Marine Heatwaves: An Art & Science Collaboration

Marine Heatwaves is an art and science collaboration between myself and climate scientists Caroline Ummenhofer and Svenja Ryan from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Their research has a deep connection to my community’s past and future, and my challenge was to create an artistic representation of their work to engage viewers in climate science.

We began our collaboration with months of conversation. Caroline and Svenja explained their research and shared books, technical papers, and podcasts. As we examined the scientific and artistic process, we were surprised and delighted at the similarity of so many aspects of our work. We spoke in-depth about the challenges of meaningfully communicating big ideas and numbers and how we all had to be compelling storytellers.

The Science

Caroline Ummenhofer focuses on understanding the ocean's role in the global water cycle, particularly extreme events like droughts and floods. Her interdisciplinary research combines data from global observations and computer simulations with environmental archives around the world. Her project to extract descriptive weather data from whaling logs captured my imagination. A key goal of Caroline's research has been to bridge the gap between ocean and climate science and its impacts on society: she aims to provide practical outcomes of use to stakeholders and translate the implications of her research findings to the broader public.

Svenja Ryan studies Marine Heatwaves (MHW) off the New England coast. A marine heatwave is an extreme event in the ocean in which temperatures are significantly above the norm. MHW can have an enormous impact on coastal communities and ocean ecosystems. In the oceanographic world, MHWs are the “new kid on the block.” They have only recently been “discovered.” For her work, Svenja utilizes many different tools and datasets depending on the research question, including ocean models, ship-based measurements, satellite data, data from marine mammals, and floating robots that profile the subsurface ocean.

Warm Core Rings off the New England Coast

The Art

Very early in the project, I knew that whatever I created, it needed to be big and it needed to move. My partner scientists deal with big ideas, big systems, and big data. They are seeking patterns in constantly shifting environments.

My artistic interpretation needed to come out of the frame, off the wall, and be kinetic. The waveforms in the animation below inspired the form for my marine heatwaves. It was easy for me to imagine moving, swirling heatwaves, but executing my ideas took a great deal of experimenting with materials, pattern design, tensile strength, and rotation. There was lots of trial and error, and many failed efforts before I settled on a form that would move in both predictable and unpredictable ways, was simultaneously simple and complex, and could be viewed from a distance and invite the viewer in for a closer look.

Once I settled on the “heatwave” form I could begin thinking about the imagery. During the reading and research phase of the project, I developed quite a library of images of critters around the globe that have been impacted by heatwaves, charts, maps, and satellite photographs of these extreme events in our ocean. I spent hours reading scanned copies of old whaling ship logs that are being mined for weather data to be used in Caroline’s climate models. But I did not have a unifying theme for all this imagery until I queried my partner scientists about their personal motivations. I asked Caroline and Svenja, “What is the driving force that makes you dive into these massive data sets, travel to polar regions, and seek out new data from the past?” They both answered, “the thrill of discovery.” These climate scientists are direct descendants of naturalist explorers who used ink and pen for journal entries and illustrations. Today, the tools are different, but the quest is the same.

With this theme of exploration and discovery, I began the process of collaging imagery onto the waveforms. Each heatwave begins with a color gradient that is commonly used to convey oceanographic data. One side has a yellow-to-blue gradient and the other side is the inverse color gradient. This decision was to assure that the colors would always be complimentary when the backside of a heatwave is in conversation with the front side. I wove data generated by Svenja’s computer models in and around 19th-century drawings of creatures impacted by marine heatwaves and layered computer code into whaling log entries that will become data points on the Beaufort Wind Force Scale. To create depth and texture I embedded graphs, charts, scientific instruments, and satellite photos of marine heatwaves into the design. The heatwave imagery is intentionally both large and small scale. I wanted the sculpture to intrigue viewers from a distance and invite them to come close and explore. This macro/micro viewing experience mirrors how both scientists and artists dive deep into rabbit holes on their way to seeing the big picture.

Exhibitions & Community Events

Exhibitions:

Whaling Museum, New Bedford, MA May 2023 - January 2024

Ocean Race Newport: Exploration Zone, May 2023

Falmouth Art Center, January 2023

Synergy II, URI Providence, July 2022

South Coast Surface Design, July 2021

Community Events & Presentations:

NASA Salinity Website
European Geoscience Union General Assembly, 2024
American Geoscience: Ocean Science Meeting, 2024

Coffee Obsession, Falmouth, MA January -March 2024

Climate Change and Creative Public Engagement through Art,
Drawing Room, New Bedford 2023

European Geoscience Union General Assembly, 2023

Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, 2023

Whaling Museum Volunteers Organization, 2023

WHOI Summer Scholars, 2023

Featured stop on New Bedford Art & Culture tours, 2023

Our Sisters School, 2022

Webinar: MIT Art Science Collaboration for K-12 Teachers

McAllistair Gallery Docent Talk, 2022

Oceanus: Journal of the Ocean Planet 2022