Students dive into world of plankton

At the most basic level, we all come down to phytoplankton — the microscopic, drifting organisms that sit at the base of the ocean food web.

In the right conditions of sunlight and nutrients, the tiny phytoplankton grow and multiply, converting the sun’s energy into a food source for zooplankton, or animal plankton, which feed the next hungry mouth in the food chain. Each level eats and then, in turn, gets eaten, ultimately ending up on the human dinner plate.

A recent student installation at the Rhode Island School of Design’s Nature Lab plucked this unseen world of plankton from the depths of the ocean and put it on full display to explore and explain the interconnectedness.

Providence undergraduates Priscilla Ahn and Nicolas Baird, paired by their dual interests in science and art, blazed a unique trail this summer in the blending of the seemingly disparate disciplines.

Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR funded the duo in their effort. Ahn, a sophomore at the Rhode Island School of Design from Garden Grove, Calif., and Baird, a senior at Brown University from Oracle, Ariz., focused their research project on the visualization and imaging of marine plankton.

“Our goal was to research current methods of science communication and develop new methods,” Baird explained. “And, we wanted to implement the new methods in a way that would effectively engage viewers and inspire them to learn more.”

Finding artistic inspiration in science and discovering science through art is an emerging field that bridges the gap between lab data and free flowing creativity.

Both disciplines spring from curiosity and passion, and find common ground in the wonder of the world. Artists and scientists alike explore ideas and test conventional wisdom. Bringing the two together bridges boundaries and promotes a greater understanding and appreciation while piquing curiosity and furthering education.

At RISD, Ahn is working in a dual degree between both campuses, with majors in cognitive neuroscience & furniture design. On the Brown campus, Baird will graduate with a major in visual art and science and society.

The SURF experience

Under the guidance of RISD Nature Lab Director Neal Overstrom and Digital + Media graduate assistant David Kim, Ahn and Baird pursued their research project during Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR’s 10-week Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program.

Overstrom said, “In the end, part of their research was expressed through an art installation. However, from the beginning, their questions were informed by the same kind of literature review and investigation of prior work as required of any straight scientific investigation.”

Rhode Island students earn SURF grants through a competitive application process. Once accepted, SURF students engage in full-time, independent research projects in the laboratory of a faculty mentor.

SURF coordinator Jim Lemire, an adjunct professor of biology and marine biology at Roger Williams University, said the program provided undergraduates with an opportunity to engage in independent research in a much more rigorous and complete way than they are able to during the school year.

“By being able to dedicate all summer to their projects, students experience research as a ‘real world’ activity — not as a simple, guided classroom exercise with a known end-point,” Lemire said. “With SURF, students are exposed to all the complexities and unknowns intrinsic to the research process, and must learn how to handle complications that arise in real world situations.”

Since the program’s inception in 2007, Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR has supported 175 SURF students under the mentorship of 76 faculty members at eight of the nine partner campuses.

Describing the inspiration for the pair’s SURF project, Ahn said: “Together, phytoplankton and zooplankton form the base of ocean food webs and play important roles in planetary photosynthesis and carbon cycling. Public understanding of their influence on ocean systems is a crucial aspect of marine science literacy, yet it is often difficult to draw public attention to life at this scale.”

Plankton as art

The students presented their work at the 2013 SURF Conference hosted by the University of Rhode Island Aug. 2. They also created a full-scale installation at RISD’s Nature Lab at 13 Waterman Street that wove together marine science research, science communication design, and public engagement. The duo covered the exhibit walls with large format images of plankton collected locally and created with microscopes in the Nature Lab. iPad screens with “quilts” of plankton images showed detail and species diversity as well as plankton movement.

“I believe that innovative thinking benefits from the ability to move between the unconstrained exploration of artistic inquiry and the experimental rigor of science. For students to be able to experience and develop these connections is a valuable skill for whatever professional path they choose.”

Using multi-touch interaction and custom images, Ahn and Baird pulled together a visual art display, scientific research, public interest and personal experience — all components of a multimedia exhibit that aims to stimulate conversation between the science and art communities. Reflecting on the project outcome, Overstrom said, “I was really impressed by the way they thought through the core question of how to develop visualization techniques that would get the public interested in marine plankton.”

The pair took time to understand how people comprehend the concept of scale while expanding their firsthand knowledge about the diversity of marine plankton in Rhode Island coastal waters. The project also required utilizing techniques required to get high-quality images of living specimens and tackling the challenges of creating representations in large format.

Overstrom said the project fosters an understanding of the idea of scale that might not emerge in other forms of visualization. In terms of science communication, the exhibition represents a form of engagement that brings together both cognitive and affective learning.

In a broader sense, the students’ work holds significance when viewed from the perspective of the two intersecting fields of art and science.

“I believe that innovative thinking benefits from the ability to move between the unconstrained exploration of artistic inquiry and the experimental rigor of science,” said Overstrom. “For students to be able to experience and develop these connections is a valuable skill for whatever professional path they choose.”

By Amy Dunkle