and other ocean micro-worlds
Stop-motion experiments exploring Scottish ocean micro-worlds. Crochet rockpools by Emily Doolittle (who also composed the score) and an origami food chain from diatoms to sandeels via copepods, brought to life by Clubhouse Animations. Many thanks to Greenlight Creative, pianist Rachel Iwaasa, and the other marine scientists who brought their ideas! showreel on Vimeo
A group show of recent art-science collaborations at Arctic Science Summit Week, Edinburgh, March 2024. Neil curated the show and brought the plankton. Neil’s diatoms in the background, along with crochet Arctic sea stars by Emily Doolittle and Laura Johnson‘s painting A Way of Life, Threatened.
Redesign by Neil — similar results to version 1.0 but much more straightforward. New diagrams by Peter. Fold lots of them and then feed them to your bowhead whale!
Neil and Peter brought a coastal food chain to the British Origami Society spring convention in Milton Keynes. There was gannet chat followed by gannet folding. but really, quite a lot of diatoms.
Pershing and Stamieszkin (2019): “We define the North Atlantic biome as the region where the large, lipid-rich copepod Calanus finmarchicus is the dominant mesozooplankton species. … Most of the characteristic North Atlantic species, including cod, herring, and right whales, rely on C. finmarchicus either directly or indirectly.” Designed for “Changing Climate, Changing Stories” at the … Read more
Meganyctiphanes norvegica, the northern krill, folded from a 2 m square made by cutting down furniture padding. Designed for “Changing Climate, Changing Stories” at the Hunterian Museum.
Early Covid lockdown project. Modelled loosely on Marrus orthocanna. Modular, just like a real siphonophore!
As part of a COP26 Science Showcase called “Changing Climate, Changing Stories” at University of Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum, Neil folded the zooplankton typically eaten by a sandeel off the coast of Scotland at 50x magnification. The small copepods (representing Oithona, Acartia, Centropages spp.) are variants on the model diagrammed by Dasa Severova here. The large … Read more
Copepods are tiny crustaceans, 1-5 mm long, that are found everywhere from sunny tropical lagoons to the depths of the Arctic Ocean. They graze on microscopic, plant-like phytoplankton, as well as anything else they can find, including each other. In turn many fish, seabirds, and even whales rely on them as an energy-rich food. Design … Read more