geoartwork - about

Kelsey Aho

geoartist, cartographer, gardener, friend

Metal detector in hand, dad and a tiny version of myself explored the history of the stream along the cabin. Through weaving and whittling, we learned when plants are pliable.

Today, the land continues to show and remind and teach me. I collect wild mineral soils, to later wedge into tiles, bowls, mugs, plates. Then, in what seems like a miracle, I can place the Yukon River or the Mendenhall Glacier in a friend’s hand and say: “this is what the minerals along the glacier’s edge look like” or “this is what the river feels like”. These physical observations bring the land to intimate spaces such as morning coffee mugs and dinner soup bowls. So that together, we can build our relationship with the land, the witness of how we live.

Oh and did you see somewhere that I work on "restoration"? In these margins we can call it re-cover(y), as Eva Saulitis did in "Becoming Earth". I also understand existence to be cumulative, not something that we we can return to or "restore". So we cover the mistakes we make on the land with our learning. In turn we do better, and we re-cover.

art geoart science

adjunct faculty (2025, 2022)

2025 Department of Natural Resources & Environment, University of Alaska Fairbanks2022 Department of Political Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks

balkans natural resources program lead (2022-2025)

U.S. Forest Service technical lead, fundraiser, and project manager for the following water-related projects in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Georgia, Kosovo/a, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia:

“Balkan Dam Safety amidst Extreme Events” project with WFMF, Fauna and Flora, and EuCOM
“Sustainable Wetland Management in North Macedonia” project with Ekoturizam and USAID
“Reduce Watershed Instability in Southeast Europe” project with REC and EuCOM
“River Science in Bosnia” project with Center for Environment and USAID
“River Education development in Albania” project with EcoAlbania and USAID
“Trees for contaminant reduction in Serbia” project with ILFE, USAID, and USFS Northern Research Station
“Balkans Water Project” with TNC, EnvPro, EkoSvest, and USAID
Enhancing Forest Ecosystem Management in the Federation of BiH through Risk Mapping of Illegal Logging and Roadmap Development with Udruženje FEA and EuCOM
Water Balance: Stabilizing Skadar Lake Watershed with EnvPro and EuCOM
Fight Illegal Forest Actions with REFORD Centre, USAID and EuCOM

artist in residence at Alaska Botanical Garden (2024)

exhibit: artist in residence at Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest (ongoing)

Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest in Fairbanks, AK. Shoots, leaves, flowers, and stems of fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) enliven the borders and disturbed floors of the boreal forest between snow melt and snow fall.

2025 Summer Alaska State Museum in Juneau, AK
2025 January - March Valdez Museum & Historical Archive in Valdez, AK
2024 September – October Copper River Gallery in Cordova, AK
2023 June – September Pratt Museum in Homer, AK
2022 September at the Bear Gallery in Fairbanks, AK

exhibit: "water leaves" project lead

INSTALLED AT GEORGESON BOTANICAL GARDEN Funded by Alaska DNR As precipitation changes, irrigation becomes increasingly challenging. This pilot project tests two products for cottage food producers and home gardeners. First, this project pilots the use of ollas (ceramics pots buried in the center of raised beds), that can passively irrigate the box for a month. Second, this pilot project will include a water collection component that will feed rainwater into the buried ceramic pots as a more or less closed loop irrigation system. The pilot project will support 6 raised beds. Project write up: https://artslink.space/2024/07/16/getting-to-know-local-plants-using-clay/.

exhibit: "clays of alaska" (ongoing)

Exhibited at the Anchorage Museum at Alaska Biennial .Map of approximate sites. Ned Rozell highlights this project in the weekly Alaska Science Forum column and the American Geophysical Union blog “The Field“. Link to webmap. Element signals scanned with electron microscope.

exhibit: "water leaves" at Otvoreni Studio Keramike in Zagreb, Croatia (2023)

alaska geospatial data coordinator (2019-2022)

U.S. Forest Service 2019-2022 Made maps, convened interdisciplinary projects and teams. AGOL, ArcGIS desktop, SDE administrator. Geospatial data manager and curator. Interagency liaison. Workshop and training organizer. Interdisciplinary spatial analysis and coding (R, python). Open-source and research advocate, instructor, and ally.

