NatureVolve issue 12: Earth's Natural History

Special theme: Earth’s Earth’s Natural History

Issue 12

Paleoart & prehistoric creatures

Jack Horner’s Dinosaurs & more Front cover image: Triceratops, as envisaged by Jack Horner and Fabio Pastori. All rights reserved.

Jack Horner is our highlighted science communicator of the issue. Find out more in the Scicomm section.

Science

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Twitter Facebook Instagram Also see: ArtScienceNews.com A special thanks goes to all contributors of this issue, and those who provided editorial support on this issue, including: NatureVolve writers & editors Josh Gross Anastasiia Nesterenko Fahd Al-Sebaey Devin Reese Ivy Beaver Emma Cieslak-Jones Shilpa Sreesesh Ryan Charles

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Editor-in-Chief Clarissa Wright

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NatureVolve issue 12 is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Marcelle BouDagherFadel who was Professional Research Associate at UCL in London, and an expert in foraminifera; marine microscopic organisms essential to Earth’s marine ecosystems.

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Editorial note Welcome to NatureVolve issue 12 At NatureVolve, we are an international community

uniting to share our ideas in science and art with the world, through the common appreciation of nature.

While sharing diverse topics within science, conservation and art, in this issue we celebrate Earth’s Natural History, by transporting through geological histories, seeing creatures of the past, through to life as we know it in the present day.

In the section Science we look at Earth on varying scales, showcasing a fascinating array of geological specimens and fossils from the huge to microscopic. In Conservation, we explore the study of Earth’s past and present ecologies to build context around future challenges of climate change.

The front cover of this issue introduces the opening of our Scicomm section, where we have special guest Jack Horner who speaks to us about his life-long passion for paleontology. Throughout this section, we highlight amazing paleoart, artistic reconstructions of prehistoric creatures, before returning to the study of life in more recent times, with ongoing biology scicomm projects.

There is even more creativity to see in the Art section, with physics-inspired sculpture, and varied mediums used by artists inspired by nature.

Our magazine freely shares the ideas of both scientists and artists with worldwide societies by celebrating nature. Being open and inclusive, contributions in many forms are welcome.

If interested to join us and contribute to an upcoming issue, please go to naturevolve.com/submission-form and feel free to spread the word with others!

Thank you,

Clari Wright Editor-in-Chief

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Contents 5

How Scientists Use Ancient Soils to Predict the Future

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Spanish researcher presents tangled web of human evolutionary relationships

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Sci Snapshot showcase

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Ostracods: Fossil time machines into past and future ecosystems

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Conservation in Focus series

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Jack Horner: From Finding Fossil Bones to Visualizing Dinosaurs

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Paleoartist finds magic in the past and present

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Brian Murphy’s world of paleoart and fantasy

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BioArt course opens access to science

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The A Level Biologist: Over a decade of evolution

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When sculptures speak fluent physics

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Art Gallery show

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A boat ride to Howth

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Call for submissions

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How Scientists Use Ancient Soils to Predict the Future Written by Josh Gross

The Earth’s climate is changing, and fast. We have droughts in Europe, catastrophic wildfires

in the United States, and glaciers are receding worldwide. But, how do we predict what future conditions will be like, and how people will respond to them?

The soil beneath our feet holds vital clues. Dr. Diana Jordanova, a geophysicist with the National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, explains how she and her colleagues can use the magnetic properties of ancient soils (paleosols) to determine past climates. They can then sync this data with archaeological findings to see how people behaved during different climate periods. This information, in turn, can give us a better idea of what the future holds.

Continue reading to learn more about how ancient soils communicate with us via magnetism.

Above: Figure 1 – Open pit quarry in north Bulgaria, where 27m thick loess-paleosol sedimentary sequence (Pleven profile) is exposed and sampled.

Dark layers are the ancient soils formed during past interglacials. They are intercalated with pale loess layers, formed by aeolian dust sedimentation during cold glacial stages of the Pleistocene. Inset figure shows the geographic location of the study area. © Diana Jordanova. All rights reserved. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Q & A: Diana Jordanova

(Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)

Please tell us about your yourself and your research at National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography (BAS).

I am a professor at the National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Our Institute is the national organization for operating and maintaining solid Earth monitoring systems in Bulgaria, and especially seismological, geodetic and mareographic observational networks. My narrow professional experience, however, is related to the studies of the deep past history of our planet by studying the magnetic signals captured in natural archives (soils, sediments, burnt archeological remains).

These studies are carried out at the Paleomagnetic laboratory, equipped with specialized instruments unique to Bulgaria that are capable of measuring the weak magnetic signals of natural materials. Research directions in which people from our lab are actively involved are: 1. Studies of the magnetic signals, carried by sediments and soils, which are utilized as proxies to decipher past environments, the climate’s history and its role in human migrations in the geologic past; 2. Reconstruction of the history of Earth’s magnetic field using archaeomagnetic studies of burnt remains from archeological sites; 3. Estimation of the degree of anthropogenic pollution of soils, sediments and urban areas using magnetic methods; 4. Utilization of magnetic measurements in estimates of past firing temperatures of ancient ceramics and natural fires.

In your recent 2022 study published in Quaternary Science Reviews, why did you focus on a loess-paleosol profile from Kaolinovo, NE Bulgaria.

Also, what did the sediments reveal about environmental change in South East Europe in the last 540 thousand years?

In our recent article, together with colleagues from the soil research group at CEREGE (Aix-Marseille University) we show how information stored in minerals from a sedimentary succession can be utilized to reconstruct past environments.

Loess – paleosol profiles are terrestrial archives, formed by aeolian (meaning wind-blown) dust sedimentation during the Pleistocene (Figure 1).

Soil formation happened during warm inter-glacials, accompanied by “in situ” production of new strongly magnetic minerals. The amount of this pedogenic (soil-based) magnetic fraction depends on climate (temperature, precipitation). Because loess sediments have low magnetic susceptibility, while soils show high susceptibility originating from pedogenic strongly

Right: Figure 2 – Correlation of magnetic susceptibility records along depth of Kaolinovo and Pleven loess – paleosol profiles (North Bulgaria) with global paleotemperature record from oceanic deep sea cores represented by LR-04 stack of Lisiecki and Raymo, 2005 (Paleoceanography, 20, PA1003, doi:10.1029/2004PA001071).

Marked by red arrows depths represent sharp peaks of (crypto) tephra (volcanic ash) layers.

Original research is published in Jordanova et al., 2022, QSR, 292, 107671. © Diana Jordanova. All rights reserved.

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magnetic minerals, this cyclic pattern represents a detailed paleoclimate proxy record. Figure 2 demonstrates how this magnetic signal at Kaolinovo site matches the global climate record for the last 800 ky (ky meaning thousand years).

Statistical analysis revealed that significant change in magnetic minerals occurred 300 ky ago. This indicates changes in dust source and related paleo-wind directions, governed by the atmospheric circulation during glacial periods. Weaker magnetism and increased hematite content in older deposits signifies that past warm periods were much warmer than the present day climate at the study area. Magnetic records at Kaolinovo and another nearby quarry (Pleven profile) also reveal several sharp peaks representing the signal of external additions of strongly magnetic volcanic ashes, spread by volcanic clouds of past eruptions from Mediterranean volcanic provinces.

As seen in your paper in Quaternary International, what did your analysis of mineral magnetic and paleomagnetic records in alluvial soil (in NE Bulgaria) reveal about climate in the Holocene?

published in QI, presents how ancient people reacted to climate change. Soil profile, dated at about 6000 y BP, was sampled near the oldest Neolithic site in Bulgaria.

Two ratios of magnetic parameters show variations which closely match paleotemperature records from Greenland ice cores and records of flood intensities of the Alps’ rivers (Figure 3). This provides new data on the main climate variability in the area and shows the suitability of magnetic studies for paleoenvironmental reconstructions.

Figure 3 suggests that the hottest period covered by the

“The magnetism of soils, formed during the contemporary Holocene period, is a source of valuable information about the effects of climate fluctuations on human societies.”

In addition to going deep in time, the magnetism of soils, formed during the contemporary Holocene period, is a source of valuable information about the effects of climate fluctuations on human societies. Our study, Right: Figure 3. Magnetic paleoclimate proxy ratios for Koprivetz soil profile compared with Greenland temperature record from GISP2 ice core (a) (data from Grootes and Stuiver, 1999 (PANGAEA Database, doi:10.1594/ PANGAEA.56094, with 10-points running average) and Southern Alps flood activities (d) from Wirth et al., 2013 (PANGAEA Database, doi: 10.1594/ PANGAEA.823415a). © Diana Jordanova. All rights reserved.

The magnetic ratio of isothermal remanences (IRM20mT/ IRM) (shown in Fig. 3b) is sensitive to the relative amount of the weakly magnetic iron oxide hematite. The ratio of frequency dependent to anhysteretic magnetic susceptibilities (Fig. 3c) has higher values when flooding brought eroded soil material from upslope to the alluvial plane and this material was incorporated into the sampled soil profile. Original research published in Jordanova et al., 2022, Quaternary International, 631, pp. 47–58. © Diana Jordanova. All rights reserved. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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record occurred at about 2.2 ky BP, coinciding with a period of the highest flood intensity. Such conditions are favourable for the development of ancient societies, and this was the period when the Roman empire rose in Europe.

The general intensification of flood activities after 3000 y BP probably is partly caused by anthropogenic influence through forest clearance.

Conversely, a relatively cold period of one millennia during 4.5 – 3.5 y BP was the timing of intense use of fire in the technological chain at the oldest open pit gold mine in Europe, studied by us (Figure 4).

•

How do your studies of the Holocene paleoenvironment assist with our understanding of climate change patterns now and in the future?

Mineral magnetic and Interdisciplinary studies on natural archives, revealing records of past climate during the present Holocene era, as well as in deeper geologic time of glacial Pleistocene have great importance.

They are the only way to learn what would be the future state of the soil cover on the Earth with the changing climate. This has important implications for securing humanity’s food production.

Obtaining more records of local and regional climate change during the Holocene and its link to the archeological findings about ancient technologies and social behaviour is also of prime importance in planning measures for the sustainable use of resources and restricting human impacts on climate warming.

Below: Figure 4 – Mineral magnetic measurements on a collection of materials from the Europe’s oldest Bronze Age open-pit gold mine Ada Tepe (Bulgaria) were successfully applied for characterization and discrimination of ancient technological mining processes. Iron oxides in host rocks and gold mineralization are genetically linked, which predetermined suitability of rock magnetic measurements.

