Jen Christiansen
@jenchristiansen.com
Information designer / art director / visual journalist / science communicator • Author of Building Science Graphics • Former gigs include graphics @ Scientific American & design @ National Geographic • www.jenchristiansen.com • Ask me about pulsar charts
Thanks to @carol-hrejsa.bsky.social and the Association of Medical Illustrators for inviting me to present on the art of planning and editing graphics at this year’s annual meeting in Madison, WI. #SciArt 🧵 ami.org meetings.ami.org/2026/
AMI - Association of Medical Illustrators
The Associaton of Medical Illustrators (AMI) is a global community that promotes the power of visual media to advance scientific understanding, communication, education, and research.
ami.org
Information Design Conference in the Netherlands has been on my bucket list for a while. So excited to be participating this year as a speaker! Perhaps I’ll see you there? Event is Oct 30. More info here: www.informationdesigncon.eu 📊 #dataviz #infodesign #IDC26
Information Design Conference | Hilversum
Get ready for IDC26: an inspiring day about information design, infographics and data visualization in The Netherlands
informationdesigncon.eu
Today at 10 AM EDT Sotheby's will start the live bidding on its natural history auction featuring one of the largest, most complete skeletons of T. rex ever found. It could fetch $30M+ and go to a private collector. Here's what science--and the public--stand to lose. My story for @wired.com 🧪
Sotheby’s Big T. Rex Auction Raises Concerns Hype and Wealth Are Upending Science
Private buyers are increasingly outbidding museums for fossils. That’s making it difficult—or even impossible—for researchers to improve our understanding of the past.
wired.com
On July 18 I’ll be moderating a panel with Matthew Butterick, James Silverberg, and Bill Westwood on Artists' Rights in the Face of AI. Interested in joining us? Register for the Guild of Natural Illustrators virtual conference: www.gnsi.org/conference/2... #sciart @gnsiart.bsky.social
Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI) | Science Illustration & Visual SciComm
GNSI supports science illustrators and visual science communicators with professional development, exhibitions, publications, and networking.
gnsi.org
In late June, Springer Nature sold Scientific American to LabX Media. I have since decided to step out of my role as a senior graphics editor for the magazine :: #sciart 📊 🧪 :: 🧵 [1/7]
Last week, my time as associate health editor at Scientific American came to an end when the publication was sold to a new owner. I will miss my brilliant colleagues more than words can say. I’m open to freelance work and full-time opportunities in newsrooms, classrooms and beyond. 🧵
After nearly 10 yrs at Scientific American, I was laid off yesterday. It's been the honor of my career working w/such brilliant, caring colleagues & writers. I'm proud of all we achieved and will always love this magazine. I'm #opentowork but first I plan to spend time "cultivating [my] own garden."
Today is my last day at Scientific American, which has been sold to LabX media group. For three decades I've led the magazine's coverage of human origins, archaeology, paleontology, animal behavior, ecology, BIRDS. End of an era. Anyway this feels weird to say, but I'm now available for assignments!
Scientific American is being sold to LabX Media, publisher of Discover: group.springernature.com/gp/group/med... They've fired me and other union staff, ahead of June 26 vote ratification. My rates are suddenly more reasonable, if you need editing or reporting - Argonaut2026@gmail.com
Springer Nature to divest its consumer media businesses | Springer Nature Group | Springer Nature
Strategic divestment of consumer media portfolio enables Springer Nature to focus on its core business Transaction supports the long-term development
group.springernature.com
I’m so sad to share that yesterday was my last day at Scientific American. It was an honor to work alongside my incredible colleagues and to speak with researchers across the sciences. If you’re looking to hire staff or freelance, please consider me and my other laid off coworkers (🧵)
Find a tick after a hike this weekend? My @sciam.bsky.social colleague @katewong.bsky.social calmly walks you through what to do, and beautiful identification illustrations by Diogo Guerra won’t gross you out as you arm yourself with information. www.scientificamerican.com/article/got-... 🧪 #sciart
Bitten by a tick? Don’t panic—do this
Knowing what kind of tick bit you and where you got it can help inform next steps
scientificamerican.com
Great @deborahb.bsky.social piece on what the past tells us about the current science-policy nightmare. "Maybe it could be seen as an opportunity,” one scientist tells her. "It’s like the opportunity you have to build a better house when yours burns down.” www.scientificamerican.com/article/scie...
