Jen Christiansen is an American author, data illustrator, and a senior graphics editor for ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...

''. She has published many books on her work which include her insight on collaboration and the visualization spectrum.

Education

Christiansen earned an undergraduate degree in

Geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

and Studio Art at

Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's c ...

. Afterwards, she continued her education at a one-year natural science illustration graduate program at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Fran ...

Santa Cruz.

Work

Ed Bell (director of the Scientific American) met Christiansen on a visit he took to the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge ...

's program. In 1996, Christiansen took an internship at the Scientific American in which she learned about publishing for about 8 months. Directly after her internship, Christiansen was placed as the assistant art director for about 2 years. Afterwards, Christiansen moved to

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

to become the assistant art director at National Geographic in 1998 for a few years. For the following 4 years, Christiansen then took on freelancing as a science communicator where she often took on work for the Scientific American. She returned to the Scientific American in 2007 where she now focuses on print and large features as the senior graphics editor. She also reviews the magazines text and determines how to translate it into visuals while also critiquing the text from time to time.

Bibliography

*Plenary "Visualizing Science: Illustration and Beyond" at the

Guild of Natural Science Illustrators The Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI) is an international non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. to serve the field of visual science communication, including scientific illustration, medical illustration, and botanical ill ...

2018 conference. *Covering Art in Scientific American *Visualizing Uncertain Weather *Flooding Up Close * * Online version is titled "The pulsar chart that became a pop icon turns 50 :

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after att ...

's ''Unknown Pleasures''".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christiansen, Jen Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century births American women journalists American women writers National Geographic people Scientific American people Smith College alumni University of California, Santa Cruz alumni