Pant is a psychological sciences major who\u2019s learned through the years that when she arranges classroom information into something that\u2019s aesthetically pleasing, the information is imprinted better and stays at the forefront of her mind longer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to make sure I know my stuff and make sure everything is accurate,\u201d she says. \u201cBecause I have such an interest in art already, making notes look nice motivates me to study better. Then, at the end of studying, it\u2019s rewarding to see what I\u2019ve created. It makes studying a creative process.\u201d<\/p>\n Pant and a group of other science-minded-but-art-inspired students run the UConn Sci-Art Gallery<\/a>, which seeks submissions that turn the facts and figures of STEM topics into art \u2013 or, plainly, something that exemplifies the creativity that science requires.<\/p>\n A while back, Angela Su \u201922 (PHR), \u201924 Pharm.D. says she saw a model of a lung in an anatomy lab and took a picture of it, paying attention to the blues and reds that delineate veins and arteries. She\u2019s inspired now to use tissue paper to sculpt lung tissue.<\/p>\n \u201cI love crafting creative things and what\u2019s better than putting that with science,\u201d Su says. \u201cI\u2019ve always had a lot of ideas and it\u2019s been nice having this club to give me motivation now. Coming up with ideas, even with little puns, helps me study. It makes me go through and know my notes, rather than just glance them over and blank on the test. Now, I can think back to why I put this element in this color or this drug class in this color and answer more effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n The gallery, which also is on Instagram<\/a>, features factual notes and study aids for things like muscle histology<\/a>, DNA nucleotide problems<\/a>, and anterior cut heart anatomy<\/a>. It also has a gallery of submissions that use science as the subject but may portray it more creatively, and maybe not entirely lifelike.<\/p>\n In one piece, Coma Cocktail<\/a>, Su says she was inspired by common interventions for comatose patients of unknown cause in emergency medicine \u2013 otherwise known as a \u201ccoma cocktail.\u201d In it, Su drew a margarita with dextrose as a rim of sugar, thiamine as the liquid, oxygenation as a straw, and a naloxone nasal spray as garnish.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the first science-specific piece of art she ever made, she says.<\/p>\n Considering the Whole Person<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always been uncomfortable with this idea that we separate people into disciplines,\u201d says Thomas Abbott, an associate professor-in-residence in molecular and cell biology and founder of the UConn Sci-Art Gallery. \u201cI always thought people are much more holistic than that as human beings. I understand the necessity of this division, but I also think it\u2019s a mistake because we are a total package, not just art or music or science.\u201d<\/p>\n Abbott says that throughout his career he\u2019s seen many students\u2019 notes, oftentimes after the first exam of the semester when they didn\u2019t score as high as they\u2019d hoped and want to explain how hard they\u2019re working. Many times, he\u2019s seen drawings that not only were informative, but oftentimes beautiful.<\/p>\n Then, years ago, when three-ring binders still were the way students kept notes, a music major who\u2019d struggled at the beginning of the semester in BIOL 1107, Principles of Biology, followed up at the end to give Abbott some advice: Tell your students that if they, too, are having a hard time understanding the material, draw the molecular processes and label them. He showed Abbott a binder full of gorgeous drawings.<\/p>\n \u201cIt got me thinking that this would be another avenue for these students,\u201d Abbott says. \u201cMaybe they have this additional passion or interest that no one even knew about, and because they\u2019re siloed into this discipline or that one, they can\u2019t break into these other areas. I thought a science art gallery would be an informal way to show the world their passion, expression, and humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2021, two students, Mehreen Pasha \u201922 (CLAS), \u201926 MD and Siddhe Patel \u201922 (CLAS), agreed to help him bring the idea to life, he says. With a few other recruited students, they came up with the logo, two categories of study aids and gallery, and developed it into an independent study through the molecular and cell biology department<\/a>.<\/p>\n Just as word began to spread last spring, Pasha and Patel graduated. This semester Pant, Su, and three others took the helm.<\/p>\n \u201cScience and art are so often thought of as separate worlds, but science is such a creative field and it\u2019s so beautiful. We don\u2019t often get to see the magnified beauty of what science explores,\u201d Pant says.<\/p>\n To gain more attention, the group has begun to issue monthly challenges to Instagram followers, in December asking, \u201cEver feel like something in science looks like food? Share your real science, unreal food combos.\u201d \u201cNotevember\u201d called for science notes, \u201cInktober\u201d sought submissions in ink, and September wanted mnemonic devices.<\/p>\n Abbott says that in time, he hopes there will be enough submissions to group them by class and offer them to future students for study and appreciation.<\/p>\n![\"Axon](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Axon_Membrane_At_Rest-Yuki-Lin-300x248.png\")
![\"Coma](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Coma-Cocktail-Angela-Su-229x300.jpg\")
![\"Neurons,](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Neurons-EPSPs-IPSPs-PSYC-2201-Yamini-Pant-212x300.jpg\")
![\"Lymph](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Lymph_Node-Yuki-Lin-300x300.png\")