Senior graphics designer discusses importance of scientific infographics

The William Pierson Field Lecture Series Presents: Jennifer Christiansen, Senior Graphics Designer at Scientific American

What are science-centric information graphics? Why are they useful? When should they be produced, and how does one go about creating them? Jen will answer these questions as they pertain to her duties as senior graphics editor at Scientific American Magazine, and will provide practical tips and resources for scientists who want to improve their own figures for both communicating their research to their peers, and to broader audiences.

Jen Christiansen is senior graphics editor at Scientific American, where she art directs and produces illustrated information graphics and data visualizations. She completed undergraduate studies in geology and art at Smith College, then happily merged the two disciplines in the scientific illustration graduate program at UC Santa Cruz. She began her publishing career in New York at Scientific American in 1996, moved to Washington, DC to join the art department of National Geographic, spent four years as a freelance science communicator, then rejoined the Scientific American team in 2007. She’s a regular contributor to SA Visual—the Scientific American art blog—writing on topics ranging from reconciling her love for art and science, to her quest to learn more about the pulsar chart on Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures album cover.