The AGU Voices for Science 2020/2021 fellowship opened my eyes to different science communication possibilities that value my creativity. Below are some of my scicomm work!

Science animations / illustrations

I give a lot of seminars and slideshow presentations for work. Sometimes there are concepts that, in my head, are easier to understand if there are accompanying visuals.

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Guest-illustrator for MinuteEarth

In 2020 I guest-illustrated for Minute Earth for a video, and in the process I learned so much about storyboarding, illustrating, animating, and video editing.

Video Illustration and Editing

After learning about video illustration and editing from the MinuteEarth project, I tried to make some on my own. I started this Youtube channel: ScienceSketched where I put my works, embedded below.

AGU Scicomm seminars/workshops

For the #AGU2020 virtual conference, I and my ARTner-in-crime Mj Riches gave the workshop “How to Sketch Your Science” on December 2, where we talked about the value of using self-made visual media for communicating science. We prepared a handout¹ through AGU Sharing Science’s blog, and the workshop drew about a thousand participants, as per the organizers.

We started off the workshop with video sketches of each other “Draw-my-life” style, where Mj narrated her introduction² and I sketched it, and vice versa³. We presented the basics of sketching and how to make simple animations, as well as the available (and free) tools that the participants can use. Below is a list of links to the different materials produced for and after the workshop:

1. Handout for the participants (standalone, prepared to be useful also for non-participants) – https://blogs.agu.org/sciencecommunication/2020/12/02/how-to-sketch-your-science/
2. Mj’s intro (narrated by Mj, illustrated by me) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yg2udW0KWo
3. Irene’s intro (narrated by me, illustrated by Mj) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nieIQpyN3M8
4. Some of the participants tweeted about their sketches and animations! https://wakelet.com/wake/pDTprcX9YOnw55oMLMlbc

With the success of the workshop, the Sharing Science team invited us to conduct a similar workshop for their seminar series on “Storytelling via #SciArt” on May 13, 2021. The workshop was again fully virtual, and the recording can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reiLrThDXMg

Once again I teamed up with Mj to present the “How to Sketch Your Science” workshop, both virtual and in-person in New Orleans, Louisiana for #AGU2021 on December 13, 2021. I also co-presented the seminar “Everyone looks at the figures first: Creating and Using compelling Figures” for the AGU Skills for Science program on December 16, 2021.

Blog

I just started a blog! There I want to write about science concepts that I find fun, probably most of it related to weather radar stuff. I also write short how-tos on making science art/animations, based on the workshops I’ve given for/with AGU Sharing Science and their Voices for Science Program.

Here is my contribution to AGU’s Plainspoken Scientist blog: https://blogs.agu.org/sciencecommunication/2020/08/05/drawntogeoscience-imaginations-to-animations/

Invited talks / Public Speaking

STEM Warriors Club (Philippines) – August 2022 (Link)
Association of Filipino Scientists in America – Sept 30, 2022
University of California Santa Barbara – Dec 10, 2020 (Recording)
Northwestern University – May 15, 2020
Argonne National Laboratory – March 4, 2019 (Abstract)

Skype-a-Scientist

I’ve participated in six Skype-a-Scientist sessions with grade-schoolers from different schools. Usually I gather questions from the kids and teachers, and then prepare some drawings that answer their questions. I also like drawing on-screen in real-time for some on-the-spot questions.