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25 August 2021
#AGURocks: BumbleBee Blues
The natural world abounds with beauty and science reveals deeper patterns that provoke new questions. Science is not only a wellspring of inspiration for musicians but the tools and data of the scientific process can be used to create music as well. For example, I have used mathematical algorithms that mimic the behavior of flocking birds, predator/prey cycles and the human cardiovascular system to create some of my music compositions.
4 August 2021
#AGURocks: Soon May the Kennicott Thin
We arrived in the small town of McCarthy, Alaska in early June 2021 to quantify the retreat of the Kennicott Glacier just up the valley. As part of a project under direction of Dr. Regine Hock, formerly at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and now at the University of Oslo, we measured glacial melt and installed weather stations on debris-covered ice, bare ice, and high up in the mountains.
21 April 2021
Sharing #SciArt: #AGURocks, #DrawnToGeoscience, & #RhymeYourResearch
The goal was to not only showcase thee amazing ways of communicating science via art but to also show folks the creative process behind the creations; to pull back the curtain to hopefully lower the barrier(s) to entry for those who may have thought about scicomm via art but thought that it was too difficult/they didn’t have the talent.
15 January 2021
Introducing #RhymeYourResearch
Today we are introducing a new series: #RhymeYourResearch. Inspired by our yearly workshop at our annual meeting, and a close working relationship with the folks over at Consilience, an online poetry journal exploring the spaces where the sciences and the arts meet, we want to feature folks who create science poems.
20 November 2020
#AGURocks: The Enchantment of Small Things
Emotion for Change (EfC) was born from an idea of mine, (I’m an established classic musician and an active artist for environmental sustainability and social equality) and brings together a group of musicians, artists and scientists who share the desire to communicate their enchantment and love for the “symphonic” beauty of nature.
4 September 2020
#AGURocks: The Intersection of Music and Science
I didn’t start making and recording music until college, where I met some friends who had similar interests to me. They pushed me to write songs with them in a band, which was something I had wanted to do forever, but had lacked the courage to create and perform in live settings. As I progressed through my microbiology degrees, both as an undergraduate and graduate student, I used music as a way to vent about broader institutional issues I saw in the sciences.
10 August 2020
#AGURocks: Breathing new life (i.e. geology lyrics) into old songs
#AGURocks is a series of posts by musicians who create science-inspired music and explain their process and inspiration while also showcasing their pieces. Learn more about contributing. The views and lyrics expressed in this post and song do not reflect those of Sharing Science and AGU. This week, Ben Edwards. I started playing the acoustic guitar when I was about 10, had a few years of piano and coronet lessons, …
31 July 2020
#AGURocks: Rocking natural history, ecology and evolution
Is it unusual for a Boomer full professor to pick up a ukulele and learn how to play – I can’t really answer that question but I can tell you it’s been a fun ride…
19 June 2020
#AGURocks: Bromide Hill
The song “Bromide Hill” was inspired by the strange and tragic history of Oklahoma, which is also inextricably tied with the energy industry. I found Oklahoma amazingly beautiful as well, with very interesting geology as well as ecology. I wanted to write something personal, but also rooted in the history of this place (beyond just human history).
5 June 2020
#AGURocks: Times Zones
Music has been important to me for as long as I’ve been interested in science. I never really had any music training. In high school, I constantly blared CDs in the background while working on homework (so much 90s alternative and punk rock). Often taking breaks just to focus and listen intently to the music (and procrastinate) but I started to dream of playing music.
The Plainspoken Scientist is the science communication blog of AGU’s Sharing Science program. With this blog, we wish to showcase creative and effective science communication via multiple mediums and modes.
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