Fire setting caused thermal changes in natural iron oxides, which are readily detected and characterized by the magnetic parameters measured. The original study is published in: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 21, e2020GC009374. DOI: 10.1029/2020GC009374. © Diana Jordanova. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgements: This publication is supported by project DO1-164/28.07.2022 of the Bulgarian Ministry of Science and Education and project KP-06-N34/2 of the Bulgarian National Science Fund. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Final thoughts It is fascinating to know that different materials in the soil produce varying levels of magnetic signals, and that scientists can use those signals to determine what sorts of conditions existed when those soils were formed. This information, then, helps scientists like Prof.

Jordanova to “read” past climates.

Even more remarkable is that human behavior reflected those climactic conditions, and even interacted with them in ways that affected the landscape. For instance, the Roman empire grew in Europe during a warm period, which correlated with deforestation and subsequent flooding.

Prof. Jordanova’s research provides clues as to what sorts of resource use patterns we might see in coming years, which helps us plan for an uncertain future.

Who would have thought that ancient dirt, when combined with magnetism, could tell us so much?

Bio Diana Jordanova graduated as a Geophysicist at Dept. of Physics, Sofia University in 1992, with a PhD obtained at Geophysical Institute (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) with the subject “Magnetism of Holocene soils from north Bulgaria”.

Prof. Jordanova won an Individual Marie Curie fellowship (6th EU FP) at Tuebingen University (2001- 2002), and was Lecturer at Sofia University, Dept. of Physics (2007 – 2012 years).

A Full Professorship was obtained in 2012 at NIGGG – BAS. Working in mutual cooperation, Diana shares ideas and inspirations with her twin sister Prof. Neli Jordanova.

Links Email: diana_jordanova77@abv.bg Researchgate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Diana-Jordanova Science Direct links: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027737912200302X?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618222002269

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Spanish researcher presents tangled web of human evolutionary relationships Written by Anastasiia Nesterenko

In the last decade, multiple human fossils have been found by archaeologists. Many of

them belong to the genus Homo, and therefore are distantly related to modern humans.

Certain new discoveries show that the road to humanity was far more complex than previously thought. Researchers have found it difficult to place each new finding on the proverbial evolution tree – do some bones belong to a new species or a subspecies?

How are they related to other fossils?

Dr. Miguel Caparros, a researcher affiliated with Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris, France, has long worked in the field of human evolution. His studies devoted to Neanderthal findings in Zafarraya, Southern Spain, have shown him that relationships between various ancient hominins – extinct human species - were complex and he finds that current theories are not sufficient to explain their evolution. Therefore, he decided to create a new framework to better sort and understand these findings.

Right: This image illustrates the three modes of evolution related to the study of human origins: anagenesis, cladogenesis and reticulate evolution of genus Homo. Small black circles represent probable cladogenetic events and small red circles hypothesize possible introgressive hybridization events. The figure is adapted and reprinted from the publication “A Phylogenetic Networks perspective on reticulate human evolution”. https://www.cell.com/ iscience/pdf/S25890042(21)00327-8.pdf iScience 24, 102359, April 23, 2021.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.

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Q & A: Miguel Caparros

(Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle)

Please briefly introduce for our readers the two main modes of evolution that have typically defined the study of human origins Darwin’s theory of descent with modification by natural selection stated that anatomical “affinities” between any two or more species are those which have been inherited from a common parent.

Neo-Darwinians, integrating the mendelian principles of inheritance to Darwin’s theory, conceived evolution as a gradual process known as anagenesis, with transformation of species along an evolutionary lineage resulting from the accumulation of small genetic mutations. They postulated that shared primitive affinities among species was the proof of evolution.

Hennig, the founder of Phylogenetic Systematics, refined the concept of affinity. He distinguished similarity from a primitive state called plesiomorphy from similarity arising from the appearance of an evolutionary novelty called apomorphy and proposed that only the sharing of apomorphies by two species is a sign of close relatedness. His new conceptual approach was called cladistics, with cladogenesis the corresponding mode of evolution defined as the splitting of species (speciation) into two or several species further to adaptive changes, and findings expressed as a tree with branches (cladogram).

In the study of human origins, the two modes of evolution anagenesis and cladogenesis are used by various workers to explain the diversity of the genus Homo since it appeared 2.8 million years ago.

Why do you think there has been some uncertainties or doubts about these two scenarios?

The mode of evolution regarding human origins remains a subject of controversy, particularly as it relates to the two extreme models of the emergence of Homo sapiens.

The recent African origin scenario is more attuned to the cladogenetic mode, with the latest Homo genus speciation (approximately 320,000 years ago) leading to the emergence of modern humans in Africa and their subsequent expansion to Eurasia with replacement of archaic populations. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

On the opposite side, the advocates of the multiregional scenario maintain that human fossil species are very diverse and proclaim that H. sapiens emerged in various geographical locations of Africa and Eurasia by a gradual process of gene flow exchanges among archaic populations, scenario more in line with the concept of anagenesis although its proponents accept that there was speciation by cladogenesis when Homo emerged in Africa originally.

Recent advances in the field of molecular anthropology have raised some doubts on the coherence of these extreme scenarios of H. sapiens origins, and whether anagenesis or cladogenesis represents reliable explanatory modes. Uncertainties also remain today in palaeoanthropology, with unresolved issues such as the morphological delimitation of species within the Homo genus, their relatedness, the number of recognised species and even its definition.

How has recent paleogenomic research helped refresh our understanding the evolution of the genus Homo?

The main findings in recent paleogenomic research are the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome, identification of the extinct Denisova lineage, and multiple evidence of introgressive hybridization between modern humans and archaic Homo taxa.

Introgressive hybridization, the process of interbreeding with parental backcrossing between individuals of genetically differentiated but not too distant taxa, may be the principal cause of the appearance of phenotypic novelties (apomorphies), particularly as it relates to the origin of H. sapiens.

Such a process may have resulted in new lineages leading to the evolutionary emergence of new species of the genus Homo. However, defining the morphological effects of hybridization with fossil specimens is subject to controversy due to the lack of convincing evidence of developmental, environmental and heritable adaptive factors that may support inferences drawn from mixed intermediate morphologies.

The logical consequence of hybridization by gene exchanges of multiple human groups joining back and forth would be that evolution becomes reticulate, p11

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and as such would resemble a network rather than a tree. Thus, advances in paleogenomics and new discoveries in palaeoanthropology require a phylogenetic conceptual framework to formally explain reticulation. Methodologically, the question becomes how do we make the transition from tree to network to explain evolution.

What progress have you made, and what do you plan to do next to help to fill in gaps of knowledge and update our existing understanding of Homo sapiens’ origins?

With my colleague Sandrine Prat we have developed a research protocol to study ancestral relationships of hominin species by combining cladistics with a Phylogenetic Networks method.

Chronologically from Sahelanthropus tchadensis (dated about 7 million years) to the various Australopithecus species, our results (illustrated

in the image on this article’s first page) show a process of anagenetic adaptive changes terminating in evolutionary dead-ends of the various lineages.

Starting with the cladogenetic appearance of the most recent common ancestor of genus Homo (MRCA), we observe a reticulate evolutionary process of human species in the form of a network. This might be explained by a series of introgressive hybridizations between geographically isolated archaic populations meeting anew. Such exchanges gave rise regionally to very diverse Homo species, only one of which has survived to this day, H. sapiens. The reticulate mode of evolution explains in a coherent manner the diversity of fossil species of genus Homo, as evidenced in part by recent paleogenomic studies.

A future application of our research protocol is to investigate the extreme diversity of archaic fossil specimens from the Middle Pleistocene in Africa to determine more precisely the timing and evolutionary process that led to the emergence of modern humans, our species.

Final thoughts Previous theories depicted evolution either as a river of gradual changes or a tree with multiple splitting branches. Dr. Caparros has combined several approaches, including molecular methods, to suggest that in course of hominin evolution both processes could have taken place.

With the emergence of Homo sapiens and the co-existence of several closely related species in the same territory, in his framework, the tree-like system has been replaced with a complex net. While this new model helps to classify some new findings better, it also shows the gaps in knowledge that could hopefully be filled in the future within the field, using new protocols and applications of molecular methods.

Bio

Links

Miguel Caparros is a researcher affiliated with the human evolution department of Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. Miguel’s main research interests are: methodological advances in cladistics and Phylogenetic Networks, coordinator of Zafarraya project to ascertain the late survivals of Neanderthals in Southern Spain, and the role of the Sahara in human evolution during Pleistocene humid periods.

Researchgate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/MiguelCaparros Academia profile: https://independent.academia.edu/ MiguelCaparros HNHP profile: https://hnhp.mnhn.fr/fr/annuaire/miguelcaparros-6972

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Fossil leaf as a map to past climate A large fossil leaf from Rusinga Island, Kenya. The leaf is well preserved, allowing us to see the toothed margin and the venation. (below) © Aly Baumgartner. All rights reserved.

For more than 100 years paleobotanists have recognized a relationship between the leaves of woody dicot angiosperms and the climate the plants live in: leaves tend to be larger in wetter environments and there are more species with toothed leaves in colder environments.

These patterns can be used to reconstruct paleoclimate and paleoenvironment using the size and shape of fossil leaves.

About Aly Baumgartner, PhD, is a paleobotanist interested in the relationship between plants and the environments they live in. She studies this using both modern and fossil plants. Aly works as the Paleontology Collections Manager at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History at Fort Hays State University.

Contact Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/AlyBaumgartner

By collecting and measuring hundreds of leaves from across Rusinga Island, Kenya, we were able to reconstruct how the paleoenvironment shifted from tropical rainforest to woodland back to tropical seasonal forest with changes in precipitation during the early Miocene.

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What are conodonts?

The Late Devonian (c.a. 380 m.y. ago) conodont element (left), and globular supramolecular structure of demineralised conodont organic matter revealed by Atomic force microscopy (right). (below) © Andrey V. Zhuravlev. All rights reserved.

Conodonts are an extinct group of marine eel-like animals possessing debated affinities. The only mineralized parts of the animals are small tooth-like elements disposed in a bilaterally symmetrical feeding apparatus. Conodont elements, similar to teeth of vertebrates, are composed of apatite (calcium phosphate) and collagen-like protein. Strong incorporation of the protein into the mineralized matrix led to exceptional preservation of the organic matter, including supramolecular structure, over hundreds of millions of years. Due to good preservation, the conodont organic matter seems to be a promising biochemical archive for the palaeoecological and phylogenetic reconstructions.

