Words in action

“Have the simple and small have less of a right to live?”

Opening the September 19, 2025 marathon reading of Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach, English Professor Heather King posed a provocative question to attendees: “Have the simple and small have less of a right to live?”

“This is one of the central questions the book asks of its readers when it comes to animals and humans living among them,” she said. “It revolves around creating and enforcing boundaries between our world and the natural world. We can look at this question from several perspectives, like environmental studies, spatial studies, and all our humanities background.”

This year’s URReading project pushes the idea of a campus read well beyond the page. Supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and ArtsMidwest, the project combines literature with geographic information science (GIS) in a unique cross-disciplinary effort, which also stretched beyond the Redlands campus, engaging students from Woodbury University. A custom GIS mapping application, designed through a collaboration with the English department, instructional design, and geospatial technology, invites participants to log real-time human-animal encounters in their own communities.

“The map is a great example of cross-departmental collaboration and thinking spatially about our world,” said Instructional Designer Iyan Barrera-Sandri, who helped refine the survey questions. “Depending on a student’s future plans, this increased observation could help with urban planning ideas, wildlife policies, or understanding possible health issues within the community.”

Director of Geospatial Technology Julia Lenhardt played a key role in shaping the app’s technical side. While testing it herself, she logged an encounter with a tarantula hawk in her backyard.“It got me thinking about who is really invading whose space,” she said. “This simple observation led to a fascinating conversation about non-native species and climate change, and I hope the app inspires similar critical thinking among our students.”

As members of the Bulldog community continue logging their encounters through the app, they're participating in something larger—a living demonstration that sparks inquiry meant to connect us to community and the natural world. 

Learn about the next #URReading event and how Redlands engages its community through thought-provoking Literature and hands-on education in GIS.