Vanessa Harden

Vanessa Harden is an artist, designer, and ecological researcher whose work explores how public intervention, environmental education, and living systems can reshape urban life. She is the founder of Subversive Gardener, an IF Concept Award-winning project turned non-profit organization focused on guerrilla gardening, public action, and ecological literacy in cities.

Her current research focuses on mycorrhizal networks and the role of soil fungi in supporting plant connectivity, resilience, and urban ecosystem health. Through BioLink Designs, she develops tools and strategies for integrating soil biology, ecological connectivity, and regenerative infrastructure into the built environment.

Vanessa has taught at New York University and Toronto Metropolitan University and has served as a guest critic at numerous institutions. At NYU, she founded IDM.Grow, a research group dedicated to agricultural technologies and their practical applications. She has spoken widely about public interventions as vehicles for drawing attention to urgent social and environmental challenges.

Her work has been featured in Vogue, The Guardian, Wired, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Vice, CNN, BBC, and other outlets, and exhibited at venues including the Venice Biennale, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Royal Institution. She holds degrees from the Ontario College of Art & Design, the MIT Media Lab, and the Royal College of Art, and recently completed a Doctor of Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.