In May 2023 I had the honor of joining the University of Maine’s Sea to Sky Program as the team’s science communication and art instructor. Sea to Sky is a unique interdisciplinary capstone field experience for students in the Earth and Climate Science Department. From exploring a landscape with radar to gathering bedrock samples and painting the colors observed in a glacier, each day was filled with science, adventure, and learning. In addition to my instructional role, I also documented the experience through photographs, video, and paintings created every day.

The lessons I led included simple sketching techniques for field sites, watercolor mixing and techniques for painting landscape patterns, writing for a layperson audience, and an Art-Based Perceptual Ecology shadow sketching exercise. I also led group discussions on science communication before the trip and in the field, and facilitated the creation of a collaborative painting that everyone in the group contributed to. This painting was later gifted to the program’s financial donor.

Teaching for this program was a dream come true, and I think I was just as excited as the students. It was an incredible experience to support this incredible program as part of the instructional staff, and to watch the transformative moments each student had, from flying in a helicopter to the nose of a glacier, explore coastal ecosystems in kayaks, visit a remote field station, and collecting data on an icefield in the Wrangell-Saint Elias mountains.

The video and gallery I created below share some stories from the trip and teaching experience.