CT SCANNING BUTTERFLIES


This (ongoing) project is an exploration into new methods of visualization for a museum setting started during a Fellowship at Terreform One, a nonprofit architecture and urban design group based in the New Lab at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. I was particularly interested in breaking down the barrier between scientific research and science communication and facilitating a sense of agency among a viewing public in the process of scientific discovery.

The basic process was…

  1. take recently deceased (natural causes) painted lady butterflies,
  2. mount them on (x-ray transparent) styrofoam blocks,
  3. scan specimens in a micro-CT scanner,
  4. reconstruct scans digitally,
  5. create interactive interface for an audience to view and manipulate these 3d files.