The University of California, San Diego Library is partnering with the San Diego Museum of Natural History for an exhibit that celebrates the intersection of art and science.

The “Art of Science” contest was created to highlight the beauty that emerges in the course of scientific research at the University of California, San Diego and beyond.

Metadata librarian Abigail Pennington created the contest inspired by a collection in the UC San Diego Library repository called the Cell Image Library.

“These are images from the microscopy center on campus,” Pennington said. “We have tens of thousands of images, so we take them in over time, and when they are in our repository, we go through them all and discover amazing things that are going on. And they’re beautiful. At first I don’t know what I’m looking at, but I read that they’re bacteria injected with some kind of pigment. Breast cancer cells. ”

As a metadata librarian, Pennington works with researchers and research data. Together with a small team of curators, she is responsible for meeting with researchers and figuring out how to organize all the data so that other researchers can access and reuse it.

This year, Pennington is excited to bring “the art of science” to more people through a new partnership with the San Diego Museum of Natural History (The Nat).

“They do this every day, so I think it’s a great partnership,” Pennington said. “They take science and make it understandable and accessible to the average visitor. It’s about providing an opportunity, because these are beautiful, so when they get our attention, they dig a little deeper and say, ‘Hey, what’s going on with this image? What’s the science behind this? I think it’s interesting because there are some serious issues out there right now regarding climate change and pandemics, and it’s time for researchers to be able to explain their work in an understandable way. I think we’ll learn from these researchers and what they’re doing, and maybe see what’s on the horizon?”

In its second year, Art of Science solicited submissions from UC San Diego students, researchers, and affiliates. Applicants were asked to submit images or graphics that told a story about their research. They were also asked to submit along with a caption describing their research in an attractive and accessible way for non-scientists. The winners were then selected by a jury of UC San Diego faculty, campus and community administrators.

Dr. Addy Ken is a candidate at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, who studies corals and algae to see how they respond to heat stress associated with global climate change over the long term. increase. She also helps teach a phycology (study of seaweed) course.

She won last year’s contest.

“I’m a scientist by training, but I’m also an artist, so I’m very used to thinking about the relationship between art and science,” said Ken. I create many digital illustrations that are used as conceptual diagrams and infographics for other educational resources, so I am a strong advocate of how art and science are interconnected.”

This year she submitted another winning entry, Seaweed Kaleidoscopes.

“I am really excited that seaweed has been recognized in this way,” said Ken. “They are usually overlooked or underrated, but personally, they are one of my passions. Not only are they beautiful, but I think they are really important. It’s a food source for humans, and it can also be used by humans in aquaculture, biofuels, medicines, and climate change mitigation. Yet it’s often underestimated and overlooked. But it also conveys value in such a way.”

Khen explains the production process for this piece: You can put seaweed and wax paper on top of it, surround it with something that absorbs moisture such as blotter paper or newspaper, sandwich it with cardboard, place it between these wooden boards, and put a heavy object on top of it. I can do it. Once the seaweed was dry, I took a photo and used Photoshop to digitally add a kaleidoscopic effect. ”

The winning work is currently on display at the UC San Diego Library Won Avery Breezeway and on the first floor of the San Diego Museum of Natural History at Balboa Park through October 24th.