Everything we design sits between the natural and the artificial — natural perception and artificial notation, natural ecosystems and designed experience, natural intelligence and machine intelligence. We are interested in where these intelligences might converge in new ways to support vibrant living and healthy ecosystems.

The ocean is changing, but people don't realize that they can taste it. We build sensors to see that waste is visibly spreading across its surface. Meanwhile, the majority of ocean waste lies below awaiting sensors that can see it. A whale is communicating, but you can't hear what it means. A strawberry carries the history of everything that was traded away to get it to your supermarket, but nobody taught you to read flavors. Researchers in different fields are all too often working on similar problems without realizing it.

N+A Labs builds and exhibits novel ways to perceive what's already there. Edible installations that translate climate data into something your mouth can understand. Sensory portraits of species whose worlds we've barely begun to map. Flavor and fragrance archives organized not by taxonomy, price, or shipping resilience, but by the sensory observations of the people who taste and grow and blend them.

N+A Labs launches in March 2026 with a new program of research, fellowship, and exhibition.

Led by Professor Beth Altringer Eagle at Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering, the lab brings together practitioners, researchers, and designers working across perception, ecology, and intelligence.

Projects, team, and fellowship details coming soon.