Visual SciComm Seminar Series
Spring 2026 | Fall 2025 | Spring 2025 | Fall 2024 | Spring 2024 | Fall 2023 | Spring 2023
Fall 2025 Visual SciComm Seminar
Join us for virtual talks on a wide range of topics related to visual scientific communication.
Visual communication is one of the most powerful ways to communicate knowledge. Past speakers from this series have covered a diverse range of topics related to visual communication including:
- Using comics to communicate challenging topics
- Ethical and legal ways to use images created by others
- Creating videos and mixed-media for social media
- Making science communication accessible to people with disabilities
- The use of Sci-Art to promote science literacy
- Using infographics to communicate
- Storytelling in science communication
Sign up to receive updates when registration has opened for our next round of speakers.
If you are interested in being a future speaker, please complete a quick application form or email Sara Kobilka at [email protected].
October 3, 2025
Visual Science Communication Goes 3D
Cèleste Frazier Barthel
Sustainability Education Specialist, Earth Forward Group
Break free from the flat screen! Dr. Cèleste Frazier Barthel, STEM educator, will highlight the power of 3D visualization in scientific communication, focusing on the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Science on a Sphere®. Reaching more than 60 million people each year, this powerful dynamic tool provides a more complete, accurate and immersive way to communicate global-scale scientific information than traditional 2D models. Cèleste will discuss the “wow factor” her research found when people engaged with this tool and how the images are designed.
Registration Closed
October 17, 2025
Design, for Scientists: Help people pay attention to research and love it.
Mike Morrison
Scientist Experience Designer, Curvenote
Design and psychology principals are at the core of making visual communication (slides, posters, research reports — anything) engaging. In his presentation, designer and psychologist, Dr. Mike Morrison will explore this through games and silly graphics. You’ll see data from eye tracking and other studies beautifully illustrating how the power of good design can make science move faster and be more pleasant to learn (even for scientists). And you’ll get a glimpse into the future of scientific publishing. In the end, you’ll learn immediately-applicable tips that will help you design things that impact more people, and get your science message out further.
Registration Closed
October 31, 2025
Where Science Meets Art: Sparking Curiosity Through Creativity
Shiloe Fontes
Planetarium & Design Manager, Flandrau Science Center & Planetarium, University of Arizona
Science communication is one of the most important parts of science—but it’s often overlooked and can feel intimidating. Art offers a way back to science’s roots, where creative expression was used to share complex ideas in ways anyone could understand. This talk explores how blending art, design, and interactivity can bring science to life in fresh and exciting ways. From digital media to immersive experiences, we’ll look at how creative approaches can break down barriers, spark curiosity, and invite everyone to connect with science in new and meaningful ways.
Registration Closed
November 14, 2025, 11am-noon AZ time (1-2pm ET)
Creative Negotiation: Navigating Interdisciplinary Teams and Projects
Megan Roxbury
Senior Graphic Designer, Eller College of Business Management, University of Arizona
As a designer, our job is to tell stories, but how do you go about telling someone else’s story? What if that someone is a team of scientists in a field you know nothing about? In this lecture, Water Whys Graphic Design Advisor Megan Roxbury will explore ways of navigating the gap between your knowledge of design and the knowledge of your collaborators. She’ll cover some ways to communicate your needs and constraints, but also how to see from other perspectives so you can bring complex ideas to life.