designed logo for Alaska Invasive Species Partnership (2020)

rapporteur in Prague (2019) and Berlin (2022)

Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty

spatial analyst (2019)

Floodplain Ecology and Management in Vienna, Austria (Remote). Developed data standards for curating existing freshwater barriers data. Analyzed LandSat and Sentinel imagery. Identified barriers manually, and using hot spot and nearest neighbor analysis. Developed a geodatabase schema for the types, size and status of the barriers. Documented the data curation, editing, compilation and analysis in a document guide and the final maps. https://balkanrivers.net/sites/default/files/MedRiverAssessment-Executive-Summary.pdf

arctic policy coordinator (2018-2019)

International Arctic Research Center in Fairbanks, Alaska. Develop policy briefs and infographics for scientific publications and conferences. Researched cooperative agreements, and applicable laws, regulations and policies. Designed and presented projects and results in internal reports, scientific journals (e.g., ARCTIC), and at conferences (e.g., American Geophysical Union, Alaska Forum on the Environment) and meetings (e.g., Interagency Hydrologic Committee of Alaska).

exhibit: "Outside/Inside the Box" at the Art Center in Corvallis, Oregon (2017)

hydrographer (2016-2018)

ORISE Research Participant with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Analyst and cartographer of water resources in southeast Europe and Alaska. Collected field data and field trainer for the Building Local Community Resilience for the Sustainable Development of Watersheds in South Eastern Europe (CRESSIDA) project.
Results were reported in internal reports and in scientific journals such as River Management Society. Results were orally presented at the Interagency Hydrology Commission of Alaska, the Alaska branch of the National Fish Habitat Partnership, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Arctic Data Center, and on quarterly teleconferences with State and Tribal stakeholders.
Collaborated with the Alaska DNR, Alaska DEC, the Alaska DF&G, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Nature Conservancy, the Great Land Trust, and Chickaloon Native Village.
This research was used to provide advice, a press release, and a fact sheet for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of the Army’s Memorandum of Agreement that provides guidance on wetlands mitigation requirements in the State of Alaska.

joint chairperson (2014-2020)

Balkans Peace Park Project Coordinated annual Summer Programs that provide children with Environmental Studies and English lessons. These summer programs brought hundreds of new visitors and academic research projects to the region. Trans-boundary efforts include: the 2010 International Permaculture course (Thethi, Albania); the 2010 Summer Camps coordinated with the Environmentally Responsible Action (ERA) group and The Ideas Partnership (TIP) (Rugova Valley, Kosovo); the 2014, 2015 and 2016 Summer Camps coordinated with Prokletije National Park (Plav and Gusinje, Montenegro).
Volunteered in:

2012 in Vermosh, Albania and Lëpushë, Albania
2014 in Peje, Kosovo and Plav, Montenegro and Vermosh and Lëpushë, Albania
2015 in Valbona, Albania and Vermosh, Albania, and Plav, Montenegro

rural program staff (2013)

Campfire Alaska. Kongiganak (Kangirnaq), Alaska and Tuntutuliak (Tuntutuliaq), Alaska.

exhibit: book art at Sloan Art Library at Duke University (2012)

synoptic dendrochronology research assistant (2012-2013)

Climate & Tree Ring Environmental Science (C-TRĒS) research group at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Gathered data determined distribution of like phenomenon (e.g., large-scale climate patterns) and the impacts those climatic patterns might have on the hydrologic cycle and future water resources. Measured tree rings for synoptic dendroclimatology using a Velmex measuring system. Noted patterns and data needing corrections.

graphic designer (2010-2012)

Ackland Art Museum. Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

camp counselor (2011)

Campfire Alaska. Cooper Landing, Alaska.

art instructor (2008-2010)

Marietta Museum of Art. Marietta, Georgia.

Recent talks

Global Career Night on 3/5/2025 at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

How river infrastructure can impact public access to secondary clays on 10/5/2024 at the Balkan River Summit in Montenegro

Art as Watershed Management on 4/25/2024 at the Free Flow Conference in Netherlands.

