The Confluence Lab incubates and implements creative interdisciplinary research projects that bring together scholars in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, and community members, to engage environmental issues in the state of Idaho. Our primary goal is to facilitate idea exchange, and our central premise is that the tools of the humanities—especially those related to storytelling, representation, emotions and communication—can help develop holistic approaches to these issues from the ground up. Our projects investigate conceptual and communication barriers that underlie debates about controversial issues especially relevant to rural communities, such as public land use, natural resource management, wildfires, drought, energy infrastructure and the causes and effects of climate change.

What we do

• Collaborate to identify challenges to addressing environmental problems
• Foster fresh approaches to these problems that encourage innovative and inclusive understandings of our environment
• Create occasions for dialogue, including performances, exhibits, readings, and symposia
• Execute outreach projects in the service of a healthier state