Evan Barbour (“Along Came a Spider”) graduated from Reed College in 1999 with a B.A. in psychology. Since then he has worked as an environmental educator. Spending much of his time outdoors, Evan has developed interests in ornithology and entomology and hopes these interests will develop into areas of professional expertise. He drew birds at Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology, after which he hoped to return to the West Coast to intern at the Oakland Museum of California and illustrate a book on California owls.

Christine Field (“The Creativity Conundrum”) has a B.A. in music from U.C. Berkeley and a certifi cate in graphic design and visual communication from U.C. Santa Cruz extension. She has run a successful graphic design business in Los Gatos for the past eight years, and is now ready to embark on a wildly successful illustration career. This summer, Chris worked with an animator getting ever closer to her goal of making science animation her livelihood. In her spare time, Chris frolics with her husband and new daughter, hiking whenever possible.

Holly Gray (“Global Fever”) graduated from U.C. Santa Cruz in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in biology/environmental studies. She has moved to Alaska to pursue unemployment in tree climbing and raindrop dodging, and she also hopes to refine her rock painting skills.

Megan O’Dea (“Staring at the Sun”) earned her undergraduate degree from Iowa State University in biological/pre-medical illustration. She then worked for a year as a graphic artist in a small printing company in her home state of Nebraska before coming to University of California, Santa Cruz. She spent her summer interning at the Bermuda Natural History Museum, Aquarium and Zoo. So far her career path has taken her places she didn’t fathom, and she hopes that continues as she pursues a freelance career in illustration. Megan’s ultimate dream is to spend her mornings on the golf course and her days in the studio!

Nicolle Rager (“Recipe for Life”) received a bachelor’s in biochemistry from Lewis and Clark College in Portland. Working in a biochemistry laboratory for three years, she found the overall hypotheses and rationales inspiring, but the day-to-day bench work left her lost in details, without the time or energy to explore other aspects of science and beyond. She considered forgoing her science education for fi ne art, but feared that by commercializing her art she risked spoiling her reprieve from the stresses of the world. Scientific illustration seemed the perfect avenue to explore subjects in the broader biological and scientifi c spectrum, while allowing her to focus on shaping her artistic skills into a new set of tools. Her goal is to create visually engaging, accurate illustrations that help explain things that are difficult to visualize, whether they be microscopic or grand in scale. Her internship was at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

Lucy Reading (“Teaching an Old Owl New Tricks”) received her B.A. in American studies from the University of Kent at Canterbury, England. She specialized in American literature. In 2002, Lucy made a dramatic move from the U.K. to California, to study scientific illustration at Santa Cruz. It was not a surprise for family and friends, as Lucy had always shown that her prime passion was for drawing. This summer Lucy found herself lucky enough to intern at Scientific American magazine in Manhattan, where she soaked up some scientific American literature!

Art and illustration have been the focus of Andrew Recher (“Fish Tales”) for many years. He started private art classes at the age of eleven, and his undergraduate work includes an A.A. in illustration, and a B.A. in scientific illustration. Andrew would enjoy a staff position at a museum, aquarium or zoo, but also looks forward to freelance illustration work.

Katherine Oliveri Rizzo (“Mind Over Stomach”) graduated from St. Mary’s College of Maryland with B.A. degrees in biology and studio art. Scientific illustration just seemed to be a natural fi eld to go into. Her mediums of choice are color pencil and watercolor and she is mainly interested in illustrating zoological subjects. Outside of illustration, Katherine enjoys horseback riding and equestrian sports. She hopes to establish herself as a freelance illustrator and riding trainer in the Washington, D.C. area.

Rachel Rogge graduated from Humboldt State University in Northern California in 2002 with a B.A. in art history and a B.S. in science illustration. As an undergraduate, she worked as an illustrator/display artist at the H.S.U. Natural History Museum. As a science illustrator, Rachel hopes to continue to share information about the world with whoever is willing to look.

Nadia Strasser (“The Light of Dr. Jean Brodie”) graduated from the University of California, San Diego in 1998 with an independent composite degree in biology (behavior, ecology, and evolution) and studio art, and a minor in psychology. Before attending the program at U.C. Santa Cruz, she worked in jobs ranging from research to architecture. She completed two internships this summer and fall: the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and Scientific American magazine in New York.