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Science outreach

Observing a living embryo under the microscope is breathtaking. How does one organism with various parts, complex organs, and behaviors build itself from a single cell?

Second embryonic cell division in a sea biscuit embryo of the species Clypeaster subdepressus. Check out the entire video.

In my research, I capture photos and videos of developing embryos to understand how they work. However, only a few of these photos are eventually published in research papers, while the vast majority remain hidden in hard drives.

Young sea star
Oral surface of a juvenile sea star. 5th place in the Nikon Small World 2009.

For this reason, I participate in initiatives to explore the potential of such images for science outreach.

During my master’s thesis, I created a video abstract for my project on the life cycle of a sea biscuit. The video A Sea Biscuit’s Life went online at the end of 2008 and is still getting attention:

Movie abstract I created for my master’s thesis.

Another outreach project I created in collaboration with Alvaro Migotto from the Center for Marine Biology of the University of São Paulo (CEBIMar) is the Cifonauta database, an image resource for marine biology. It is a multimedia platform with more than 12k annotated photos and videos of the Brazilian marine biodiversity.

Science outreach using images of marine organisms.
A metadata-driven database of photos and videos of marine biodiversity. More than 12k files to explore! Link: http://cifonauta.cebimar.usp.br/

I also contributed to organizing the itinerant photographic exhibits such as the Ocean: hidden life with the goal of engaging the public with scientific and conservation topics.

convite
An itinerant photographic exhibit showing corals, jellyfish, and other marine creatures. Link: http://www.usp.br/cbm/oceano/

Finally, I frequently upload photos and videos of my research online for outreach and re-use:

Most of these images are under a flexible Creative Commons license. If you have any questions about how to use them feel free to contact me.