Science, technology, and art are not different realms with nothing in common, says Professor Donna J. Cox, a pioneer in visualizing scientific information. Rather, artists can compliment the work of scientists by giving them new ways to look at their data and technology can be the glue that helps brings together scientific researchers and visual artists.

Cox, a professor at the University of Illinois School of Art and Design, and head of the Visualization and Experimental Technologies division at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), spoke February 13 about the convergence of art and science through technology. The RENCI-sponsored lecture, held at the Hanes Art Building on the UNC campus, drew about 250 people. Cox’s visual collaborations with scientists have been featured in the IMAX film Cosmic Voyage, which earned her team a technical Academy Award nomination, documentaries for PBS’s NOVA and the Discovery Channel, and dome shows at the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium and the Denver Museum of Science and Nature.