The Art of Geoscience

A presentation featured at AME Roundup 2025 as part of the Geoscience Innovation session.

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Geoscience is one way of questioning the world around us. Through research, experiments and observation, geoscientists are first-hand witnesses of change in the natural world. In the current context of environmental crisis, geoscientists have a social responsibility to communicate their findings to the widest possible audience. Ultimately this communication should help find solutions and suggest direction for our society.

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Peer-reviewed journal articles and technical illustrations such as geologic maps allow for communicating data, theories and observations within the geoscience community. However, these methods rely on a technical language which is only understood by a small specialized audience. In contrast, science illustration combines simple images and plain language text, allowing delivery of the message to a much wider audience.

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There are many reasons why science illustration is so important:

• Geoscience is about observation and is fundamentally visual. In the geosciences, illustrations have the power to show what our eyes cannot see, such as the extinct, the incredibly large or small, or the evolution of a process.

• Science illustrations are an engaging, aesthetic way to communicate. They make complex science accessible by using quantitative data to inform, and value, qualitative observations.

• Visual stories are an integral part of our ancestral genetic heritage. Prehistoric cave paintings may be the most ancient form of expression and communication. Since Antiquity, natural science illustrations have also contributed to the dissemination of knowledge.

• The cognitive processes behind our perception and understanding of images as language are fascinating. While icons have a universal reach, other images may me interpreted differently depending on the individual’s culture, education, and personal experience. The interpretation of an image is the result of all data received by the external senses. With the right balance of text, visuals and colours, science illustrations can clearly deliver a message almost instantaneously.