About Andrey V. Zhuravlev, PhD, is a micropaleontologist studying fossil remains of the Middle Palaeozoic conodonts. His study is focused on conodont morphology, evolution, and ecology, including paleobiochemistry. Andrey works in the Institute of Geology of FRC “Komi Scientific Centre” (Russia), where he is head of the Laboratory of stratigraphy.

Contact Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrey-Zhuravlev-5 © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Pleistocene pygmy elephant from Sicily

Mounted skeleton of the Sicilian dwarf elephant (Palaeoloxodon falconeri, Middle Pleistocene). (above)

Image taken by James St. John on Flickr: CC by 2.0 (https://flic.kr/p/RAzLAx). All rights reserved.

Half a million years ago, the island of Sicily was inhabited by a very particular pygmy elephant, which measured around 0.8-1.3 meters and weighted only 150-300 kg.

It was a long-lived herbivorous animal, that loitered in the meadows and steppes but also housed in caves. Its ancestor, Palaeoloxodon antiquus, with very effective swimming skills, arrived at Sicily crossing the sea.

Islanders show a set of insular adaptations, particularly marked in extinct species. The size trend, “Island Rule”, is the most awesome: larger mammals become dwarfs, whereas smaller ones shift to giants. Studying the ecosystems of islands, which are simpler than mainland ones, are key to understanding the evolutionary process. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

About Blanca Moncunill-Solé is palaeontologist at Universidade da Coruña, Spain.

Her research lines are focused on studying the palaeobiology of extinct mammalian islanders, particularly those of small size. With the developed methods, she has been able to reconstruct their weights and life histories, with the goal of understanding the evolution in islands.

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Isotopes and teeth: diets of extinct animals Fossil tooth of Protemnodon, a giant wallaby of Pleistocene Australia (Wellington Caves; from the Australian Museum Fossil collection), in preparation for calcium and strontium isotope analyses. (below) © Image taken by author. All rights reserved

Chemical compositions of teeth contain a fingerprint of food eaten by animals during their lifetime. The ratios isotopes (atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons) preserved in fossil tooth enamel can reflect the ecology of the animals in the deep past. Calcium isotopes can determine the position of an animal in the food chain, while strontium isotopes show where an animal roamed for food. Applying these methods to teeth of modern wombats and to fossil teeth of extinct marsupials, including giant wombats, enormous kangaroos, and huge wallabies, has shed light on the past diet, and subsequently the evolution and extinction, of Australian megafauna.

About After conducting her PhD at the University of Wollongong (Wollongong Isotope Geochronology Laboratory), Dafne Koutamanis is a Postdoctoral research fellow at James Cook University (Isotropics Geochemistry Laboratory). Dafne is particularly interested in exploring how we isotopes in fossil teeth can reconstruct diet of extinct animals and human species.

Contact Researchgate:

https://www.researchgate.net/ profile/Dafne-Koutamanis

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The art of fossil preparation – a silent revolution in palaeontology The larger fossils are robust bivalves and thus were cleaned by blasting with fine iron powder, in contrast to the very small, delicate fossils on the same rock specimen that were blasted with industrial starch. (left) © Jens Lehmann. All rights reserved.

About

40 years ago a revolution in the quality of fossil preparation started to change palaeontology. There were no principally new technique inventions involved, moreover pneumatically driven chissels were developed particularly for geological preparation and came into the market for scientists and amateur fossil enthusiasts. A little later blasting devices followed and thus a new niche market was formed. This not only blasted the quality of fossil preparation in amateur homes and garages, but also in scientific palaeontology laboratories.

An excellent example is this example of fossils mollusks and a crab claw from the Cretaceous of England prepared mainly by blasting with iron powder and industrial starch – the result would not have been possible before this revolution.

Jens Lehmann, PhD, is a curator and professor of paleontology, dedicated to the study of palaeoenvironment, evolution and diversity particularly interested in ammonoids and why they develop morphological changes. Jens built one of the best-equipped academic preparation laboratories in Germany in his function of the head of the Geosciences Collection at the University of Bremen since 2000. [He performs research, teaching and public outreach – including the editorship of “Fossilien” – Europe’s largest journal for fossil enthusiasts.]

Contact Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jens-Lehmann-2 © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Trace fossils as geologic clocks Underside of a rhytmite slab with Gluckstadtella cooperi, a trace fossil probably made by crustaceans which lived in periglacial environments 300 million years ago in Uruguay. (below) © Mariano Verde. All rights reserved.

As echoing the XIX Century legacy of William Smith, old methods as the sole use of fossils are still an elegant solution to tell how old is a rock in an accurate way. Proof of this are the rocks of the San Gregorio Formation (Uruguay), deposited in ancient periglacial environments. These rocks were formerly dated by laboratory methods as Ediacaran, approximately 600 million years.

Recently, these rocks – called rhytmites – were revisited by Mariano Verde and collaborators who found that their age is indeed Cisuralian, around 300 million years. The trinational research team achieved this goal using invertebrate trace fossils (mainly walking and resting traces) and organic walled plant microfosils called palynomorphs. These fossil assemblages also occur in glacial deposits in Brazil and South Africa. Being restricted to Carboniferous-Permian rocks, these fossils serve as a rock dating tool as well as indicators of ancient glacial environments.

About Mariano Verde (UDELAR, PEDECIBA Geociencias, SNI-ANII) is an ichnologist who studies the fossil traces and signs of life beyond body parts in the geological record. His interest are focused on the classification of trace fossils, ethology of ancient trace makers and their use as paleoenvironmental markers.

Contact Link to publication: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.111158 © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Growing hadrosaurs’ varied diet

Relative sizes of hatchling to adult Hypacrosaurus skulls showing changes in dietary preference with growth. (above) © Taia Wyenberg-Henzler. All rights reserved.

Hadrosaurs (‘duck-billed’ dinosaurs) began life weighing only a few kilograms but over the course of a few years grew to several tonnes. As they grew, they experienced changes not only in the shape of the crest on the top of their head but also in the overall shape of their skull and consequently diet. Just like human babies, duck-billed dinosaur babies were also picky about what they ate. Young hadrosaurs had short faces and preferred to pluck softer plants growing close to the ground. As hadrosaurs grew up, their faces lengthened and they became less choosy until eventually they ate anything and everything both close to and above the ground.

About

Contact

Taia Wyenberg-Henzler is a PhD palaeontology student from Alberta, Canada, studying palaeoecology which means Taia spends a lot of time looking at the shape of dinosaur skulls and teeth to discover what dinosaurs ate and how they behaved.

Twitter: @Taia_Henzler

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Fossil bones uncovered after 230 million years Accumulation of plates and ribs of the armoured reptile Stagonolepis olenkae from the Late Triassic of Krasiejów, Southern Poland. (right) © Tomasz Sulej. All rights reserved.

This picture shows an accumulation of bones which were exposed for first time after 230 million years by Dr Katarzyna Lech and Dr Krzysztof Książkiewicz in the summer of 2009 during excavations in Krasiejów (South Poland) led by me. The bones were cleaned carefully before extraction form the sediment. The black rectangular ornamented plates and ribs can easily be distinguished from the surrounding grey rock.

These bones belong to an armored reptile called Stagonolepis olenkae, the only aetosaur known from Krasiejów, Southern Poland.

This omnivorous reptile from a group called pseudosuchians reached 2,5 meters in length.

Its back, belly, and limbs were protected by dermal armor plates (osteoderms), which are commonly found in Krasiejów.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

About Tomasz Sulej is a palaeontologist – working as a “human time machine that takes organisms from the past and brings them back to the present”.

His team digs out fossils of animals which lived 200-240 million years ago, and re-imagines them as if they were alive today. Tomasz Sulej is Professor at the Institute of paleobiology Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland.

Contact Researchgate: https://www.researchgate. net/profile/Aly-Baumgartner

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snapshot

Migrating mammoths and their molars Mammoth molar from the New Siberian Islands, Russia. (below) © Wouter Bonhof. All rights reserved.

Mammoth molars are enormous things and take many years to grow. While growing, they record the chemical signatures of the mammoth’s diet.

These signatures are affected by various things, such as air temperature and soil types. Strontium isotope are an example of a chemical signature that is affected by differences between soil types. Variations in these ratios throughout the molar’s growth can therefore inform us about mammoth migration patterns.

About Wouter Bonhof is a PhD student at the Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, UK, where he studies the earliest occupation of the Arctic by modern humans. His research involves reconstructing the migratory behaviour of large Pleistocene herbivores, such as mammoths and bison, and how this would have affected human subsistence strategies.

Contact Researchgate: www.researchgate.net/profile/

Wouter-Bonhof

Studying mammoth migratory behaviour improves our understanding of mammoth ecology.

It also provides information about the challenges Upper Palaeolithic hunters faced as prey species that moved around in irregular patterns require different subsistence strategies than sedentary prey.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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SCIENCE

snapshot

Core samples reveal global climate signatures Core sampling. (below) © Upasana Banerji. All rights reserved.

As discussed in my team’s publication, the lateral migration of Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) causes Indian summer monsoon (ISM) changes.

The mudflat of western India receives terrestrial flux during ISM; thus, a sediment core was investigated and last two millennia climate was reconstructed using geochemical proxies.

About Unprecedented and pervasive impacts of climate change invigorated Upasana Banerji’s interest to gaze into the past climate variability. Upasana is a paleoclimate scientist and the prime focus of her research is to address millennial to centennial scale of climate reconstruction for the Holocene Epoch (last ~11,800 years). She is also keen to investigate the plausible role of climate variables and forcing mechanisms in governing regional and global climate dynamics.

Contact Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/

Upasana-Banerji

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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snapshot

Neuroplasticity in Space Exploration of Neuroplasticity as a DualValence Human Trait. (right) © Image credit & copyright: NASA and NeuroSci. All rights reserved.

Rappaport and Corbally conducted an exploratory review of the intersection of two segments of the space neuroscience literature: neuroplasticity in space; and decision-making in space. Their goal was to highlight recent findings and directions for future research.

They present neuroplasticity as a “dual-valance” human trait that creates problems for humans in spaceflight (in microgravity, heightened CO2 and greater cosmic radiation.)

Coincidentally, neuroplasticity may be the foundation of recovery, reestablishing neurological functioning after early declines, and stabilization with medical management.

