In this article in the journal Natural Sciences Education, faculty from Kansas State University describe a watercolor training assignment that enhanced undergraduate ornithology students’ ability to identify several species of waterfowl.
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NOAA has archived a webinar focused on visual communication of research results.
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Artist Mike O’Brien shares the drawing resource that has been most impactful for enhancing his ability to draw people. Read through the comments for trouble-shooting tips, if you have issues downloading the files in the linked-to article.
Read MoreCarolyn Trietsch writes in Science about the significant role that regular craft-making has assumed in her entomology department at Pennsylvania State University-University Park. The article points to valuable benefits including transdisciplinary collaborations and networking across labs, art-based science communication and outreach, and entomological collections curation.
If you are working in, interested in, and/or supportive of art-science integration, this extensive list of citations curated by Art = Opportunity may be useful for your project justification, fundraising efforts, etc. Excerpt from the Art = Opportunity project website: “ART=OPPORTUNITY is a campaign started in San Diego County, funded by a grant from the Stuart Foundation, and highlighting arts…
Excerpt from the paper Ten simple rules for drawing scientific comics: There are few scientists who haven’t heard of Randall Munroe, the artist behind the web comic “xkcd,” which features amazing graphic explanations on everything from climate change to data storage. These comics are widely appealing to a diverse audience and are posted on walls in laboratories and pubs alike. The ideas…
Image: screenshot from the book’s website Looking for inspiration for how to communicate about the complex topics you study or work to share? We recently came across a graphic novel that might give you ideas. From the publisher: “Do you know what your brain is made of? How does memory function? What is a neuron and how does it work?…
This week, Bethann Garramon Merkle responds to the #MySciComm questions! Bethann is an artist, writer, instructor, editor, and consultant who blends visual storytelling and science communication. She’s also a SciComm Section co-founder, the section chair-elect, and our webmaster. She is passionate about a) integrating drawing into education, research, and communication efforts, and b) the role stories play in shaping public…
#sketchyourscience at #ESA100 settled it. This will be an #ESASciComm tradition for years to come! pic.twitter.com/Ta8YIVo5BZ — B.G. Merkle talkin’ abt Hard Things 😷✊🏽 (@commnatural) August 17, 2015 At ESA’s annual conference/meeting (#ESA100) our section had a booth at which we encouraged folks to sketch their science. We were blown away by how many people enthusiastically did so.
Enhance your sketching toolkit at the #ESA100 “Communicating Science Vividly” workshop! Guest post by Bethann Garramon Merkle Everyone can sketch – even you. Sketching in the field to complement data collection? #doodling4science #outofthebox #scicomm #ESA2014 #pinkjuniper pic.twitter.com/VxEzvMpGbn — Dr. Pika Jo Varner (@johannavarner) August 10, 2014 Researchers have demonstrated that drawing (even without training) can: aid learning & memorization help clarify what…
If you cruised through our SciComm resources and Multimedia SciComm Guide thinking, “Read that. Yep, read that. Read that, too…” here are a few more SciComm resources you can explore. Some are fairly recent, and some are ‘oldies but goodies.’
It’s happening! Multimedia SciComm is catching on, and our workshop participants are chief vectors for distributing the bug. Our last post was about Johanna Varner and the research she does on pikas. Inspired by Johanna’s own sketches, produced during our workshop, the Pikas on Ice post featured some delightful pika sketches by Jennifer Landin. Pikas on Ice! http://t.co/8awa46SayY Nice Ecotone…
*This piece was originally published on ESA’s EcoTone blog. Adorable and fuzzy, American pikas (Ochotona princeps) have become the spokes-critter for the consequences of climate change in alpine areas. These little fuzzballs, more closely related to rabbits than rodents, are specialized for living on the rocky slopes of mountains. They’re very sensitive to hot summer temperatures, and so, as temperatures…
*This list is dynamic, and in-development. Feel free to make suggestions (use the comments section or contact us directly) re additional resources and great examples that should be included. INSPIRATION Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (link to Facebook page) Nocturnal wonders: looking closely at moths New species at risk book written in indigenous languages by GNWT departments of Environment and Natural Resources and…