Art, science, literature and philosophy converge when speakers and artists gather on campus March 3-5 to talk about water and our relationship to it. WaterWays 2010, the third biennial water conference organized by the UNT Philosophy of Water Project, will focus particularly on the region’s Trinity River. In conjunction with the conference, the College of Visual Arts and Design will present Fluid Frontier, a symposium and exhibition exploring the environment as a personal, cultural and geographical experience.

In addition to invited keynote speakers Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and Dario Robleto, nationally recognized visual artist, invited presenters include Natarajan Ishwaran, director of UNESCO’s division of ecological and earth sciences; philosopher Emily Brady; sculptor John Frost; Rob Tranchin, director of the KERA-NPR web site “Living With the Trinity”; and Steward Pickett, senior scientist with the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.

A long-term ecological research workshop focused on the Trinity will begin the conference in collaboration with area universities. Also featured are screenings of the Global Rivers Project and a documentary about water and sustainable ranching by Irene Klaver, director of the Philosophy of Water Project, and Melinda Levin (’92 M.S.), associate professor and chair of the Department of Radio, Television and Film.

Leading up to the conference, visiting digital artists Cary Peppermint and Christine Nadir, known as EcoArtTech, are creating a new work related to the university’s location in the Trinity River Basin, to be exhibited in the UNT Art Gallery. Other events include boat-building workshops by Brian O’Connor, professor of library and information sciences, and “Rivers on the Edge,” a student art exhibition juried by Annette Lawrence, professor of studio art, in February and March.