They propose Sasmita and colleagues (2018) are correct: Neuroplasticity can be “harnessed” through clinical management, preparation before spaceflight, and remediation afterwards. Examples of both routine and forward-looking treatment modalities are presented.

REF: Sasmita, A.O.; et al. Harnessing Neuroplasticity: Modern Approaches and Clinical Future. Int. J. Neurosci. 2018, 128, 1061–1077. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

About Margaret Boone Rappaport, Ph.D., is CoFounder, The Human Sentience Project, LLC, Tucson, AZ (@AstronomyPlays). She conducts research in human cognitive evolution, neuroscience, lunar and space sciences, and ecotheology.

She lectured in Sociology and Anthropology at Georgetown and George Washington Universities. She earned her doctorate at The Ohio State University.

Christopher J. Corbally, S.J., Ph.D., is an astronomer with the Vatican Observatory Research Group. He is Adjunct Associate Astronomer at the Department of Astronomy, University of Arizona, and his research interests include stellar spectral classification, multiple star systems, and lambda Boötis stars. His doctorate in Astronomy is from the University of Toronto.

Contact Dr. Rappaport: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2912-7876 Dr. Corbally: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6797-887X p23

Conservation

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Ostracods: Fossil time machines into past and future ecosystems Written by Emma Cieslak-Jones

Ostracods are a class of microfossil from the subphylum crustacean.

The name originates from the Greek ‘Ostrakon’ which translates to ‘shell’ and refers to their appearance which is bivalved meaning the carapace (shell) is made up of two components joined by a hinge. The small, calcified carapace preserves well within the fossil record making them excellent indicators for paleobiological studies.

While ostracods are known in the fossil record they can also be found alive today. They can be analyzed to help understand long-term impacts that humans have had on ecosystems as they can be studied both before and after the appearance of mankind. A temporal comparison can be made to identify ecosystem changes and the main environmental drivers.

Here, we discuss such a study looking at Hong Kong, where the monsoon climate and pollution are key factors. Here, the situation is like an accelerated version of what the future could hold for other tropical and subtropical coastal regions with increasing human-induced ecological degradation, making the results of this study extremely important. The research is being carried out by Moriaki Yasuhara — paleobiologist and associate professor at the University of Hong Kong and Yuanyuan Hong — ostracod paleontologist and post-doctoral fellow from the University of Hong Kong.

Above: An image of ostracod slide by Keyence digital microscope.

Image credit: Jiamian Hu, Yuanyuan Hong, and Moriaki Yasuhara. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Q & A: Moriaki Yasuhara and Yuanyuan Hong (University of Hong Kong) How are ostracod fossils used for conservation paleobiology?

Below: Scanning Electronic Microscopic images of lateral view and internal view for ostracod specimens A1&2) Loxoconcha zhejiangensis: right valve (RV), juvenile; B1&2) Neocyprideis sp.: left valve (LV), adult; C1&2) Neocytheretta faceta: RV, adult; D1&2) Neomonoceratina delicata: LV, adult. Scale bar = 100 μm. Image credit: Yuanyuan Hong and Moriaki Yasuhara.

A main aim of conservation paleobiology is to understand biotic responses to past, present, and future anthropogenic and climatic changes using fossil records. Because biological monitoring generally postdates the onset of different human activities (e.g., on-going warming, pollution, overexploitation) that are of concern to scientists and society, fossils records provide “time machine” for scientists to travel back to deeper time; to early- and pre- human periods that biological monitoring does not cover, and allow us to study long-term human impacts, humanecosystem interactions as well as natural baseline of the ecosystem of our planet.

Ostracods are one of these fossils, which are a class of small crustaceans, typically hundreds micron or around one millimeter in size. Their soft bodies are protected by bivalve-like, calcified valves. These ostracod valves are well preserved as fossils, which are useful for quantitative conservation paleobiology, because of their small size, high abundance, and high species, phylogenetic, morphological, and functional diversity. Most of ordinary marine organisms do not have such good fossil records if any. So, we use ostracods as a model system or “window” to look into past ecosystem and biodiversity. For example, we compared fossil (= natural baseline) and present-day ostracods quantitatively, to investigate changes in species, communities, and ecosystems. As the result, we were able to detect and identify changes in Hong Kong’s ecosystem and the main environmental drivers, that were the monsoon climate and pollution.

In your 2021 study published in Anthropocene, why did you choose to study sediments in Hong Kong?

Hong Kong is one of the most urbanized coastal areas in the world. Human activities, including rapid industrialization, sewage discharge, trawling, dredging, land reclamation, and ship traffic have led to pronounced physical and © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

chemical changes in Hong Kong’s coastal ecosystems.

Situated at the mouth of one of the largest rivers in Asia, the Pearl River, Hong Kong is sensitive to monsoons, resulting precipitation change, and other climate variations related to river discharge as well as pollutants via this river. In addition, Hong Kong is situated at the northern edge of the Coral Triangle, a biodiversity hotspot wellknown for the highest marine biological diversity on Earth. The intersection of high biodiversity and elevated anthropogenic and climatic stressors makes Hong Kong’s coastal waters a conservation priority and a model for evaluating ecosystem-level changes in the tropics.

The current Hong Kong situation is the plausible future of many other tropical and subtropical coastal regions with increasing human-induced ecological degradation. p26

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What key impacts from human activity did you observe on benthic ecosystems in that region?

more sensitive to climate change. Future anthropogenic warming may reduce global ocean circulation, that may enhance the East Asian Summer Monsoon.

One is pollution. Hong Kong is known as one of the largest coastal cities in the world and thus has one of the world’s busiest ports. Copper, lead, and zinc are components included in most historical and contemporary marine antifouling paints and are known to be among the most toxic metals to marine invertebrates. The central part of Hong Kong has also been seriously affected by metal pollution via the discharge of sewage, industrial inputs, and surface runoff from the urban environment.

So, organisms in Hong Kong’s eastern waters may confront enhanced discharge from the Pearl River and resulting lower salinity, higher turbidity, and muddier environments in the near future. Our research indicates that these environmental changes will especially affect rare species. Most species in highly-biodiverse tropical and subtropical places like Hong Kong are rare, so the anticipated changes may have a profound impact.

Our result indicated that these metals from antifouling paints and/or other urban and industrial sources have substantially altered marine benthic environments in Victoria Harbour, which is the major port and surrounded by two big downtown areas, Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay. Hong Kong’s eastern waters are much less polluted than the central and western waters. However, the eastern-water ecosystem was found to be much

Tell us more about the ostracod micropaleontology research going on at the Yasuhara lab and current opportunities.

Yasuhara Lab works broadly on biodiversity and paleontology. We recently dub this line of research using fossils to understand past, present, future biodiversity and ecosystems as Time Machine Biology. We of course most often use microfossil Ostracoda as the model system.

Above: Infographic “Shells of benthic critters as a time machine into past and future marine ecosystems.” Credit: Created by NatureVolve. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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A major new direction is deep-learning based automation of detection, identification, and measurement, that will speed up our process and allow us to use bigger data to tackle fundamental questions, for example on conservation paleobiology in Hong Kong. Tropical biodiversity has been one of our main interests for the past 5-10 years.

We are getting good ostracod data from various tropical regions such as the Coral Triangle, Caribbean Sea, and Tethys Sea as old as Eocene to the present.

Final thoughts

Hopefully these studies will bring us to a new and better understanding of tropical diversity and the reason(s) of their high biodiversity.

We are also interested in deeper time biodiversity, starting a project on Ordovician latitudinal diversity with a new PhD student. We are always open to ostracod lovers and more broadly, enthusiastic paleobiologists.

Various Mphil, PhD, and postdoc opportunities are available from the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Government, and other external grant agencies. Please join us!

The effect that humans and the climate have had (and continue to have) on ecosystems in Hong Kong can be assessed using the ostracods found there. By analyzing the pre and post impacts, a model can be created that can be applied to other tropical and subtropical coastal regions to help limit further human-induced degradation and ultimately, provide solutions to counter the negative impact.

Hong Kong provides an example of what happens to ecosystems after extensive pollution and climatic effects. It can be used as an educational resource to predict the future and mitigate against potentially disastrous effects. Just as fossils can be a time machine to the past, case studies like Hong Kong can be a time machine for the future.

Bio Moriaki Yasuhara Moriaki Yasuhara is a paleobiologist and associate professor at the University of Hong Kong. His recent research has focused on the tropical biodiversity, the spatio-temporal dynamics of large-scale biodiversity patterns, and their mechanisms behind. He is also interested in microfossil-based conservation paleobiology and paleontology of the Ostracoda in general.

Yuanyuan Hong Yuanyuan Hong is an ostracod paleontologist especially focusing on the Anthropocene and Quaternary, currently working as a post-doctoral fellow in the University of Hong Kong. Her primary research interests are on conservation paleobiology and marine paleoecology. Recently, she has been developing a new research direction, deep-learning-based automation in micropaleontology. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

Links Website: moriakiyasuhara.com Twitter: @DrMoriartyY Moriaki Yasuhara email: yasuhara@hku.hk Yuanyuan Hong email: oocirclr@gmail.com

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in focus

When honeybees adapt, their parasites retaliate A Western honeybee worker parasitized by Varroa destructor. The bee has deformed wings, which is the consequence of a disease caused by a virus vectored by the mite. (below) © Dr. Vincent Dietemann. All rights reserved

Varroa destructor is a honeybee parasite native to Asia, which has managed to infest introduced colonies of Western honeybees (Apis mellifera), and to spread globally during the past decades.

The parasite is a major Western honeybee killer, notably because it vectors deadly viruses.

To protect their colonies against this pest, most beekeepers use acaricide treatments. However, some populations of Western honeybees have now adapted by means of natural or artificial selection and can survive without the help of beekeepers.

However, the honeybee adaptations also provoke changes in the mites, as a result of a process called co-evolution.

About Alexis Beaurepaire is an evolutionary biologist working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Bee health (University of Bern, Switzerland).

Alexis focuses on the co-evolution between bees and parasites and aims to unravel the mechanisms involved in their interactions to help developing sustainable methods to improve bee health.

Contact Website: https://www.bees.unibe.ch/

about_us/personen/dr_beaurepaire_alexis/ index_eng.html

Ultimately, mites may become adapted to Western honeybees and become less lethal.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Coal mining impacts on river microbiomes A stream in the Appalachian Mountains (USA): a biodiversity hot spot threatened by surface coal mining activities. (right)

© Photo by Sean Foster on Unsplash. All rights reserved

The rivers of Appalachia represent a biodiversity hot spot hosting a great diversity of organisms, from the smallest bacteria to fish. Unfortunately, these ecosystems are facing multiple threats, including coal mining activities. In our study, we assessed the response of river microbiomes to coal mining by extracting environmental DNA (eDNA): the genetic material floating in the water.

