Daniel Crawford

A Song of Our Warming Planet

Link to Vimeo: ​https://vimeo.com/69122809

Artist Statement

We know that the earth is warming, but effective change is going to be slow unless we can communicate the issue to as many people as possible. Climate scientists often rely on maps, graphs, and numbers to illustrate the science of climate change. I worked with Scott St. George in the Department of Geography to create A Song of Our Warming Planet, which converts NASA global climate data from 1880 to the present into a series of notes played on the cello. Bringing another of the five senses into the practice of scientific communication can help to convey the message to a wider audience than scientists have been able to reach before.

Daniel Crawford

A scientist at heart, my passion for learning and discovering is lifelong. From my roots in the Midwest to my new home in Alaska, the natural world has always been my refuge and (during field season!) my office. Climate scientists have a standard toolbox to communicate their data. We’re trying to add another tool to that toolbox, another way to communicate these ideas to people who might get more out of music than maps, graphs and numbers. I am invigorated by the chance to share the findings of current research, or communicate the scientific take on the natural world more broadly -- always with clarity for general audiences in mind. Let's do what we can to break down barriers to knowledge, and make our collective understanding of our planet accessible to all!