This year’s Synergy Project Opening Reception in the Studio Blue Gallery featured a sculptural piece created by Boston-based artist, Marilu Swett, in collaboration with Alyssa Tsukada, one of our SMD PhD students. Fascinated by the sheer number of marine organisms in the food web, and the role of fluorescence and bioluminescence, Marilu created a series of whimsical sculptural pieces that glow in the dark, loosely based on marine forms. Conversations with Alyssa, and the experience of taking the research boat to collect phytoplankton samples and viewing these organisms through the microscope, resonated with Marilu’s studio process. Learning about the important role of phytoplankton research and the state of the food web prompted her thinking about the churning activity at all depths of the ocean, and the impact that human industry has had on the health of that web. Alyssa and Marilu documented their inspiration and collaborative process through the creation of an educational brochure, under Alyssa’s direction and production, which is available at the Synergy exhibit.