2021, like 2020, had us continuing to hunker down and try to stay safe through this pandemic. Between projects, I spent a lot of time wandering outside with my family here in the Pacific Northwest. It was a year of growth for Life Science Studios in many ways. I had the chance to work with a lot of new clients from all over the world and create illustrations about everything from fly brains to disease transmission. Every project was rewarding and a wonderful learning experience for me. Many of my projects from this past year have yet to be published, so I can't wait to share them with you when ..read more

My favorite podcast, Journaling with Nature, asked me if I would be interested in being interviewed about science illustration. It was such a fun experience talking with Bethan Burton about nature in my childhood, my experience leaving academia and finding a career in science illustration, and how I go about collaborating with scientists to create figures and illustrations that help communicate their research. Some of the fun stuff we talk about: how growing up in a tropical rainforest sparked my love of biology, how much fun it has been to teach my daughter about the wildlife in her tempera ..read more

I am thrilled to announce that four of my Lake Tanganyika cichlid paintings are on the cover of Science Advances, highlighting research from Alexandra A.-T. Weber and her colleagues on cichlid evolution. It is wonderful to see science illustrations on the cover, and it really brings attention to the research.  The cichlid paintings are also integrated into the figures throughout the paper. Congratulations to the authors on all of your hard work! If you are interested to read the paper, click this link -> https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abg5391 ..read more

It is such an honor to have my painting of a Chinese high-fin sucker fish chosen for the cover of the scientific journal, Genome Biology and Evolution. The authors and I created this cover illustration by combining my watercolor painting with their data and adding a subtle genome sequence over the top of the painting. Most of my work is incorporated into figures, embedded inside the articles. It is really fun to see one of them out front on the cover. Thank you to the Krabbenhoft lab at the University at Buffalo for hiring me to do this work and putting out some really cool research! If you'd ..read more

When it comes to ecology, there is one field where having illustrations really helps improve accessibility and understanding. That field is Theoretical Ecology. Theoretical ecologists look at complex interactions in nature and transform them into mathematical frameworks. It can be challenging to effectively communicate theory to a broader audience. I know I'm not the only one who glazes over when they see a paper full of equations! This is where an illustration can really work to give biological context to the math. My husband is a theoretical ecologist, and I've created a number of illustrat ..read more

I have been working with Professor Karen Kapheim ever since I started working as a scientific illustrator, and I always enjoy working with her because it gives me a chance to paint bees. I have a big appreciation for bees, especially native bees. Often when we think about bees, we picture big hives or honeycomb. But did you know that there are bees that build underground burrows?  Dr. Kapheim's recent work focuses on alkali bees (Nomia melanderi), which create underground tunnel networks in the mud for their eggs. For her lab's latest paper, I created a watercolor illustration to show th ..read more

"Could you paint all of the species? There are about 250 of them." When I moved to Switzerland in 2016, I didn't expect that I would end up with a job painting all of the African cichlid fish species in Lake Tanganyika! Walter Salzburger's lab in Basel has been studying the evolution and diversification of these fish, and his team was working on a big paper. Cichlids are diverse and beautiful, but it is incredibly difficult to get accurate photos of fish. Some of these species are teeny tiny, others have only been seen rarely or never alive. So it was really important to find a way to portray ..read more

When I first teamed up with marine conservation biologist, Melissa Cronin at UC Santa Cruz, she needed paintings of manta and devil ray species and illustrations showing how rays are caught as bycatch during tuna fishing. The species are challenging to photograph and bycatch photos can be difficult to look at with an objective eye. The illustrations really helped show each species accurately and portray the fishing practices in a scientific way. As we worked together, she came up with the idea to create a poster for skippers to hang in their ships with information on the species, distrib ..read more

Like many organizations this summer, the Guild of Natural Science Illustration held their annual conference virtually this past weekend. While we all wished we could have been together, being virtual means a lot more people can participate in the event and also view the beautiful and varied artwork in this year's exhibit online. I am fortunate to have one of my pieces selected for the juried exhibit. Check out the link to see all of the wonderful scientific illustration: 2020 GNSI MEMBER EXHIBITION ..read more

For the last few years, I have been painting all 250+ cichlid fish species in Lake Tanganyika for Walter Salzburger's lab in Switzerland. Through this project, I've learned a few things about how to paint fish, and I thought I would share my process!  Step 1: Transfer the sketch I use reference photos, specimens, and feedback from working closely with experts to create the sketch. Once the sketch is finished, I then have to transfer it onto watercolor paper. For this step, I tape the sketch on the watercolor block, place a piece of carbon paper underneath, and trace the lines. The pressur ..read more