I think a lot about the role of art in science, so I decided to start sharing my thoughts in the hopes that we could start a conversation about it. How can art, illustration, and design serve to educate, inspire, challenge, inform, and entertain? Not limited to visual art, I’ll also cover how words and pictures can synergize, but also when words alone suffice. How do these various art forms advance science, and increase the public’s trust in it while holding it to the highest standard? Who are the people doing it? Join me in exploring these topics, share your thoughts too, and tell me what else you want to hear about.

I started down the path of science after choosing to major in chemistry at Purdue by a very slim margin over going to art school in Indianapolis. After a Ph.D. and postdoc, I finally combined my two loves by becoming a freelance science illustrator in 2010. Since then, I’ve also spent three years teaching chemistry and biochemistry to undergrads at the University of San Diego, three years as a visual designer at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and three years with two boys under the age of six, not in that order. You can find my illustration work at oreillyscienceart.com and you can learn more about my path from scientist to science illustrator here, here, and here. I have written essays for Science Magazine, the Boston Globe, and Severance Magazine and have contributed to Chemical & Engineering News. I work for a biomedical research institute now but this personal newsletter represents my own thoughts and not those of my employer.

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