Living Data
Timeline
October 2011 - Scientific data for animated visualisation
Physiological and evolutionary mechanisms of temperature tolerance in marine algae
Martina A. Doblin1, Lisa Hou1, Jennifer S. Clark1, Lyndal K. Butler1, A. Poore2, Peter Macreadie3, Peter J. Ralph1
1-Plant Functional Biology and Climate Change Cluster, University of Technology, Sydney
2-Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales
3-School of the Environment, University of Technology, Sydney
martina.doblin@uts.edu.au
Much research on the capacity of biota to adapt to climate change has focussed on terrestrial species. However, there is a pressing need for similar knowledge in marine systems. There are documented records indicating that marine habitats are not only becoming warmer in a greenhouse world, but that they are also becoming more variable-highly relevant to marine primary producers whose rates of photosynthesis (light-dependent reactions) are regulated by temperature. This, as well as their fundamental importance to ecosystem functioning have lead us to use macro- and micro-algae as models to examine temperature tolerance in marine environments. Our experiments indicate that microalgae have physiological capacity to deal with sudden shifts in temperature (+/- 8 °C), such as would be experienced in estuarine habitats on daily time scales. In addition, previous high temperature exposure enables some microalgae to deal better with subsequent exposure to high temperature as well as low salinity, indicating tolerance to variable temperature may increase capacity to cope with other environmental fluctuations. Furthermore, our research shows that temperature tolerance in macroalgae, such as the habitat-forming intertidal species Hormosira banksii, has a genetic as well as environmental component. Sexual crossing experiments with a quantitative genetics breeding design were undertaken to partition the phenotypic variation of thermal tolerance into genetic and environmental components (G X E interactions). Gametes from multiple parents were mixed and the resulting embryos incubated for 5 days under control and elevated temperature (20 and 28 °C). A G x E interaction was found for growth of two populations of H. banksii (Pearl Beach and Bilgola). These results confirm the existence of both physiological and genetic mechanisms for marine algae to cope with elevated or variable temperatures. While this bodes well for their persistence in the face of anthropogenic global warming, it also highlights the need for integrated studies to examine the physiological, ecological and evolutionary consequences of global climate change.
October 2011 - Outline for animation
Living Data: Animation brings to life the measured words of scientists
Scientists describe earth as a whole changing system of which we are a part, but because people process information differently, scientific explanations are not easily understood by everyone. Although scientists express great interest in how data are combined to reveal global change, the measured tones of their voices necessarily allow for few expressions of feeling. In this project, improvised music, gestures and drawings will be combined with the measured words of scientists to make their data accessible to more people. Animation will be used to convey accurate information with strong aesthetic appeal. Living Data will bring to life the reality that 'The history of life and the history of the atmosphere and the history of the oceans are all intertwined'1 and that 'the interconnectedness of all things, living and inanimate ... comprise the Symbiotic Planet.'2
Living Data builds on the research project, AntarcticAnimation.com, which demonstrates how animation can be used to combine scientific data with expressions of connection. Living Data will expand on the Antarctic view by engaging people with the global ecosystem through a wide range of scientific and aesthetic expressions. New and existing expressions shared by international climate change scientists and artists will be combined within a rhythmic soundscape and choreography of primal gestural forms. Circling, spiraling and crossing forms have been used since prehistory to describe the world and our connections to it. New digital technologies have made visible these forms in earth systems, from micro to macro scales. An animation will be produced in chapter format to allow for distribution and presentation of discrete visualisations as the work develops.
Voices of veteran climate change scientists will be combined with those of younger scientists to describe how the ecosystem works from the perspectives of their various research disciplines. Recurring patterns in sentence structures and word pictures will be identified to create aural and visual patterns to underscore patterns of physical change reflected in the data. The sound will be used in workshops with artists as stimuli for improvised gestures and drawings. The animation as a whole will be characterised by clear line tracings of gestures, drawings and data sets, choreographed to align with patterns identified in the voices of scientists. Living Data will, at every level, reflect the reality of life as a whole living system.
1 Paleo geologist Patrick Quilty. Recorded interview. Hobart. 29 September 2011
2 Paleobotanist Mary White. Earth Alive! 2003. p.xv
June 2011 - Theatrical presentation of an animated paper
Krill looks and feelers: Expanding perceptions of climate change data Antarctica: Music, Sounds, Cultural Connections, Australian National University, Canberra 27 - 29 June 2011
Adaptation by Daniela Giorgi from the academic paper co-authored by artist Lisa Roberts and scientist Steve Nicol (Pending publication in The Polar Journal 2011).
May 2011 - proposal submitted to Toyota Foundation
Project Outline
The need to communicate accurate and accessible information about the integral connections between human actions and the global ecosystem is urgent. As artists and scientists we propose a two-year program of research into how art and science methods can be used to make digital animations that present scientific data in ways that can expand awareness of the place of humans within the natural systems. A visual language of archetypal forms used in art and science to describe feelings of connection and forces of change in the natural world will be combined. Animations that appeal to the senses and intellect will give new meanings to climate change data by connecting them to human experience. Animations will be made accessible from a free on-line archive and distributed widely. Our research will model a new pedagogical framework for teaching and learning that reflects our view of the world as a dynamic integrated whole.
Lisa Roberts, Martina Doblin, Gail Kenning.
Email.
