Christina Stadlbauer
Christina holds a PhD in chemistry and has been working with bees in city environments for some years. She is busy with interdisciplinary projects around bees, urban eco-systems and wild plants and herbal medicine. Christina currently lives in Brussels, Belgium and has collaborations with FoAM, Brussels and the University of Natural Sciences, Vienna.
More on Bees in Urban Contexts: http://apiary.be
Kaisa is a PhD student in an Urban Ecology Research Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki. Her studies concentrate on restorative and aesthetic experiences of people in urban green spaces. Currently, she is studying the experiences of people related to dead wood logs in urban forests and built parks.
Johanna Sinisalo
Aila Johanna Sinisalo is a Finnish speculative fiction writer, who herself prefers her works to be classified as “Finnish Weird”. Sinisalo was awarded the Finlandia Prize for literature in 2000 for her first novel, Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi (translated as Not before sundown in 2003 and again as Troll — A Love Story in 2004 for the American market).The novel has been translated into several languages. An English translation of “Linnunaivot” was published in 2010 by Peter Owen Publishers under the title “Birdbrain” (translated by David Hackston). Not Before Sundown was awardedThe James Tiptree Jr. award in 2004. Movie rights were acquired by Carter Smith in 2006. She was nominated for a Nebula Award in 2009 for Baby Doll. She is also one of the screenwriters of Energia Productions Iron Sky movie, a sci-fi comedy set in 2018.
Her last novel Enkelten verta (The Blood of Angels) was published in autumn 2011.
“The Blood of Angels shows what effects bee vanishings have on the whole world’s food economy. The author skillfully merges hard data, her solid knowledge, ancient mythology and the harsh language used on the internet. She is a master of combining different worlds.” – Praise from the P.E. Svinhufvud Literary Prize jury
“What is delightful about Johanna Sinisalo’s novels is her way of describing a weird world in a natural way, without emphasizing the weirdness. That’s why it is so easy to accept her visions, to take them as granted, and to focus on the content. What is also pleasing is Sinisalo’s way of limiting the theme: not everything has to be crammed into one novel. The new novel, The Blood of Angels, is fine evidence of these characteristics of a storyteller.” – Suomen Kuvalehti
Source for translations of the book: http://www.ahlbackagency.com
Ulla Taipale
Ulla Taipale (1971, Tampere, Finland) has been working since 2005 as an independent curator and cultural producer. In her practice she focus on linking natural sciences, technology, art and culture beyond its strict disciplines and has curated and organized numerous international events, exhibitions, workshops and seminars with organizations such as CCCB (Barcelona), El Matadero Madrid, El Laboral Gijón in Spain and Kiasma, Turku2011 and Pixelache in Finland. Since 2011 she works in Aalto University as a coordinator of a new platform, Future Art Base / Biological Arts.
FAB / Biological Arts incorporates art, biology, technology and related contents, from biological art courses at Aalto University to long term research projects such as Melliferopolis for multidisciplinary working groups and audiences. The aim of Future Art Base / Biological Arts is to introduce Aalto students and the public in general to the biological arts and to create cultural discussion around life, biological processes and modern biotechnologies in theoretical as well as in practical, hands-on level. The new laboratory installations in Otaniemi Campus will be opened in autumn 2012 and will offer a place for bio-artistic research, education and production.
Tere Vadén
Tere Vadén is a philosopher working with questions in the philosophy of mind, language and art. He has published books on ethics and contemporary art Rock the Boat (Salon, Köln 2003, with Mika Hannula) and the theory of artistic research Artistic research. Theories, methods, practices (University of Gothenburg 2005, with Mika Hannula and Juha Suoranta). His most recent book is Wikiworld (Pluto, London 2010, together with Juha Suoranta), discussing the political economy of digital learning. Vadén is also one of the editors of the Finnish philosophical journal niin & näin.
Stephen has an M.Sc. in Morphological Ecological Zoology from Helsinki University and will complete his Ph.D. degree in 2012. He is a member of the Urban Ecology Research Group and teaches graduate courses on Conservation Biology, Species identification and Urban Ecology. He is Secretary General of the European Dry Grasslands Group EDGG, is a member of the Society for Conservation Biology (European Division), Royal Entomological Society and British Ecological Society. In addition, Stephen has been chairman of the Nature Conservation Organization Espyy of his home city, Espoo, since 2002 and was awarded the Espoo medal for this work in 2011.
Stephen is currently working for the Finnish Science Academy funded project GreenEnhance, doing research on plant-insect communities of urban dry meadow habitats. He is also coordinator of a project to establish dry meadow habitats on former landfill sites in the Helsinki metropolitan region. His work for this project includes the supervision of studies on carabid beetles, bees, butterflies and ants. Stephen also works on the conservation of threatened species of carabid beetle and the ecology of urban green spaces.
Ferenc is a post-doc researcher at the Urban Ecology Research Group of Helsinki University. He is primarily specialised on soil zoology and invertebrate ecology in urban areas. Ferenc is involved in the zoology research of urban green roofs in Helsinki. He and his colleagues attempt to describe the most important drivers that shape invertebrate communities on green roofs.
Saana works at the Espoo Adult Education Centre as a textile teacher, team leader and gardener. She has an MA in education and gardening and is currently involved in the Gardens For All project for Helsinki World Design Capital 2012.
