An art piece created for my honours to accompany an article on reef shark conservation, depicting a school of grey reef sharks over a coral reef. One in five sharks are whited out, to visualize how reef sharks are functionally absent in 20% of coral reefs worldwide. Functional absence, defined by MacNeil et al. (2020), means that in these areas shark numbers are so low that they have effectively no impact on the ecosystem. This is worrisome, as sharks are apex predators and important for healthy ecosystems. 

​Thank you to Guillaume Funfrock (@cinqrock on Instagram) for the photo reference.​
Read more here: CBC | Nature

There is often a disconnect between the academic and public spheres in terms of knowledge and understanding of ocean issues, which limits conservation action. Marine science outreach must bridge both a communication and spatial gap between knowledge producers and users. In recent years, art-science collaborations have been found to encourage participatory engagement and emotional connection in the public, which has been theorized to be crucial for establishing trust and engagement. However, scientists hesitate to use art in outreach, in part because it is difficult to evaluate. 
My honours thesis, completed at Dalhousie University and supervised by Dr. Heike Lotze and Dr. Jennifer Stamp, investigated how different image types, including photographs, illustrations, and art pieces may affect responses to marine conservation topics. An online survey was distributed to Dalhousie University students from November 15th 2021 to April 1st 2022. Study participants read three marine conservation articles and responded to statements evaluating attributes contributing to a person’s likelihood to act regarding conservation issues. Each article was randomly accompanied by either an art piece, a scientific illustration, or a photograph. After encountering all articles and image types, participants were asked to choose and justify their preferred image type.
Survey respondents found the marine conservation topics were valid in their conclusions, interesting to read, and emotionally evocative. Regardless of image type, 66% of respondents agreed that the images helped communicate the articles’ messages. Friedman and Cochran Q tests found no significant differences between image types in terms of perceived validity, interest, or emotional responses to conservation topics, contradicting our hypothesis that image types would have different impacts on responses. However, while no visual performed better than the rest, none of them performed worse either. Photographs were the least preferred image type and perceived to be significantly less effective at conveying the articles’ messages, which has implications for research dissemination and evaluation methods. 
Overall, this study suggests that visuals are an effective method of science outreach, but there is no one-size-fits all approach. Marine scientists interested in designing visuals should employ an iterative and collaborative approach that matches their image type to their audience and communication goals.
Please see my full thesis here: http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.31468.74887
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