In our contemporary moment, the natural and social sciences, humanities, and arts are often treated as separate domains, yet their histories and futures are deeply intertwined. Writing in the early 1960s on the concept of disciplinary fracturing, ecological artist Agnes Denes introduced the metaphor of The Octopus Model. Denes theorized that as each discipline of knowledge specializes, it becomes increasingly more siloed from the others, developing its own language and modes of engagement, much like how each tentacle of an octopus is able to move and function semi-independently. However, Denes urges us to remember that all tentacles are fundamentally interconnected, just as the different fields of research are. While challenging, working across disciplines has the power to illuminate and unsettle conventions that are inherent to disciplinary specialization. Regardless of how this practice is labeled, environmental research that spans multiple disciplines can expand access to new resources and intellectual communities during these uncertain times. Like the octopus tentacles that work collectively under stress, building communities is not only strategic but also necessary in moments of structural, societal, and political instability.