This episode we talk about the magical and rarely talked about world of underwater sound, how we all percieve the world through our senses, and the art of how we try to make sense of it all.
of Exeter, UK, who specialises in sensory ecology and sharks. I’m currently coming to the end of my PhD where I’ve been investigating the relationship between sharks and their acoustic environment. I’ve wanted to be a scientist for as long as I can remember, but I was heavily influenced by growing up in a creative household, surrounded by books and music. My scientific interest in animal senses and how they perceive their world comes from my fascination for how rich and emotive perceiving my own world through different types of art can be. My primary artistic outlet is ink drawing, which I mostly did for fun until I had a chance encounter with a cheap set of watercolour paints that my sister was throwing out during a house move in 2020. Through some trial and error, I found it to be a beautiful medium to add to my drawings to bring the underwater world to life. Since then, I’ve found joy in taking commissions from scientists who can’t easily find paintings of their study species (my favourites have included a Euchalon double spread and painting tiny colour tags onto shark fins that matched the real-life experimental design). Last year I set up Elasmo Studio to start selling prints of some of my favourite paintings, and to open commissions beyond my circle of friends. I have found it to be a really lovely, circular creative process which feeds both my scientific curiosity and my creative inspiration."