Ready to dream?
Jones Falls 2076 Dreamwalks:
Life in the Jones Falls: Past, Present and Future We Determine
Join us for one of our six Jones Falls 2076 Dreamwalks as we explore the Jones Falls trail and discuss the past, present, and future of the local environment and the wildlife that inhabit it. What can we learn from nature and its history that can inspire our present and future ties to the river?
Thursday, August 27th, 2026
Meet at the Stieff Silver Building at 5 pm
800 Wyman Park Dr, Baltimore, MD 21211
The Jones Falls River has been partially hidden below I-83 for over 50 years, overlooked and mistreated. How might we radically reimagine our river as the center of a reconnected and ecologically vibrant Baltimore?
Jones Falls 2076 is a speculative design project to envision aspirational and quixotic futures for the river in 2076, half a century from now. This series of River Reimagining workshops, art exhibitions, discussions, and publications will encourage radical dreaming and summon collective action on the future of the Jones Falls.
Walk Guide: Stanley Kemp, PhD – Professor, University of Baltimore
I have been a professor at the University of Baltimore since Fall 2008, having taught classes at Ursinus College, University of Pennsylvania, and Penn State Berks prior to that. I’ve been an active researcher on Baltimore area streams and fish communities since 2009. The nearby Jones Falls has been at the center of research and questions I have asked since that time, and I continue to bring students outside to the Jones Falls to witness its potential, limitations, and issues. It’s a great natural lab to examine the process of environmental science: using what we know to make environmental problems better.
Of particular interest to me are the mechanistic effects of urbanization on stream biota, watershed and stream restoration, and filling in the many gaps in the knowledge base relevant to understanding and predicting impacts of restoration, climate change, and green infrastructure on stream biota. Recent publications relative to the proposed project include those on the knowledge gap in stream biota and its impacts on restoration (Kemp, 2014), effects of high flows on fish species nesting activity (Kemp, 2017), on impacts of rain gardens on fish communities (Dovel et al. 2015), impacts of heated runoff (Zahn et al., 2021) and a recent AFS- featured publication modeling flow impacts of climate change and urbanization on local fish communities (Kemp and Kemp, 2023). I have studied fish and benthic invertebrate communities, monitored urbanized streams, and incorporated underwater videography into my research since 2013.
I have walked and worked in the Jones Falls for 50 yrs, and remember well Dr Kemps work from my days with the Baltimore Ecosystem Study.
I’m looking forward to a discussion that centers on the biology of an urban stream (albeit with some urban hydrology and engineering sprinkled about.)
Ken
Thank you, @Julianne , for organizing this wonderful walk, and @anand for sharing the Jones Falls 2076 project once more. And thank you to Stanley Kemp, for guiding us and sharing so much knowledge—we learned a ton! Seeing herons and a turtle along the way was such a treat. It was a real pleasure to experience this part of the city through the river. You almost forget where you are and how much of the river is sadly hidden downtown. A beautiful and thought-provoking experience!