MGVC Fireside Lecture in 2023: Not that Georgia! Take a Trip with the USFS to the Republic of Georgia

MGVC Fireside Lecture in 2022: Apps, facts and lots of maps

KINY 800 AM in 2/4/2022: USFS science on the radio

KTOO 104.3 FM on 2/3/22: Cartographic adventures

USFS Accessing geospatial data in the Russia, Eurasia, and Europe Region on 8/7/2021: Recording

Writing

UAF Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station. August 2025. Art meets agriculture in ‘Water Leaves’ at the botanical garden.

Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) and Kelsey Aho. (In Review). Harvesting Clays in Alaska. Information Circular. https://dggs.alaska.gov/pubs/series/dggs/information-circular

Aho, K. and Smith, G. (2025). Plated. Edible Alaska. Fall 2025.

Zaslavskaya, O., Khasiakhmetova, D., Ianchenko, A., Liu, B., Lo, O., Lindt, N., Aho, K. (In Review). Arctic Urbanity and Creative Practices: Integrating Arts, Science, Local and Indigenous Knowledge (ArtSLInK) in Sustainable Transition Research.

Egginton, J., Wijnstra, M., Scaini, A., and Aho, K. (In Review). Mind the locals - Exploring local-river connections (in view of hydropower development) in the Upper Neretva. People and Nature.

Getting to Know Local Plants Using Clay. July 16 2024. ArtSLInK. https://artslink.space/2024/07/16/getting-to-know-local-plants-using-clay/

Haikus (2023) with Alaska Center for Energy and Power in Fairbanks: https://www.uaf.edu/acep-blog/postcards-from-the-data-edge.php

Homan, K., Aho, K., Witwer, D., Tucker, E. (2022). Stream Validation Toolkit: Preparing four geomorphic indicator layers to validate stream networks. USDA Forest Service Geospatial Technology and Application Center.

Aho, K., Robards, M., & E. Zdor. (In Review) Development and Loss of Indigenous Organizations Representing Chukotka Marine Mammal Hunters, and their relationship with Alaska Partners. ARCTIC.

Schwartz, U., Eichelmann, U., Aho, K., Molenaar, J., Sprangenberg, A., Brazão, A, Próspero, R. (2020). Rivers of the wider Mediterranean basin: Overview of hydropower plants and projects, hydromorphological status and protected areas. Floodplain Ecology and River Basin Management. 1-67.

Aho, K. B., Flotemersch, J. E., Leibowitz, S. G., LaCroix, M. A., & Weber, M. H. (2020). Applying the index of watershed integrity to the Matanuska–Susitna basin. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, 52(1), 435-449.

Flotemersch, J., & Aho, K. (2020). Factors influencing perceptions of aquatic ecosystems. Ambio, 1-11.

Aho, K. B., & Meek, C. L. (2020). Transboundary marine mammal management in the Northern Bering-Chukchi Sea Large Marine area. Polar Geography, 1-20.

Casado, M., Gremion, G., Rosenbaum, P., Caccavo, J. A., Aho, K., Champollion, N., ... & Mintenbeck, K. (2020). The benefits to climate science of including early-career scientists as reviewers. Geoscience Communication, 3(1), 89-97.

Aho, K. B., Flotemersch, J. E., Leibowitz, S. G., Johnson, Z. C., Weber, M. H., & Hill, R. A. (2020). Adapting the Index of Watershed Integrity for Watershed Managers in the Western Balkans Region. Environmental Management, 1-16.

Flotemersch, J. E., Shattuck, S. M., Aho, K. B., Cox, C. E., & Cairns, M. R. (2019). Factors influencing social demands of aquatic ecosystems. Ecology and society: a journal of integrative science for resilience and sustainability, 24(4), 1.

Casado, M., Aho, K., Bradley, A., Caccavo, J., Champollion, N., Dahood, A., Fernández, A., Fugmann, G., Gremion, G., Lizotte, M., Rosenbaum, P., Vidal, F. (2018). "Engage more early-career scientists as peer reviewers." Nature Correspondence. 307.

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