Scientific Expedition // 2021
Re-wilding the Quinnehtukqut River
The female-lead ‘Boatanicals’ expedition with ‘The Seed Huntress’ Sefra Alexandra aims to educate and bring awareness to the power of restoring native species along the river bank and in local farms.
Introduction
On a warm day in September 2021, I accompanied Explorers Club Member Sefra Alexandra (known as ‘The Seed Huntress’ on an expedition on the Quinnehtukqut River, which is theAlgonquian term for ‘place of the long river’, and where ‘Connecticut’ gets its name.
The expedition, cleverly titled ‘BOATanical’ focused on rewilding by planting native plants in the soils and farms along the river. These in turn support pollinators, setting off a virtuous cycle of conservation.
The Team
Made up of Botanists, collaborators and an enthusiastic support crew, the expedition loaded in their double-hulled Polynesian style outrigger and started paddling downstream, shooting clay balls filled with seeds onto the river banks. Sefra has built a bank of local seeds which, through her expertise, she helps bring to farms and local organizations, as well as directly to the river banks.
Sefra Alexandra
Saralila Rose
Lauren Palsa
Conservation as a lifestyle
Expeditions like this, even trips close to home, represent something unique, a way to interact with the environment in a way that harkens to the past and represents an optimistic future. Environmental destruction reigns world over. But local success stories, like the resurgence of diversity in the Hudson River valley and New York City’s waterways, give new vigor to these kind of projects. At the intersection of science and lifestyle is something wonderful. A celebration of the Quinnehtukqut River as a giver of life, a source or rejuvenation and unabated fun.
Imagine for a minute, spending your weekends, guided by a botanist, paddling down a river, rewilding its banks with native plant species.
This is what these projects are about. And it’s also what I try to convey with my photography of them. At the other end of environmental activism is a newfound connection with the world around us.
In these images, we are introduced to expedition members Nate and Joe, as well as The Seed Huntress’s brother Jesse of @readiness_collective and his dogs, who needed a little reassurance but ultimately took to the water with confidence.
WINGS WorldQuest
Sefra has carried the flag of WINGS WorldQuest, a female-focused exploration organization, on several of her expeditions, and carried it again for this one.
With thanks to The Explorers Club Magnus Karlson, Elinchrom, Tushar Khandelwal and Sefra Alexandra for making this shoot possible.