We found that mine drainage impacted the composition of microbiomes living in sediments.

This restructuration of microbiomes was associated with a reduction in microbial functions linked to the carbon cycle. Additionally, we identified 12 bacterial indicator taxa that can be considered as promising tools for the long-term monitoring of these impacted streams. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

About Marie Simonin is a microbial ecologist studying how human activities impact terrestrial and aquatic microbiomes. During postdoctoral research at Duke University, Marie studied the impact of surface coal mining in West Virginia on river biodiversity using environmental DNA approaches (eDNA).

Contact Website: mariesimonin.com p30

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Tiny bones excavated from Mexican cave

Tiny rodent species fossil bones (< 50 mg) excavated from the tropical Loltún cave in Yucatán, Mexico (ca.

2000-12,720 years). (above) © Ella Vázquez-Domínguez and Tania GutiérrezGarcía. All rights reserved

Tiny rodent species fossil bones (< 50 mg) excavated from the tropical Loltún cave in Yucatán, Mexico (ca. 2000-12,720 years).

Hemimandibles were preserved as 3D-images before destruction for DNA extraction. Mitochondrial sequences from these ancient samples and contemporary individuals revealed their diversification from the Miocene onwards, associated with the biogeography, changing climatic conditions, and shifting plant regimes in the region. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

About Tania Gutiérrez-García: “I’m a mexican biologist and researcher, my PhD involved wild rodents. By combining tools from paleogenomics and phylogeography I study the place of origin of species, to uderstand how they respond to historical changes and generate information useful for conservation.”

Ella Vázquez-Domínguez: “I studied Biology, my PhD in molecular ecology in Mexico, working now as a researcher in several fields, including evolution, population and landscape genetics, and conservation of endangered species; mainly animals from tropical forests to wetlands, deserts and urban ecosystems.” p31

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Biodiversity of New Zealand’s Rivers Upper reaches of the Waiau River (Canterbury, New Zealand), a typical and beautiful New Zealand River. (below) © Kéoni Saint-Pée. All rights reserved

New Zealand is an internationally renowned location for its beautiful rivers, which host many endemic macroinvertebrate species.

We found that this river biodiversity is responding rapidly to climate and land-use changes.

This includes, that assemblages of species are homogenising in their species composition over time across the landscape.

Surprisingly, “winners” (i.e species that increase their population sizes or distributional ranges) are more prevalent than “losers” in these river systems. Species also shift their distribution towards the poles, on average by 50 km per decade.

Our results suggest that the intensity of disturbances, the geographic location of individuals and communities, and species ecological and functional characteristics, are major determinants of riverine biodiversity reorganization in the Anthropocene.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

About Theophile-Mouton is a conservation biologist working on completing a PhD with the University of Montpellier and the University of Lyon (France), on the effects of global changes on river macroinvertebrate biodiversity. For his PhD, he uses time-series data from most New Zealand Rivers to examine how has river biodiversity changed over time. He also conducts work on spatial conservation planning of marine megafauna species, such as cetaceans and sharks.

Contact Researchgate:

https://www.researchgate.net/ profile/Theophile-Mouton

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Scicomm (Science communication)

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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paleoart

Jack Horner: From Finding Fossil Bones to Visualizing Dinosaurs Written by Devin Reese

F

iguring out what dinosaurs looked like is a challenge for paleontologists.

The tissues that typically fossilize are the hard ones like bones and teeth.

But much of what an animal looks like relates to softer tissues like skin, fat, and feathers. So, reconstructing dinosaurs requires a close look at the fossil evidence, knowledge about similar modern animals, and creativity. In the making of Jurassic Park and Jurassic World, Steven Spielberg looked to paleontologist Jack Horner.

Jack found his first dinosaur bone as an eight-yearold kid growing up in Montana. Later, while a fossil technician at Princeton University, Jack discovered the first ever nest of dinosaur eggs with babies inside – from Troodon – which led him to a vast nesting colony at a site later dubbed Egg Mountain. The nests suggested that some dinosaurs cared for their young like mammals or birds.

Over time, as a professor at Montana State University, Jack built up the largest collection of Tyrannosaurus rex fossils in the world.

Above: Triceratops, as envisaged by Jack Horner and Fabio Pastori. All rights reserved. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Q & A: Jack Horner In your talks, why do you describe dinosaurs as being beautiful, both inside and out?

Many dinosaurs were adorned with accoutrements, or display features like horns and shields and plates and spikes and so forth, and for most birds that have cranial accoutrements these features are vividly colored. It makes sense that dinosaur accoutrements would also be vividly colored. As for the “insides” their bone histology is also beautiful as we view it in polarized light.

“It makes sense that dinosaur accoutrements would also be vividly colored... their bone histology is also beautiful as we view it in polarized light..”

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

Your version of Triceratops painted by Italian artist Fabio Pastori shows an amazing combination of science and art.

Please explain how you envisioned this piece based on your study of dinosaur bone histology and dinosaur accoutrements.

Triceratops skulls possess blood grooves that course over their shields and horns and other areas of their skulls. Blood grooves are found under tightly fitting tissues like keratin, so it makes sense that their skulls were covered by tight fitting, hard tissues like the keratin of our fingernails. Bird beaks and their accoutrements possess blood groves and the tissues that cover these areas are often vividly colored, hence, a vividly colored Triceratops.

Below: Triceratops horn histology section. All rights reserved.

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What was it like working on the 2022 film Jurassic World Dominion, particularly in comparison with previous Jurassic Park films?

Having dyslexia, do you have any words of advice for those with dyslexia, or the neurodiverse, aspiring to develop their scientific or creative career?

I worked on all of the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies except Dominion, which was made during the pandemic. I was credited but didn’t do anything.

As with anything, if a person has a passion, and the ambition to pursue, for a particular career they should go for it regardless of real or perceived impediments.

I’m pretty sure my credit was complimentary since I had insisted on feathered dinosaurs since the first movie, and it didn’t happen until Dominion.

Dyslexia, and in particular spatial thinking, is actually an advantage in paleontology, and many other branches of science like zoology and anatomy etc.

Final thoughts Jack Horner is a self-made paleontologist in the sense that he never earned a college degree, but was awarded an honorary doctorate, a National Geographic Explorer title, and other recognitions of the huge impact of his work. Although his dyslexia got him into lots of trouble at school, it also propelled him outdoors to make significant dinosaur discoveries.

Jack continues to teach, do research and help reconstruct the dinosaurs that once roamed the Earth. He is currently working with biologists to bring back dinosaur characteristics in a genetically modified bird he calls the Chickenosaurus. And maybe the next step after that could be recreating one of the several dinosaurs named after Jack Horner like Achelousaurus horneri or Daspletosaurus horneri.

Bio

Links

Jack Horner is a dyslexic paleontologist, an educator, an author, and a mentor. He attended 14 semesters of college but lacks a college degree.

Website: www.jackhornersdinosaurs.com

Jack was Curator of and Regents Professor of Paleontology at Montana State University for 34 years, and now teaches at Chapman University in Orange, California.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

Twitter: @dustydino Instagram: @jackhornersdinovision

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Paleoartist finds magic in the past and present written by Anastasiia Nesterenko

The fascination and love for dinosaurs

– ancient reptiles of the past and likely ancestors of modern birds – have been present throughout generations.

Though the paleontologist’s complex job of uncovering and interpreting fossils should never be overlooked, it is the task of scientific illustrators to really bring the worlds of the past back for us. These talented artists erect imagery based on the supporting foundation of scientific discoveries.

Andy Frazer (AKA “Dragon of Wales”), a prominent artist and illustrator, combines inspiration drawn from rugged nature of his Welsh homeland and modern scientific data to build up on this legacy and create bright, memorable creatures of the deep past. In the present interview, he discusses his work in greater detail.

Top right: “Toumai” Sahelanthropus tchadensis (Copyright Andy Frazer 2022) © Andy Frazer. All rights reserved.

Direct right: Dilophosaurus wetherilli (Copyright Andy Frazer 2021) © Andy Frazer. All rights reserved.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Q & A: Andy Frazer How has being based in Wales influenced your perspective and your artistic work?

I’m fortunate to live in a part of Wales which is surrounded by wild landscapes and the nature that thrives there. This is by far the greatest influence on my work. Even the imaginary creatures of my “Dragons of Wales’’ project are intimately rooted in, and connected to, their environments.

The way in which a landscape can shape a creature’s appearance and behaviour has always been a source of fascination to me and is something that I like to explore in my work.

These influences also apply to my palaeoart pieces, which often portray some kind of interaction or connection between the animal and its environment.

Whenever I’m looking for inspiration for these illustrations, I turn to my observations of the natural world here in Wales, with the local buzzards and red kites being especially useful analogues of course. I believe that using extant species as reference (both in terms of appearance and behaviour) really helps

to reinforce the perception of dinosaurs as creatures that were as varied, beautiful, complex (and sometimes weird!) as the wildlife of today.

Thank you for sharing a range of your paleoart pieces. What prehistoric creature has been more challenging to produce?

The illustrations shared here show the range of subjects that I have worked on. The portrait pieces have proved especially popular, perhaps because they best capture something of the animal’s character and ‘soul’. This is something that I am always striving for in my work – to depict the living, breathing essence of a species; something beyond just its physical appearance.

I’m also interested in depicting behaviours which are a little outside the usual palaeoart tropes of hunting and killing, such as the Spinosaurus splashing playfully in the water, or a Tarbosaurus briefly captivated by its own

Above: Spinosaurus aegyptiacus (Copyright Andy Frazer 2022) © Andy Frazer. All rights reserved. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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reflection. Sometimes extant animals do things with no apparent purpose, seemingly just for fun. I see no reason to think that extinct species wouldn’t have done the same. Hopefully these scenes help to reinforce the idea of dinosaurs as real, complex creatures, rather than monsters.

I’ve recently begun working with hominin subjects, such as Sahelanthropus. These are especially challenging because they are simultaneously very familiar yet also very strange. It’s easy to fall into the trap of making them either too human, or too animalistic. I’m not sure I’ve found the perfect balance yet, but I’m enjoying the challenge!

Please tell us about the books you have published, particularly the latest and the ninth release due in 2023.

