Merging Art and Science at the MBL

Students at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) took a fresh approach to science with an elective art course that allowed them to create and critique unique artworks inspired by their time in Woods Hole. 

The course, entitled Art: On Images, was part of the Semester in Biological Discovery at the MBL, a 12-week program that provides an intensive, immersive research experience in biological sciences modeled on the MBL’s world-renowned Advanced Research Training Courses. Undergraduates in the program take a variety of courses during their stay, ranging from parasitology and biodiversity to developmental biology and advanced microscopy . . . and, in this case, visual art. 

Artist and course director Serena Aurora Day Himmelfarb said the course aimed to support “the inherent creativity of scientific exploration.” 

“Students did observational drawing in the [Marine Resources Center] and around Woods Hole,” they said. “A big topic in the class [was] the role of the scientific gaze and the idea of objectivity or neutrality, and the students were able to explore these ideas through the artwork they made as well as in class discussions.” 

Students presented each other’s work at an art show earlier in May. Artist Kira Doutt also visited the course to do a critique with the students and give a presentation on her work. 

Applications for the 2026 Semester in Biological Discovery are now open and due December 12, 2025.