Cornelia Blik (“Sniff. Sniff. How Does a Lobster’s Nose Know?”)
B.A.(English literature) Bristol University, UK
Yesterday I was sitting in the Capitola surf, basking in the late summer sun, when I turned around and saw a harbor seal staring right at me. That's not bad for someone who grew up in the middle of London. America is an amazing place "an abundance of wild, vibrant beauty" and I can hardly believe I ended up here, on this course, with a year to look, learn and draw, marvelous!
Internships: Museum of Natural History, London, UK; Scientific American magazine, New York.

Alicia Calle (“How to Speed-Read a Gene”)
B.A. (graphic design) Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Colombia; B.S. (biology) Universidad de Antioquia
Imagine yourself growing up in a place where new species are discovered every day; a small place that houses more bird, orchid or reptile species than Europe and North America together; a place with ecosystems unique in the world, full of endemic species; a place so rich that the word "biodiverse" just won't do, and has to be called "megadiverse." Then imagine such a place being destroyed before your eyes, and you cannot help it. I come from such a place, and my being here is no coincidence. It is my simple way of contributing - by leaving behind some significant testimony for those who won't be as lucky as I have been, and will learn about the wonders of the tropics only through our stories and illustrations.
Internship: Scientific American magazine

Tara Dalton (“The Seafood Dilemma”)
B.A. (biology/art) UC Santa Cruz
The day I realized Science Illustration was my calling was during a tropical biology field study in Costa Rica. Surrounded by a breathtaking abundance of biology, amazing processes to study and organisms to discover, my classmates were consumed by their research projects and the latest journal article on treefall gaps and cloud forest succession. The nature there inspired me immensely, but unlike my classmates my inspiration was not to study but to draw. Through drawing I am allowed to explore my subject in such depth that it becomes a part of me. Every segment of a silver beetle's antennae, every feather on the back of a scarlet macaw, these are the things that I love. Through my art I hope to inspire in others the same reverence for the natural world.
Job with photographer Franz Lanting followed by an internship at National Geographic magazine.

Karina Ingrid Helm (“The Big View on Tiny Algae”)
B.A. (biology/art) Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA
Throughout high school and college I was always the odd one out, trailing behind my friends, distracted by the way an ivy could so efficiently and delicately attach itself to a concrete wall or watching a limpet slowly graze in a tide pool. I remember thinking at age 15 that illustrating biological textbooks would be the ideal job, but I got distracted along the way and thought of becoming a medical doctor (along with every other freshman bio major) or even a creative writer (what was I thinking?). Three and a half years later, with graduation looming in the horizon, a random internet search brought UCSC's Science Illustration program to my attention. At that moment the realization hit that I really could meld my love of biology and art into a career, and there was even a program to teach this amalgamation. So here I am, ready to stare, draw, and stare some more -- perfection!
Internships: California Academy of Sciences (Paleontology), San Francisco; Shannon Point Marine Center, Anacortes, WA

Jennifer Kane (“Make This (and Maybe You Have a Cure for Cancer)”)
B.S. (biology/visual arts) Brown University
I believe I began to understand the logic behind the if science, then art / if art, then science statements that led many of us to scientific illustration, when asked by a friend of mine who attended art school why, exactly, was I still studying biology, and why, in that case, did I continue to take so many art classes. Caught off-guard and struggling to explain my seemingly irreconcilable interests, I heard myself say, "Biology. Art. They're both about observation, about learning to understand the world and to really see." This word observation resonated with me, and moreover, fascination, and beyond that even, wonder: each of these driving me to unravel DNA sequence and fill pages in my sketchbook; to find my way through forests, studios, and laboratories to the Science Illustration Program; and to seek new means of expressing the entwined beauty of scientific and creative processes, here and throughout my life.
Internship: Museum of Natural History, New York

Jack Laws (“A Hot Bet on Ice”)
B.S. (conservation and resource) UC Berkeley; M.S. (wildlife biology) University of Montana
I have been interested in natural history since childhood. In elementary school I began to make sketches of my observations. As the years progressed, my interest in natural science grew, and with it, my collection of illustrated journals. As a biologist, I am a generalist with interests from inter-tidal life to the high Sierra. I earned a Masters of Science in wildlife biology studying song birds. I have worked in education for many years, most recently for the California Academy of Sciences. I am interested in developing illustrated field guides that will be easy for amateurs to use, yet comprehensive enough for more experienced naturalists.
Internship: Writing and illustrating a field guide to the natural history of the Sierras under the sponsorship of the California Academy of Sciences

Giovanni Maki (“Mind Meld”)
B.F.A. (art) UC Santa Cruz
I am a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and have been living in the Santa Cruz area for over three years. As an undergraduate I chose art as it seemed to be the right thing to do at the time, and there is no better excuse, if you ask me. I can say that because my instincts led me to UCSC to finish my undergraduate work. And it was here at UCSC that I found what I didn't know I was looking for, my calling. I realized that I would be a science illustrator. My talent is my drawing and sculpting, but my interests are broader then my own self-expression. This just feels right.
Internship: Filoli gardens, Woodside, CA

Elizabeth Murdoch (“Listening to the Bones”)
B.S. (biology) University of Michigan B.F.A. (scientific illustration) University of Michigan
I have always loved science and art, but I could never decide what I wanted to do "when I grew up." When I thought about a career in biological research, I had difficulty focusing on one area. I soon realized that as a scientific illustrator I could delve into numerous topics of science, and learn as I illustrated. I am very interested in the forms and functions of the diverse structures and patterns found in nature. I have a specific interest in marine mammal anatomy, and I find their adaptations to the aquatic environment especially fascinating. I would eventually like to illustrate exhibits for natural history museums and marine science institutes.
Currently engaged in dolphin research at Harbor Branch, Florida

Katura Reynolds (“Echoes from the Core”)
B.A. (art) UC Santa Cruz
When I first went to college, the only thing I knew for certain was that I was not going to major in art. Then I "snuck into" a graduate level science illustration class, and I was hooked - it was more challenging and more compelling than anything else I'd studied. Since graduation, I've been working in education: two years in a museum, two years with the local Girl Scout council, and even a four-month stint with Peace Corps Honduras. But a good illustration is worth as least as much as a lecture, if not more. I'm glad to be back.
Internships at the Arctic Studies Center and the Paleobiology department of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian

Mary Sievert (“Alone in the Deep”)
B.S. (graphic design) San Jose State University; M.A. (museum studies) San Francisco State University
As an exhibit designer, the crafts of interpretation and 3D communication have been rewarding, yet all the while becoming a professional illustrator has remained a persistent life-long dream. In 1997, serendipity and a late start for a project meeting played a huge role in my arrival here at UCSC. Back then I met sculptor and GNSI member Gloria Nusse who was contracted by our team to create a large-scale bronze fly head for a National Science Foundation traveling exhibit called Animal Eyes. Prior to the start of the meeting Gloria and I talked shop a bit - I literally picked her brain as she arranged her clay model, sketches and reference materials for the team review. She encouraged me to enroll in Science Illustration summer courses at UCSC. After two classes I realized that this was the kind of work that I would love to do for the rest of my life.
Internships: Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary Foundation and the Palo Alto Open Spaces and Sciences Division