I published my first Dragons of Wales book in 2017, followed by five more in the series. My Dragons of Wales project explores the idea of tiny dragons, descended from ancient pterosaurs, living mostly

unnoticed, in our modern world. I wanted to create a new kind of Welsh dragon which would be plausible for a modern audience. Making them very small, with an evolutionary backstory, seemed like a logical way to achieve this.

I have also published three dinosaur-themed art books: Novosaurs, inspired by Jack Horner’s “Chickenosaurus” project explores the idea of small domesticated dinosaurs, reverse-engineered from modern birds; Project:Tepui is a Conan Doyleinspired exploration of a lost world in the South American jungle; and OLD ONE is a collection of my palaeoart works.

I’m currently working on a new dragon-themed book, Dragons of Deep Time, portraying the most ancient of dragons - dragons so old that they have become a part of the landscape; creatures of rock and earth. This book, like several of my previous ones, has been crowd-funded, with many of the dragons being commissioned by contributors to the Kickstarter campaign.

Above: Tarbosaurus bataar (Copyright Andy Frazer 2022) © Andy Frazer. All rights reserved. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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How can others find out more about your art, I take private commissions and commercial whether it be for getting hold of your books or contracts for palaeoart work, and offer a range of options, from simple pencil sketches all the way requesting a commission?

through to fully rendered digital paintings. I have I’m very active on social media - especially Twitter and produced illustrations for several palaeontology papers due to be published in 2023 as well as Instagram where I can be found as @dragonsofwales and I regularly post new work there. numerous commercial projects.

I also have a Patreon page, where I offer exclusive I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting content and sketches in return for a small monthly opportunities, and anyone who would like to subscription. All my books, along with a selection of enquire about a commission can contact me via prints, are available to buy in my Etsy shop. Links to the email address below. my Patreon page and shop are included below.

Final thoughts Paleoart and fantasy are somewhat similar. Both need a solid dose of imagination and unique vision. Still, one should also remember that they need to be grounded in reality to some extent as well.

As Andy Frazer himself demonstrates, you cannot create realistic and correct recreations of extinct animals without understanding existing science and observing modern relatives of the beasts of ancient past. In a similar vein, fantasy requires some grounding in reality to be convincing. This is beautifully shown with the artist’s “Dragons of Wales” series.

The real magic hides around us, in small details we can only observe by returning to the natural world. This way, both types of art bring out the glory of the world around us.

Bio Andy Frazer is a freelance illustrator, based in southern Wales. After two decades working as a designer in the live events sector, he returned to his lifelong fascination with extinct animals, and this now occupies most of his time through his project “Dragons of Wales.”

Links email: info@dragonsofwales.com Etsy: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/dragonsofwales Behance: www.behance.net/gallery/125113787/Portfolio Patreon: www.patreon.com/dragonsofwales © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Brian Murphy’s world of paleoart and fantasy

By Shilpa Sreesesh

Scrolling down, we can see the artworks of Brian Murphy with vibrant illustrations of unique beings influenced by creatures long lost in the prehistoric past. He created his own universe of beautifully illustrated dinosaurs and fantasy-influenced gun-wielding rats!

Brian’s passion for drawing led him to become a full-time digital artist, working in a studio.

Through seven years of hard work, he created his own paleoart inspired aesthetic, which can be used in gaming assets, the animated world, gaming cards and much more.

Brian’s illustrative experiments have been influenced by movies, games or from reading certain books.

Here we present a short interview with Brian Murphy about his career as a digital artist, his illustration process and his ongoing projects.

Above: Feeding time. © Brian Murphy. All rights reserved. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Q & A: Brian Murphy Tell us how you got into digital painting, illustration, and animation.

I’ve always had a passion for drawing since before I can remember but I didn’t start doing it professionally until quite late into my working life.

In my late 20s I decided I didn’t like the path I was on so took a chance and switched careers. I got a job as a junior artist at a small games studio and worked my way up over the next 7 to where I am now.

Throughout that time I had to learn a lot because I had only really used pen and pencil to do art before then. I had dabbled in digital paint but I had to learn it properly now and at a production level.

Meaning creating assets that were to be used in real world situations. I really have to shout out to

idNerd Studios in Hong Kong for helping me learn so much on the job in my first couple years.

Since then it’s been a mix of having to do it and wanting to do it that’s kept me progressing and learning really. But I love what I do so the having to do it is not a negative by any means.

How do you incorporate your influences from digital art and fantasy in your paleoart?

I basically just try and sprinkle in things that I like from movies, games, tv, comics etc that I’ve seen. For example I might like the lighting in a particular scene of a movie

Above: Chasmosaurus. © Brian Murphy. All rights reserved. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Above: Stalking Tarbosaurus. © Brian Murphy. All rights reserved.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Above: They’re Moving in Herds. © Brian Murphy. All rights reserved. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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and I’ll try and use it for a piece even though it might be completely different in content and composition. Or I might even use just the mood that I felt while reading a chapter of a book and try and replicate it in visual form.

From your in-house studio, what tools of the trade do you use for your artworks?

Any tips to share for aspiring digital artists?

I used a Wacom Intuos Pro for most of my studio work before working from home, but at home I used and still use a Huion H950P for all my personal and freelance work. And now that I’m working from home permanently I still use it for my studio work too. I feel like it’s just as good as the much more expensive Wacom to be honest.

And I think that goes for any tool you use.

More expensive does not always mean better.

So don’t let someone tell you you can’t be good at digital art cause you don’t own the newest biggest cintiq.

For any apsiring digital artists out there I would say just create art as much as you possibly can. Find the time to draw every single day even if it’s for 10 minutes. You will get better the more you do it, even if it feels like you’re not or that others are just naturally talented.

No one sits at a piano for the first time and can just immediately play well, it’s the same with art!

What freelance work have you been doing lately and how can others request something from you?

I’ve been working on a couple of dinosaur themed card games that I’m really excited about. I will be posting updates about them when they’re ready on my Instagram @wootusart if anyone is interested. It’s also probably the best place for people to reach me.

Or if they don’t use that they can email me for enquiries: brianjmurphyart@gmail.com

Final thoughts Creating interesting presentations of extinct, colossus animals, Brian Murphy’s imaginative works inspire many of the world’s aspiring artists.

His advice for a newbie to art is to take time to draw every single day, even if it’s only for 10 minutes.

As a self-taught artist, Brian believes in putting regular practice every day, to polish one’s drawing skills. His experience and artistic career is a perfect example for what one can achieve if you have the passion to keep a regular artistic practise.

About

Find out more

Brian Murphy is currently based in the United Kingdom with his partner, daughter and their little dog. He was born in Malaysia and is mixed race Irish and Chinese Malaysian.

Email: brianjmurphyart@gmail.com

Having grown up in Hong Kong, Brian has lived in quite a few different countries; Australia, Canada and Japan, before moving to the UK. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

Instagram: @wootusart ArtStation: https://www.artstation.com/wootus p45

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BioArt course opens access to science Written by Ivy Beaver

As a way of bridging the gap between science and art, the BioArt study abroad

course at Arizona State University (ASU) was established by Dr. Becky Ball and Prof.

Richard Lerman, to expose students to projects they might not have taken up on their own. Throughout the course, art and science students collaborated on research and science-inspired art in their own Sonoran Desert at ASU before traveling to the Arctic.

The experience of working alongside those with a very different educational background allowed students to break down previously held stereotypes about other, different fields of study.

As assessed by Clinical Professor Dr. Susannah Sandrin, students not only gained a host of practical skills and knowledge by the end of the course, they also gained an appreciation and deeper understanding of a field other than their own. Coming out of the BioArt course, students envisioned a wider scope of opportunities for themselves in their careers, often leading them to pursue internships around the world.

Left: Pikku Mala Strict Nature Reserve, which shows the setting in which the Arctic BioArt course took place.

All rights reserved.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Q & A: Becky Ball

and Susannah Sandrin Becky Ball

Please tell us briefly about yourself and how you came to teach your BioArt course.

Our BioArt program began through a collaboration between an art professor (Richard Lerman) and a science professor (me). Richard is a soundscape artist who had just returned from Kilpisjärvi Biological Station in northern Finland, where they actively include bioartists in their research community. Richard was inspired to start a BioArt study abroad course for ASU students at Kilpisjärvi, and sought a scientist collaborator within ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences. My research focuses on polar and hot desert ecosystems, and together we designed a BioArt course working in both the Arctic and Sonoran Desert (our home ecosystem at ASU).

The artificial divide between science and art has not always existed, and in fact the two fields rely on a similar set of skills. The goal of our BioArt course is to engage both science and art students in scientific research and its communication, honing their skills in the context of both science and art. With funding support from the National Science Foundation, we engage a diverse cohort of students in BioArt in the Arctic and Sonoran Desert, which (like science and art) seem like “polar opposites,” but in actuality share many common ecological properties.

Above: Soil arthropods drawn onto ceramic tiles (pre-firing) made from clay extracted from the students’ soil samples for their research. Below: ASU BioArt students hiking Saana, a mountain fell. Both: All rights reserved.

“Many of the BioArt students were born in the southwestern US and not used to snow.

They were happy to take the opportunity to throw snow balls at their professor!” © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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In the program, how do you pair science and art major students to collaborate, and what reactions have they had to one another?

The program starts with a few weeks of coursework at ASU, before we travel to the Arctic field station. During this time, the science and art students interact in a variety of wayseverything from light-hearted classroom activities to small-scale BioArt projects to fieldwork safety training. They switch partners for this series of class assignments until they’ve worked with each possible partner and gotten to know each other. They also have opportunities to share their science and art interests with the group and ultimately sort themselves into scientist+artist pairs based on common interests and working styles.

It’s encouraging to know that students can develop these skills through an integrated science-art curriculum.

The students who completed the program in the Arctic reported a desire to pursue other field research experiences, often in faraway locations.

Though they had been nervous about traveling away from home before taking the class, after the class they were emboldened and applied for research internships all over the world, including Iceland, northern Europe, and the East Coast of the U.S. These students also indicated that by traveling far away (and in a different time zone), they were removed from everyday distractions. This focus allowed them to more fully embrace the research experience and their ideas about their future careers.

Reactions to each other have been fun to watch. For most of them, it’s probably their first opportunity to work in depth with someone outside their own major, so it’s fun to see what stereotypes about “scientists” and “artists” get broken down and which ones become running gags throughout the course. It’s great to see art students “nerding out” over counting plankton through a microscope and learning how we use infrared light to measure CO2 concentrations in air, and to see the science students delve into writing poetry about their research, or creating ceramic mosaics out of clay they extracted from their soil samples.

