working in a roped-off area in a field with a radiation zone sign in the foreground.

It looks like we have a cover for Inventing Ecosystems! I can't wait to share this book with the world. link.springer.com/book/9783031...
The cover photo is an archival image of Eugene Odum conducting a radioecology field experiment.

🏆 Nominations for ARSTM’s Article of the Year Award (for works published during the 2024 calendar year) are now open! 🏆

Each year, we recognize the most outstanding rhetoric of science, technology, or medicine-related article or book chapter published during the preceding calendar year.

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Inventing Ecosystems This open access book examines the origins of the ecosystem concept through the perspective of the rhetoric of science and technology.

My new book, Inventing Ecosystems, now has a page on the publishers website! We're still a little ways away from publication, but it is exciting to see it online! The cover should be out soon.
link.springer.com/book/9783031...

I have a new poem in storySouth today. This poem is written in memory of my cousin Bill. The whole wonderful issue is available at: storysouth.com

Dune certainly deals with this as a central theme. The characters are constantly wondering if the prophesy is just Bene Gesserit rhetoric/propaganda as the myth unfolds across time.

DWELL Congratulates Student SciComm Award Winners! DWELL Congratulates Student Science Communication Award Winnersby Fran Webber Three outstanding URI students are the deserving recipients of this year’s Digital Writing Environments, Location, and Loc...

Big thanks to URI's @dwell-lab.bsky.social for funding my science communication research! 🌎 🌊

This grant will support the development of a StoryMap that combines interactive sea level rise viewers (ISLRVs) with resources to enhance climate reporting. How’s that for a mouthful?

⤵️ buff.ly/3kxc5RU

I'm thrilled to share that I have been recommended for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor at URI. I am so grateful to the many mentors, colleagues, friends, family, and collaborators, and especially to my wife Jane, for supporting me through the many years of hard work that brought me here.