Andi Wolfe, an evolutionary biologist and associate professor in the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology (EEOB), is also a professional photographer and wood-turner. She exhibits and sells her own work, and her art, particularly her photography, informs her research and vice versa. She has long encouraged her students to do the same.

In autumn 2014, she turned that encouragement into a workshop, Communicating Science via Photography, teaching 12 EEOB graduate students how to translate science into engaging images. Given the compelling confluence of science and art that it provided, he has repeated the workshop during the spring 2016 semester.

“Most of the students who take the class do not have much experience with photography,” Wolfe said. “So, first we cover the basics of how to make a photo, and then we work on how to make a photo that can tell a visual story.”

However, for Wolfe, it is not just about mastering a set of new skills. The goal is to tell a compelling story, then share it in as many ways as possible. The exhibit of their work on April 26 in Jennings Hall Auditorium is just one of those ways.

“By the end of this workshop, they should know how to use a photo to tell a story and will have created a portfolio built on a theme they are interested in sharing with a broad audience.

“I also ask them to write a short blog post that can be shared on many different social media platforms.” 

Wolfe intends to propose this as a regular course before she leaves for her field season this summer.

“It has proven to be useful to the students from both the photography side of things, and how to communicate science to a broad audience.” 

Now, Wolfe plans to take this to the national level, presenting a talk about the course during the Botany 2016 meeting in Savannah, Georgia, July 30-Aug. 3.

"It is part of a symposium I organized on, ‘The importance of communicating science.’ There will be some awesome talks in that symposium, including one from Jennifer Verdolin – the author of Wild Connection: what animal courtship and mating tell us about human relationships.”  Browse the abstracts.