Kirsten Carlson

What’s the work that you do?

I’m an illustrator with 30 years experience exploring the world as a scientist-artist. Antarctica altered my world view when I was a young scientist diving in the Antarctic and I combined my love for marine ecology with scientific illustration.

I create visual stories about the animal world for diversely educated audiences, from scientific journals to children’s books.

I returned to Antarctica in 2017 as an NSF Antarctic Artist & Writer. I’m co-chair of the Antarctic Artists and Writers Collective; our mission is inspire and educate the public about Antarctica and its scientific exploration through collaborations in the arts.

What keeps you going?

Exploring nature and capturing it on the page is the perfect path for me to share all that I fathom and feel about the ocean’s magnificence and preciousness. I believe that combining science and art helps a person develop an ability to see things with an ever more curious and creative mind and feel connected to our planet. And, what I do gives me the opportunity to share the animals’ stories, since they cannot speak for themselves.

What’s your message to the world?

I love the wisdom passed on through quotes, so I will share one from the first person to take me underwater, virtually, through a tiny black and white television screen:

“To enlarge the human perspective, to build on knowledge for future generations, to identify dangers, and to chart the course to a better world: If these are the goals of the explorer, then everyone—voyager, scientist and citizen, parent and child—is engaged in humanity’s momentous expedition.”

― Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French explorer and the inventor of scuba diving.