Susannah (Susie) Sandrin

How are you measuring the effectiveness of this program, and what has been observed so far?

We employed two instruments to evaluate the effectiveness of the program: surveys and interviews. We surveyed and interviewed the students before the course, immediately after the course, and about nine months after the course.

Students experienced gains in science selfefficacy, communication skills, knowledge about ecological systems, environmental advocacy, and interest in art (for the science students) and in science (for the art students). © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

Above: One pair of artist + scientist students collecting samples from their transect through a low-Arctic fen. All rights reserved. p48

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Lastly, discussions between art and science students helped them to delve into the process of science and how they understood it. Both art and science students had more sophisticated views and in-depth understanding of the scientific method after taking the course.

From exploring your interests in science education, how do you think we can make science more engaging to diverse demographics?

First and foremost, I feel that students need to be encouraged to ask questions and to investigate them.

This enables students to explore questions that are important to them and their community. Also, they need access to hands-on experiences.

When we emphasize process over content, we focus more on the student experience.

Below: Group photo of the inaugural 2018 BioArt class in front of the Kilpisjärvi Biological Station. All rights reserved.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

They can see themselves as an active participant in science and not a passive learner of facts.

Finally, if at all possible, I think it’s helpful to get students out of the classroom and into nature.

This not only helps them to be more active learners, it also provides them with a cognitive reset of sorts, so that they can focus on what they are learning and be less distracted by everything else that is competing for attention in their brains.

I know for sure that it helps me!

“Both art and science students had more sophisticated views and in-depth understanding of the scientific method after taking the course.”

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Final thoughts In an effort to get students to feel represented in the process of scientific research, two professors came together to form a unique opportunity for art and science students to broaden their horizons, both spatially and intellectually.

As a study abroad program, the BioArt course at ASU not only exposes students to a new field, they are exposed to an entirely new environment as well. As intimidating as such a venture might sound, the results are highly rewarding.

With a new set of skills, interests and ambitions, students leave the program realizing they can be an important asset to ongoing scientific investigation rather than simply students continually absorbing established knowledge.

Becky interestingly points out how art and science share similar skill sets, as demonstrated in the BioArt program at ASU. By motivating future researchers and artists to develop new insights, the program offers a valuable contribution to the scientific community.

Bio Dr. Becky Ball is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University, and a soil ecologist whose research explores the impacts of human activity on soil biodiversity and biogeochemistry (nutrient cycling), focusing mostly in “extreme” ecosystems of the Sonoran Desert and Antarctica.

Dr. Susannah Sandrin is a Clinical Professor at Arizona State University, with an emphasis on teaching entry-level environmental science courses for majors and non-majors alike.

Her research focuses on strategies for encouraging students, particularly from underrepresented groups, to pursue and thrive in STEM majors and careers.

Links

Becky’s Polar Soils Blog communicates her polar research to a general audience (both kids and adults!)

It includes past iterations of the BioArt program in Finland if you scroll back to the pre-COVID era in 2019

Becky’s faculty website: https://web.asu.edu/bball Becky’s Polar Soils Blog: http://polarsoils.blogspot.com/ Susie’s faculty profile/website: https://search.asu.edu/profile/1349995

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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The A Level Biologist – Over a decade of evolution written by Ryan Charles

Studying for school exams, such as A-levels in the UK, has tended to be

isolating and demoralizing for many. That was until Arian Mirzarafie Ahi, the Founder and Director of The A Level Biologist came along to help.

The aim of his project, The A Level Biologist, is to create exam-focused Biology Lessons, tailored to the exam board being studied while allowing students to gain and in-depth understanding of biology.

Arian originally started his site over a decade ago, while he was still studying his A-Levels. Arian went on to graduate in Biological Sciences at university, and has since trained to become a teacher, all while continuing to keep The A Level Biologist current and up to date with the latest exam boards, ensuring the students using the website get the greatest possible benefits.

He has since gone on to launch The A Level Biology Podcast alongside his other ventures.

In this feature we speak to Arian, learning about his progress, his other projects, his passions and his drive to make Biology more accessible.

Above: The A Level Biologist Podcast’s logo. © The A Level Biologist. All rights reserved. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Q & A: Arian Mirzarafie Ahi Please tell us about your background and why you started The A Level Biologist

Right: Mirzarafie Centre for Biology Excellence logo © The A Level Biologist.

All rights reserved.

I started The A Level Biologist in my final year of A-levels because I wanted to launch a site. Lots of online advice pointed to focusing on something you can talk about, so I picked Biology which I was studying at the time and did quite well in.

This was in 2011, over a decade ago. With teachers and textbooks, a biology site for A-level students seemed somewhat pointless. I thought it would be cool, and it gave me the filler that I needed as I built to find where all your genes are located in your and played around with my new shiny site. chromosomes or explore your genetic roots through a home kit; or follow a given path of formal academia It was an old Google Sites site (Google have that takes you through qualifications, theoretical discontinued that platform) that I pointed to a content and practical experiences. new domain that I bought, nervously, for £9 over Biology is extremely diverse. One thing that 2 years. The domain is still the same today: stands out to me is the haphazard setup of real life thealevelbiologist.co.uk. experiences in Biology, particularly laboratory work and field trips.

I went on to graduate in Biological Sciences at university as I continued to work on the website.

They require specific training and equipment, and It was increasingly apparent that students wanted are therefore prohibitively expensive and niche in an online learning experience that was instant, some places. If you’re in a less affluent situation, insightful and supportive. walking around with your pocket app and trawling websites for insights can give you the knowledge We take it for granted now but studying for that can complement the limited formal education your A-levels used to be particularly lonely and and experiences you can access. If you do get the demoralizing. An online place to help you organize state-of-the-art facilities straight from school, bear yourself, deepen your understanding, and connect in mind the breadth of research that exists and the you with your exam board and extra support perspective that you may be in a small minority. materials and content that is updated in real time made all the difference.

The best thing that we can do to maximize education is to keep it lean and minimalist. No iPads, jungle Increasing organic traffic, student feedback and trips or 3D printers can replace the essence of requests from advertisers kept me going. learning which is curiosity and wonder.

What can be done to improve education and science outreach, particularly in relation to Biology?

We see you also have a podcast!

How has that been going and what other projects are you involved in?

Biology is a great subject that can be learnt in so many different ways. You can be a naturalist strolling around your park, snapping pics of wildlife and identifying them in an app (shoutout to my butterfly bushes, blackberries and maples); delve into technical biochemical and genetic data

The A Level Biologist Podcasts came about when I dropped out of my PhD and realized that I needed to immortalize the amazing people I’d bumped into along the way. The people who everyone would love to meet, the professionals who everyone would want to work with.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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I already had a mental list of guests and topics I wanted to include, so Season 1 took off almost by itself because I’d pre-recorded so many episodes. It was as if the content was backed up, just waiting to find an opening.

The pandemic gave the medium a boost through Season 2, and we are now in Season 3. It’s part of The A Level Biologist because I think students want a glimpse into what lies beyond their studies and what careers they can start looking into, with the benefit of hearing from people who’ve been there, done that.

Equally, the podcast is also aimed at professionals and amateurs who enjoy the topics.

Final thoughts

With so many somewhat disjointed arms and avenues under my portfolio of science communication projects, I decided it was high time I unified it all under one umbrella, so I established the MCBE (Mirzarafie Centre for Biology Excellence) which is operating on LinkedIn as a weekly newsletter packed with news, insights and an original preview of my personal daily musings and photos. Having spent the past couple of years training as a science teacher, hearing Mr. Mirzarafie helped me frame myself.

“I think students want a glimpse into what lies beyond their studies and what careers they can start looking into...”

The A Level Biologist was created out of Arian’s desire to create a website he was passionate about. Since then, it has continually evolved, after starting off as a (now discountinued) Google Sites site. In the present day it now has 1,500,000 visits and 550+ topics covering eight different qualifications and exam boards, creating a space that allows students to be organized and connected with their specific exam boards.

Below: Arian Mirzarafie Ahi, founder of The A Level Biologist © The A Level Biologist. All rights reserved.

Biology is a subject we can all engage in day-to-day, and in the last few years it has become more accessible than ever. Apps allow us to take a picture of a plant with and instantaneously it tells us the name of the plant, the best conditions for growth and everything else.

But in Arian’s own words “No iPads, jungle trips or 3D printers can replace the essence of learning which is curiosity and wonder.”

Bio Arian Mirzarafie Ahi is the Founder and Director of The A Level Biologist, science writer and producer.

Cited author, qualified teacher and EdTech entrepreneur, Arian is passionate about life science education and implementation. Arian loves mountain biking, patisserie, home décor and travel.

Links The A Level Biologist: Arian’s LinkedIn: The A Level Biologist Podcasts: © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

https://www.thealevelbiologist.co.uk https://uk.linkedin.com/in/arianmirzarafieahi https://thealevelbiologistpodcasts.buzzsprout.com/ p53

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© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Artist interview

When sculptures speak fluent physics with Sukant Saran Written by Fahd Al-Sebaey

It is often said that science is about the objective

study of the universe, and that the conquest of human enlightenment stems from the cold, unbiased measurements and observations we as humans conduct. However, the history of science is brimming with instances where matters of the human soul and perception were imprinted in scientific research.

It is not surprising that one of the earliest models of the atom was the planetary (circular) model, inspired by the motion of planets in neat, circular orbits. Though later discredited, the planetary model remains a fabled starting point for the construction of modern physics and chemistry.

Science is the art of discovering what humans don’t know and feel using what they previously have known and felt. And in the case of our guest, Sukant Saran, science is indeed an art.

Sukant’s education as a physicist inspires his work as a sculptor.

Sukant uses sculpting as a means to convey and externalize deep mental models of how humans internally visualize scientific concepts, and he shares his stunning work with us today.

Above, right: Ductility (2021), 41×17×17 cm, stoneware clay. © Sukant Saran. All rights reserved.

Directly right: Space I (2020), 17×17×17 cm, stoneware clay. © Sukant Saran. All rights reserved. © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Q & A: Sukant Saran Have you always balanced science and art activities in your life?

I grew up in an environment enriched by literature, poetry and other arts and developed an appreciation of the arts very early. I learnt science in school, liked it and studied for my post-graduation in physics.

