Mariana Pachón Puentes

Dates: 10/06 – 22/06

At Dinacon: I want to explore how physical space can act as an instrument by using movement, local soundscapes, and wearable technology to generate compositions. Through mapped walks, reactive audio, and possibly video processing, I would like to create a sensory encounter between body, environment, and space.

Bio: I am an emerging artist interested in games, play, and the dialog between sound and physical stimuli. I also like to play with electronics, music, photography, fabrication, sewing… too many interests sometimes.

I am also very excited to be surprised by the people, the projects, the ecosystem, and everything that I will be absorbing during my time in Bali!

Mayowa Tomori

Dates: 6/23 – 7/4
Project: Untitled Ugly Fish Project

Abstract:
The Indonesian Stargazer is a venomous, anti-social fish with a face only a mother would love. Its repulsiveness currently works in its favor, because people tend to leave it alone.

However, there may be downsides to being ugly. There’s generally more funding, public interest and conservation efforts focused on charismatic megafauna – the term given to majestic elephants, goofy pandas and other cute, but tragic hotties in the natural kingdom who can act as animal ambassadors and influencers for the movement.

For less “marketable” species (like the Stargazer), the future looks bleak – because the harsh truth is that nobody really cares if you die – when you’re ugly. Is that a foregone conclusion or can we change that?

I’m curious about what makes an animal valuable to humans? And specifically:

  • How do human biases around cuteness and the usefulness of flora and fauna impact our relationships to the natural world?
  • What does the local community think about Stargazers?
  • Is there room for ugly, unexploitable species in our ecosystem?
    • If not, how do we make the Stargazer more fuckable / useful?

Anna Franceschelli

June 21st- July 4th

Anna is an educator and artist. She practices bookbinding, weaving, natural dyes, alternative photographic processes, watercolor, and more! At Dinacon 2025, she plans to work with native plant narratives to create a piece that helps preserve existing knowledge. More to come!

Emily Volk

Emily Volk headshot - 5 foot 4 inches woman with shoulder length sandy blond hair. Standing against wood door in Stockholm, Sweden

What does it mean to tell scientific stories that connect, inspire, and spark change?

Digital Narrative Project – https://digitalnarrativeproject.carrd.co/

At Dinacon: July 11-22nd, 2025, Node Leader

Project: Digital Narrative: Authentic Storytelling in a New Era

Guiding Questions: At Dinacon this year, I will be exploring what it means to communicate our discoveries, insights, and work digitally or physically using creative mediums.

  • What does it mean to communicate scientific discovery?
  • How do we tell stories grounded in discovery that move people and draw them in, tying them closer to conservation?
  • What stories and communication techniques spark ACTION?!
  • Are digital stories the right medium for us to continue to work with? How can we move past the brainrot of reels to create media that moves, and drives folks into the real, tangible world?

These are the questions we will be pondering together, culminating in different approaches to document work and bring home authentic stories we can share with global audiences.

Workshop Description: Science communication may be the crux of our time when it comes to dissemination of critical information and connecting deeply with new ideas. In this workshop, learn and practice interviewing your Digital Naturalism peers and gain familiarity with technical tools that can assist you in creating immersive and authentic digital stories to share your work with global audiences. 

Come ready with your charged laptop, phone, or personal device, as well as any audio recording equipment you have. A good pair of headphones works great, and bring a photo-taking device or microphone if you have it.

Personal note: I came to Dinacon 5 years ago, and can’t wait to reunite with so many important people in my life! And YOU!

Connect:

Find me at @em_volk in Instagram (personal account), on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-volk-connect/, and additional links at https://digitalnarrativeproject.carrd.co/

Jan-Maarten Luursema

Dates: June 13 – July 7

Projects my current self thinks I´ll be working on at Dinacon: Self-cooling artificial reefs, room-temperature genetic sample storage.

Tools I will bring: IR imaging, smartphone condensator microphone addon, passive environmental DNA samplers, analog underwater thermometer.

I have worked in art and science; probably some of those skills and attitudes are still with me now. Maker skills I picked up along the way include 3D design (CAD), 3D printing, and molding/casting. I love the living world and I think DIY bio is a great way to engage with it; my projects increasingly reflect that interest. This includes environmental monitoring of the biological kind, and teasing out the amazing stories contained in dust. Looking forward to meeting you all and figure out how we can collaborate on stuff!

I opened communications with the slime world

I helped establish there are elephants at Blijdorp zoo

Marta Verde Baqueiro

🤖

Dates: 28/6 – 5/7

I’m Visual artist, maker, creative coder & educator working at the intersection of real-time audiovisual performance, creative coding, and installation art. My work explores randomness, feedback, and generative systems as ways to embrace complexity and imperfection.

At Dinacon 2025, I’ll be developing a series of audiovisual sketches that respond to the natural environment — using open and experimental tools to explore how randomness emerges in both natural and technological systems. I’m especially interested in the ocean as a source of organic unpredictability, and in how local rhythms, textures, and patterns can be translated into generative structures.

Beyond the technical, I want to reflect on the social and cultural framing of randomness — how different languages and traditions define and interpret chance, uncertainty, and control. Through playful code, visual feedback loops, and listening to the environment, I aim to create work that is sensitive to place, process, and perspective.

I’m also looking forward to collaborating, helping others when I can, and just having fun sharing ideas and experiments!