Engage your biology students
… and enhance their observation skills.

I teach scientific drawing as a visiting artist to campuses located in the northeastern US:

  • In-person workshops for colleges, universities, community colleges, and high schools located in the northeastern US.
  • In-person workshops at biological field stations and marine labs located in the northeastern US.

Drawing is one of the best ways to see and understand biology and ecology. Drawing in biology is very useful when students are asked to report observations or make predictions. Whether sketching field notes, drawing and labeling dissections, or mapping out what we see through a microscope in the lab, the very act of drawing makes us better observers. The process of drawing requires slow looking, with a focus that helps us notice and remember things about organisms, habitats, and interactions. (For further reading on the power of drawing-to-learn in biology education, see selected references here, here, here, and here).

The practice of drawing shapes the mind.

— Gemma Anderson

Teaching drawing for undergraduate biology and ecology, I focus on process, not product. Using pen, graphite pencil, color pencil, and watercolor, I demystify the drawing process to increase students’ confidence. Just like riding a bicycle, drawing is a set of skills and is not reserved for those with special “talent.” With practice, anyone can all develop tools for translating objects from a three-dimensional world onto a two-dimensional page.

Cornell University students learning drawing fundamentals in a Marine Invertebrates class.

In my workshops, I also help students go beyond their drawing to deepen their observations with notes and discussions — inventorying what they see, sharing their insights with each other, and generating questions about structure, function, and environment. For example, in a “20 x 20” exercise, we spend 20 minutes drawing in the field or studio, then generate 20 questions about things we noticed during this time of focused attention.

My workshops are tailored to align with the 4DEE framework for ecology, the Vision & Change recommendations for biology, and the Next Generation Science Standards for high school life science. I am based in Massachusetts and can visit your campus if you are in the northeastern US. I teach workshops as a visiting artist in undergraduate or high school biology, ecology, or environmental science — in colleges, universities, community colleges, and biological field stations and marine labs. What’s the best way my workshops help you engage your students?

For a list of institutions where I have taught, see my teaching page.

Let’s talk about art for science engagement.
Contact me at sciencecandance@gmail.com.

Nancy Lowe
Smith College Plant Morphology class, set up for botanical illustration workshop.
Student drawing from Smith College: Plant Evolution & Diversity class,
after three of my Drawing for Biology workshops.