In my abstract pen-works I depicted mental and spiritual imagery. These were the externalization of non-verbal, mental pictures, formed inside, in response to a variety of life experiences. This was an intensely personal art. The engagement with science also continued and in 1985 I joined the doctoral program at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. Looking back, I see that I was attracted to the conceptual and the philosophical aspects of science more than its technical ones. At that time my art and science developed concurrently but separately, though there was no conflict. I have always been able to straddle the two worlds without much effort.

Around 2010 the two strands of my work started coming together, and, after some experimentation with various materials, I ended up making handbuilt clay sculptures. My sculptures are, in a sense, amalgamation of my abstract pen-works and the digital art. I do not fire my sculptures.

I am fascinated by the idea of juxtaposing modern scientific concepts and the ancient medium of clay.

I strive to find a balance between the aesthetic form and the scientific content. I always hope that my sculptures would make a connection with those who are not aware of the underlying science.

What inspired you to start making physics-inspired sculptures, and how are they made?

In 1990 I dropped out of the Ph.D. program due to various circumstances, without submitting a thesis. Also, my commitment to explore and develop my art was getting stronger. Later, I took an editorial job at TIFR which gave me the opportunity to do both, science and art, in a way that I liked and at my own pace.

It was a desire to properly illustrate the scientific reports I was making that led me to play with images directly connected to science, addressed to scientifically trained or inclined people. Thus, along with my abstract art, the science-based digital art also started developing.

Above: Space II (2020), 25×21×20 cm, stoneware clay. © Sukant Saran. All rights reserved

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Artist interview

Please give a few examples of your sculptures that you are sharing with us and explain what they represent about physics concepts. i.

Einstein’s theories of relativity fused space, time and matter, in unusual ways. It is understood that space-time, created at the Big Bang, has been expanding ever since. This peculiar and counter-intuitive notion posits that any observer in the universe would find space expanding in all directions. The sculpture Space I incorporates the notions of space, geometry and expansion.

“The sculpture Time emphasizes the distinction between physical and psychological time.”

ii.

The nature of space at a very small scale is rather bizarre. Space is thought to be permeated by quantum fields. It has been theorized that virtual particles are being incessantly produced and destroyed in the so called empty space. They cannot be observed directly but their cumulative effect has been measured. The sculpture Space II depicts the ceaseless activity of the vacuum at an ultramicroscopic scale. iii.

For a physicist, time is the fourth dimension, in addition to the three of space, and is represented by a line. Nevertheless, perception of time is very different and has deep connections with consciousness and memory. The sculpture Time emphasizes the distinction between physical and psychological time. The smooth cylinder represents the linear time of physics and the curvy projections depict the way the mind perceives time. iv.

The ability to draw wires out of metals has numerous applications but the physics has remained rather obscure. The sculpture Ductility imagines the interior of a stretching wire, where microscopic crystalline “chips” of metal slide past each other in an orchestrated manner.

How did your recent exhibition go at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai? Any more exciting plans ahead?

The exhibition “Sculpting Science: An Experiment in Art” was held at TIFR from June 1 to 14, 2022. Twenty four sculptures were displayed in © NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

Above: Time (2020), 35×14×14 cm, stoneware clay. © Sukant Saran. All rights reserved. p57

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Artist interview

seven groups. Each group was accompanied by a write-up in simple language explaining the scientific context of the sculptures. The exhibition was viewed by scientists, artists, researchers, school students and the general public. It received a very positive and enthusiastic response. It was very satisfying to see the confluence of art and science being readily recognized and appreciated.

The viewers could relate to the sculptures at various levels; scientific, philosophical, and aesthetic.

Till now, I have concentrated mostly on physics, mathematics and biology. In the future, I would like to explore geology and other earth sciences; to make sculptures that reflect upon and interpret the scientific understanding of earth systems.

Final thoughts Sukant Saran has had a lot of contact with both science and art in his upbringing, which led to him gain a special interest in the philosophical and human side of science. Starting his career as an editor for Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Sukant was particularly keen on properly illustrating imagery in scientific reports.

Sukant’s inclination towards scientific art pushed him to work with other art forms, like digital art and sculpting, exploring possibilities and gaining new skills along the way. Sukant holds scientific exhibitions, the latest of which took place in 2022, to showcase his stunning visual work that embodies the human perception of abstract ideas in physics. For Sukant, the idea of showcasing modern science through clay, which was used as an ancient medium for writing, is nothing short of thrilling — a beautiful clash between what is new and old.

Scientific inquiry unravels a hidden, wondrously beautiful world, which is not perceived by the senses, but is intimately connected with what is apparent. Sukant’s sculptures are the artistic response to this great beauty and mystery of science.

Bio Sukant Saran (b. 1963), a physicist turned artist, has worked as a scientific officer at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, editing scientific reports.

He has held two exhibitions of his abstract pen-works (1998, 2001) and four exhibitions of his science-based digital art and sculptures (2006, 2009, 2012, and 2022).

Links Website: www.sukantsaran.in Interview: https://science.thewire.in/the-sciences/interview-sukant-saran-science-art/ E-mail: saran.sukant@gmail.com

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Art

art gallery

Cella Siegelman Growing up, Cella Siegelman loved prehistoric animals, yet they

seemed to only be marketed as monster-like creatures for boys.

As a creator, she wanted to show the accuracy of modern dinosaur & prehistoric discoveries through cute and whimsical creations.

Cella tries to include all types of prehistoric animals in her work, yet, she has a few main characters that she likes to draw, like dinosaurs mixed with fruit, and sea creatures mixed with sweets.

Artwork Sweet Sea Creatures

Links (above)

© Cella Siegelman, Gummmydragon Design LLC. All rights reserved.

Website: gummmydragon.square.site

This piece features a multitude of prehistoric sea creatures, mixed with sweets! The Basilosaurus Eclair, Sugar Cookie Dunkleosteus, Banana Split Plesiosaur, and Key Lime Liopleurodon were the original designs.

I recently added more characters, like the icecream sandwich Archelon.

I wanted to depict the animals more accurately through their range of sizes and anatomy, aside from the whimsical aspect. I always strive to make my illustrations fun, vibrant, and joyful.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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art gallery

Joseph Etchingham J

Artwork Reunion

(below)

© Joseph L. Etchingham. All rights reserved.

The photo was taken in Red Lodge, Montana during a family reunion. After we settled in and unpacked our stuff, I walked around with my Canon and started snapping a few photos. While I’m from Montana, the beauty that surrounds me is truly breath-taking. I hope the image brings that out!

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

oseph L. Etchingham is a photographer based out of Bozeman, Montana. While he began in portraiture, starting in Spring 2020 he started exploring street and documentary photography. The landscape genre is one that he started exploring recently too. His other creative endeavors include writing and videography.

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art gallery

Madeline Woods and Derek Minnix M

adeline Woods, Derek Minnix, & Emily Lorson would like to present to everyone “Smoke on the Water.” This piece features some of south-west Florida’s pristine waters and natural mangroves. Also pictured is Madeline Woods and the beautifully tinted sunset with some tropical shrubs and trees.

The team hopes everyone enjoys the piece as much as they loved creating it!

Artwork Smoke on the Water (right)

© Madeline Woods and Derek Minnix.

All rights reserved.

This photo shoot was made possible by myself, Derek Minnix, and Emily Lorson. We were on location around Old Hickory Bay, in south-west Florida. Derek scouted locations fitted for lighting, theme, and safety.

We have gators and sharks in Florida waters, so the salinity has to be just right.

Derek set up lighting and took the photos while our hands on “magical” artistic detailer was on site physically holding dry ice under the water to give it the smokey effect we were all going for.

Links Instagram: @madelinee_woodz @elokial

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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art gallery

Marie-Julie Lafrance Marie-Julie is a Canadian/Métis illustrator.

Diagnosed as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), she is highly detail-oriented.

Some of her work has been published in Éclair Magazine, Passengers Journal, Artells and many more. She also has worked (as an illustrator) with Leading Edge Magazine, Flash Frog Magazine, and other magazines and publishers.

Artwork Monarch.

(left)

On fire.

© Marie-Julie Lafrance. All rights reserved.

(above)

Links Website: mariejuliestudio.wordpress.com

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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art gallery

Oguz Kalkan Oğuz Kalkan works on multimedia and so many different

disciplines of the art from so many different organizations of culture & art (one of them SaatchiArt, ARTNUMBER23, Jessops, Meero, and The Muse Storytelling, Albe Art Gallery, and a few local galleries). Oğuz (AKA The Birdie) is always excited to create media and find the new ways of producing art, like in this project, which combines concepts about nature as well as our inner nature.

Artwork The Pinky Landscape.

(left)

© Oğuz Kalkan. All rights reserved.

I took this photograph while camping, and was inspired by a contemporary style as well as nature itself.

Links Instagram: @miniginbiri

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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art gallery

Scott Duffield

Scott Duffield is a

photographer who was named 2021 Outdoor Nature Photo Of The Year.

A brand Ambassador for Conker Nature Magazine, he is a widely published Wildlife & Nature photographer.

Links

Artwork Urban night fox.

(above)

© Scott Duffield. All rights reserved.

I call this picture “Urban night fox” and I took this image to show how foxes have been forced to live on the outskirts of urban areas and scavenge for food in our rubbish bins due to habitat loss. This fox is stood behind a gorse Bush in the evening sun waiting for the busy streets to quieten down to scavenge for food.

Instagram: @scott.duffield.photography

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Written Word

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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Written Word poetry

A boat ride to Howth

By Ronan Quinn

I see many a slippery black head popping

Up from the depths, the fish are violently Disappearing and the green ripples going As far as the eye can see. The salt slowly Gets between my fingertips as I dip them, There is an icy tinge to the day, there is a Green, polluted hue to the sea today, some Seagulls swoop to the stern of the ship. A Flock of cormorants swarms on a deserted Inlet to the right, the craggy edges soak Up white foam, a spray comes to a head And the view of the mountains rolls, cloaks Almost, the sea shore. The boat lunges, Chugs to its goal, the depth ever plunges.

About the Author Ronan Quinn is an editor, writer, poet and literary translator based in Dublin. He studied for an undergraduate degree in Russian and European History in Bangor University and a Masters in Russian Literary Translation in Trinity College Dublin.

Originally a journalist for various publications in Ireland, including The Irish Times, Ronan went on to translate many books from Russian to English. He is currently working for a few Russian translation outlets and writes poetry for online publications both in the United States and Ireland.

Read more: theoutposteire.com/2022/05/07/the-releasing-by-ronan-quinn

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