About DWELL Projects
The Digital Writing Environments, Location, and Localization (DWELL) Lab’s projects investigate how to use emerging media for science and environmental communication. The goal of these projects is to support research and scholarship that promotes public science communication and scientific literacy within the University of Rhode Island, the writing and rhetoric community, and other diverse publics.
Grant-Funded Lab Projects
Manissean Walking Tour
“Manissean” is the name given to the indigenous people who lived on the island of “Manisses”, renamed Block Island after the Dutch explorer, Adrian Block. The Manissean peoples are a distinct tribal community that share ancestors with members of the Narragansett, Wampanoag, Niantic, and Pequot peoples. Current signage tends to erase both history and contemporary Manissean life from the public sphere. In response, the Manissean AR tour serves as a portal or threshold for the tour users, inviting them into a space of mixed reality content designed by tribal leaders and culture bearers. Learn more on the DWELL Block Island project page.
Central Passaic Basin
This is an evolving environmental storytelling project created by the DWELL Lab for the National Natural Landmarks Program as part of the Science Communication in the Parks (SCIP) project, sponsored by a collaboration between the National Parks Service and the Ecological Society of America. This project consists of web content, an interactive digital map, and augmented reality posters that together tell the story of New Jersey’s Central Passaic Basin.
North Woods Project
An immersive multimedia “classroom in the forest” experience for the North Woods on URI’s campus. This project combines augmented reality (AR), web development, and digital mapping to lay the groundwork for an ongoing research and teaching project the North Woods Stewardship Council. Learn more on the DWELL NWP project page.
Sources, Transport, Exposure & Effects of PFAS (STEEP II)
The STEEP II project (2022-2027) is studying the effects of PFAS (or or poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances) on environmental and human health. As part of this research, the Research Translation Core team is sharing information on PFASs and their human health impacts using creative, community-engaged strategies to make important findings visible and meaningful for the public. Learn more on the STEEP Website. As part of this collaboration, DWELL developed the AR game PFAS Kitchen, available on our website.
RI Agriculture & Food Systems Fellows Program
The Rhode Island Agriculture and Food Systems Fellows Program (RIAFSFP) was established in 2022 to engage and train students passionate about careers centered on food–as producers, processors, policymakers, educators, advocates, or communicators through funded, year-long experiential learning opportunities with academic researchers and industry professionals. You can learn more on the AFSFP Program Website.
Stormwater Innovation Collab
DWELL is partnering with the Providence Stormwater Innovation Center in Roger Williams Park to map and model the green stormwater infrastructure sites in the park and produce educational AR installations for public environmental education. Learn more on the DWELL Stormwater Walking Tour project page, and visit our live map to take the tour remotely or at the park!
Recent Publications from the Lab
New Article on North Woods
Jones, M., et al., “North Woods Project: Mobilizing Digital Field Methods and Art-Based Research for Science Communication and Environmental Advocacy,” Kairos, 30(1), 2025, 10.7940/M330.1.TOPOI.JONES
New Book on Rhetorical Ecologies
Dobrin, S. and Jones, M. (Eds.) Rhetorical Ecologies. NCTE, 2024. Rhetorical Ecologies invites you on a transformative journey through the history of writing and rhetoric studies’ adoption of ecology.
New Article on AR and Accessibility
Heilig, L., Jones, M. Overbay, A., and Roberts, T. “Augmenting for Accessible Environments: Layering Deep Mapping, Deep Accessibility, and Community Literacy.” Communication Design Quarterly, 12(2), DOI: 10.1145/3655727.3655731
New Article: “Tracking Memes in the Wild”
Jones, M., Beveridge, A., Garrison, J. R., Greene, A., & MacDonald, H. (2022). Tracking Memes in the Wild: Visual Rhetoric and Image Circulation in Environmental Communication. Frontiers in Communication, DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2022.883278
New Article on AR and Deep Mapping
Butts, Shannon and Jones, Madison. “Deep Mapping for Environmental Communication Design.” Communication Design Quarterly, Online First (January 20, 2021), DOI: 10.1145/3437000.3437001. [Open Access Version].
New Article on Scale and Mapping
Jones, Madison. “(Re)Placing the Rhetoric of Scale: Ecoliteracy, Networked Writing, and MEmorial Mapping.” Mediating Nature: The Role of Technology in Ecological Literacy. Eds. Sidney I. Dobrin and Sean Morey. Routledge, October, 2019, DOI: 10.4324/9780429399121-6