About Us
About Our Name
An ecotone is a place where two different ecosystems meet.
This is a place where you can find species that live in both ecosystems as well as unique species that only live in the intersections. Interestingly, you often find a more diverse group of organisms in the place where the two ecosystems come together than in the respective ecosystems themselves!
At Ecotonic Movement, the ecotone is the place where science and performing arts meet, where diverse groups gather to engage with ideas and with each other.
Ecotonic Movement brings together curiosity, fun and movement as a means for posing the question: How do we move toward a future where all creation thrives? We invite you to join us in engaging in dialogue through dance, theater, research, and conversation to ask more questions and discover answers. Together we will create ecotonic movement.
About Dr. Jame McCray
Jame McCray, PhD, founded Ecotonic Movement in 2020. She is an ecologist and choreographer whose work explores questions of place through three forms of inquiry: research, movement, and community engagement.
Currently serving as the Managing Director at the Alliance for Watershed Education, Jame’s research focuses on environmental education and management of natural resources. Her scientific interests reflect a lifelong fascination with how people move through and interact with their environments. As a dancer, collaborating artist with the Dance Exchange, and founding board member of the Superhero Clubhouse, Jame works with artists and community members to create engaging performances and workshops firmly grounded in science.
A Brooklyn native, Jame earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, a M.A. in Marine Policy from the University of Miami, and a Ph.D. from the University of Florida in Wildlife Ecology.
Jame’s Story
A Brooklyn native, Jamē developed passions for both dance and animals very early in life. At age five, she defended local anthills from careless neighborhood boys. By sixth grade, she had decided to pursue a PhD in marine biology so that she could understand why the beaches in the Caribbean had so many more plants and creatures than New York City’s.
As a teenager, she dove into science after school, with animal dissections at the Science Skills Center, while her weekends were spent at Broadway Dance Center’s teen program. While studying biology in college, she became president of the ballroom dance club and insisted on dancing salsa regularly in spite of the rigorous demands of graduate school.
While research and movement were always intertwined in her personal life, Jame realized the power of uniting them in her professional life on the island of Samoa. Stationed at the island’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment by the Peace Corps, she experienced a culture in which dance was a language that everybody spoke—a language that spoke to the past, present, and future. Already a natural storyteller with a gift for translating complex issues into engaging messages, Jame discovered how dance could spark conversations about the things we most care about.
Since returning to the United States, Jame has been seeking out and collaborating with like-minded professionals in both the scientific and performing arts domains. A lifelong learner and unshakeable optimist, she approaches social justice and climate change with the enthusiasm of an explorer.