Zombies and the walking dead make for good copy, but do little to advance our understanding of life and death. Unfortunately, neither did the National Geographic with a cover article entitled, "The Science of Death: Coming Back from the Beyond."

In both style and substance, Joan Wulf's artistic practice exists at a poetic nexus of nature and science. Her art has stemmed largely from her observations of the environment, both as an independent, self-governing system of matter and energy, and as an interdependent context for a range of cultural, scientific, philosophical, and industrial human activity.

What factors influence our drive to persist? Perhaps instead of encouragement along the way, we're exposed to criticism that inhibits our progress. By contrast, an appreciative audience can spur us on like a favorable tail wind.

We could all understand more about the basic elements around us. Air. Water. Soil. Maybe that knowledge will lead us to wanting to protect this miraculous home we're born into -- and truly conserve it.