Scientists weathering Trump’s attacks on research can look to the past
It’s a complicated time to be a young scientist in America. Lessons from history can tell us what the future might hold
scientificamerican.com
Meet our inaugural class of Young American Scientists: 28 researchers who are redefining the future of science. sciam.com/youngscientists
This is fascinating! 🤩 Such a good investigative story about the ubiquitous place holding text—with a more satisfying conclusion than you might expect. m.youtube.com/watch?v=kL1P... (Thanks to @parshallison.bsky.social for sharing it with me)
The Unsolved Mystery of Lorem Ipsum
YouTube video by Rabbit Hole
m.youtube.com
Everything feels the same. And AI won't help. Over and over, researchers put AI image generators in a feedback loop. All starting with a different prompt. What did they do? They converged on the same 12 generic image themes. They called it "visual elevator music." www.not-ship.com/nothing-new/
Nothing new here: Another sequel, another lighthouse
Movies, music, everything feels the same. It's not your imagination.
not-ship.com
In which Violet Frances describes how she developed the June @sciam.bsky.social cover art. The journey includes a print of Grace Jones & grappling w/what it means to be an artist in the age of generative AI. (Collabs like this one are why I love my job.) www.violetfrances.com/casestudies/... #SciArt
Scientific American — Violet Frances
A Cover About the Second Quantum Revolution
violetfrances.com
Happy June @sciam.bsky.social issue launch day! As always, thanks to the artists who make it all possible. (Scroll through the 🧵 for a #sciart lagerstätten.) I'm THRILLED with Violet Frances' fresh take on quantum computing for the cover. Check out more of Violet’s work here: www.violetfrances.com
I took some time off from my fulltime gig last week to recalibrate. Talked with friends, went on walks, repotted plants, and tended to a long-overdue personal website/portfolio refresh. www.jenchristiansen.com #dataviz #sciart #infodesign #scicomm
Jen Christiansen
Jen Christiansen is an information designer, scientific illustrator, dataviz artist, journalist, and visual science communicator. She’s author of the book Building Science Graphics, and a senior graph...
jenchristiansen.com
When I heard the theory that the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak originated at a landfill in Argentina that is popular with birders, I had questions. I visited that dump on a bird-watching trip last year. It seemed like an unlikely infection site. So I did some digging. Here's what I found out 🧪 🪶
Did a bird-watching visit to this Argentine landfull spark the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak? Experts raise doubts
The hantavirus cruise outbreak may not have started in a garbage dump in Ushuaia, Argentina, after all
scientificamerican.com
Scoop for @sciam.bsky.social: Last year's sweeping NIH grant cuts included funding to study hantavirus transmission, the virus that's likely killed three people on a cruise ship. The cuts shuttered a network of facilities meant to study dangerous pathogens. www.scientificamerican.com/article/trum...
Trump administration cut funding to study hantavirus behind deadly cruise ship outbreak
The Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases were designed to study viruses that could jump from animals to people, including hantavirus, but the National Institutes of Health in 2025 said...
scientificamerican.com
As @springernature.com continues to employ tired and costly union-busting tactics, we just wanted to say we’re so grateful to all the subscribers, scientists and journalists who’ve reached out and said they’ll stand with us as we fight to ensure @sciam.bsky.social lasts another 180 years. Thank you!
Join us in Bologna!
Yuri Engelhardt 🌱@yuriengelhardt.bsky.social · 4mo agoLast chance! April 30th is the deadline (yes, only two weeks from today!) for submitting a paper to the @visualisingclimate.com summit. 📊 🇮🇹 Note: Uploading the FULL paper is required by that date! Same submission deadline, April 30th, for a ‘talk only’ (without a paper) 👉 visualisingclimate.com 👈
Hey Bluesky! 👋🦋 We’ve been reading your replies about our paywall, and we’re listening. We want to share why it’s there—and an easy, low-cost way to read more. TL;DR: You can unlock every Scientific American article for 90 days for just $1 spklr.io/6003EyRIR More context below 🧵 1/6
BIG OPEN VISUALIZATION ACADEMY UPDATE: 10+ more instructors and 10+ more courses to be released on a monthly basis #dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism #dataVisualization @alyssafowers.bsky.social @elsieleerobbins.bsky.social @petrinkae.bsky.social @rsimmon.bsky.social and many others
A big update on the Open Visualization Academy
New instructors, new courses, and what to expect in the next 12-15 months
openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com
#sciart (Trying the hashtag again on a thread filled with artist shout-outs. Looks like it didn’t work a few days ago.)
Jen Christiansen@jenchristiansen.com · 4mo agoHappy May @sciam.bsky.social issue launch day! Just one more full issue as acting design chief for me, as I'm thrilled to report that Maria Amador has joined the magazine as chief art director! // cover illustration by Maria Corte, animation by me www.scientificamerican.com/issue/sa/202... 🧪#sciart
