Flying squirrels, Snowy Owls, lizards, snakes, beetles, and more welcomed students from the Making Science Visible class to the U-M Museum of Zoology.

The class, offered by the U-M Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, explores drawing, photography, radiology and illustration of biology. 

The undergraduate students recently held class at the Museum of Zoology and they’ve posted many fascinating images of their experiences on tumblr., their blog called Making Science Visible 2013.

“Direct access to biological specimens is essential for student artists interested in scientific and biological illustration,” said Professor Brad Smith, who teaches the class.“Bringing my students to the collections at the U-M Museum of Zoology provided a wealth of material for these young illustrators to study up close and allowed them to draw directly from the specimens and investigate them using a variety of imaging devices. I could see my students develop genuine curiosity for the animals they were studying which led to closer observations and more research than I would ever find in students working from photographs and text books.”

The students will return to the museum periodically to conduct research in order to understand a behavior, evolution, metabolism, genetics, or a complex characteristic about their specimen for an illustration, according to Smith. More photos will be posted to tumblr. in the future, so check back.

The following collection managers assisted the class: Janet Hinshaw, Bird Division, Greg Schneider, Reptile Division, Mark Obrien, Insect Division, Steve Hinshaw, Mammal Division, and Douglas Nelson, Fishes Division. The U-M Department of Radiology was also part of the learning experience.