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Published online 20 August 2008 | Nature 454, 929 (2008) | doi:10.1038/454929e
News in Brief
Science illustration course draws to an end
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Please note this is News in Brief, and so will be a short article.
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If the course is going to shut down, then I hope that the university would consider sharing some or all of the course material for free public access. Not all scientists are artists, but most of us can use a few tips on good presentation techniques in our scientific publications or presentations. Of course, it would be best if the course can just stay alive.
This is such a tragedy. The Scientific Illustration program at UCSC is one of the prides of that institution. I hope that outside funding can be found to continue this program or that it can evolve into a new field with financial support from multiple departments. Imagine a multi-disciplinary field of study that uses photography, computer graphics, video editing, and illustration to depict scientific phenomenon for educational and professional purposes. As a UCSC alumn and a scientist, I hope this program can survive.
Having worked at UCSC for 27 years and having had many students take the Science Illustration program and successfully go on to excellent jobs in the field I was appalled to hear that UCSC intends to drop the program. The program was put into the UCSC Extension School some years ago and deprived of an academic home on campus. The debt of the Extension School has been growing for years now (through no fault of Science Illustration) and UCSC needs to take drastic action. But drastic action means putting the extension program into sound fiscal shape, not using the problem to cut programs that serve students as well as this one. I hope UCSC will live up to its reputation for quality education and keep one of its best programs alive.
The Science Illustration program, like the excellent Science Writing one, is one of those programs whose value goes above simple dollars and cents. Graduates end up at some of the most prestigious media outlets and provide a rare service for the science community. I would think the University would take more advantage of showing off their unique program, rather than shutting it down.
Absolutely tragic. This is one of the programs that makes UCSC unique, and even famous. I am an alumn of the program, am now conducting my own research and am using what I learned at UCSC every day as a scientist. It improves my ability to communicate with other scientists and the public. It radically changed how I even think about information, much less how I see it. The University of California should expand this program, not can it!