Gunnison Island is a small microcosm of life, located on the far northwest border of the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The island has a rich history from housing Alfred Lamborne, to the Stansberry expedition, and most notably it has been home to Utah’s thousands of roosting pelicans. Every summer, these Great White Pelicans come home to the island to build nests and raise their young. However, due to the water crisis and some human intervention, the island no longer sits moated by the salty lake. With water levels so low nearly the entire south side of the island is exposed to land, and from the newfound access, predators have been spotted on the isle. In 2016, the first coyote was seen on the isolated refuge, and with the research of The Great Salt Lake Institute, they have been documented more frequently ever since. Island on Land sheds light on this micro example of the climate crisis featuring captured images of the coyotes with a trail cam over five months accompanied by Solargraphs that tracked the sun for the same amount of time, this project elaborates on the complexity of a rapidly changing ecosystem and explores the nuances and consequences of the now island on land.
Christopher Woodward 