Over the course of obtaining a Ph.D and focusing on Postdoctoral research, I realized I lost focus of something critically important to me and what makes science innovative: ART and the HUMANITIES. Bringing ourselves into the work is critical. We all need to connect and share our passion and love of who we are, not just the “work” we do.
Seals and Society
Seals and Society began as a conversation over lunch. At a time when so much misinformation was making headlines rather than questions about what we do and do not know, it was time to bring something to life to engage audiences with something everyone could access. This traveling exhibit came to life thanks to the New Bedford Whaling Museum and the amazing team of Liz Bradfield, Ren Bettencourt, Elizabeth James Perry and myself as well as Monica DeAngelis and the NUWC design team. It is great testament to what can be created when Scientists, Artist, Poet/Writers, Indigenous Knowledge Keepers and Historians/museum experts come together to make waves and share their passions!
Restoring Force Fellowship at Knoll Farm, VT.
Being able to co-create an opportunity, with Peter Forbes and the Island Foundation, to support individuals in the Conservation movement to rest, restore, heal and face grief and fatigue has been humbling and soul filling. This program is called Restoring Force and honors those working in marine systems. It means “the physical mechanism that pulls a displaced water surface back to its flat equilibrium level, allowing waves to propagate.”
Better Selves Fellowship at Knoll Farm
I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Better Selves Fellowship in August 2018. Peter and Helen and the land itself at Knoll Farm, are grounding forces. The community they create for Fellows within the span of a week, and the centering energy of this fellowship to renew and recharge and be able to forge ahead to keep bettering the world, is priceless.
Peaked Hill Trust Artist/Science Residency
I exchanged the time needed for creative endeavors to focus on science for nearly 10 years. During the summer of 2018, I was honored to be an artist/scientist in residence through the Peaked Hill Trust at the Ray Wells Dune Shack on the Cape Cod National Seashore. My hours were spent embracing a new daily routine that taught me once again how to “just be.” To observe. To wonder. To understand the ocean as I did when I began my research career. I picked up my paintbrushes for the first time in years and painted by the light of a kerosene lamp until I could see the late summer sunrise peak over the dunes. I was honored to be able to have my sketches up at the Outer Cape Artists in Residence & Peaked Hill Trust Arts and Science Residency Show in 2019.
My days were based on the tides, the weather, the winds and the seals on the shore. My time was also spent pumping water from the well and on occasion, seeking shelter from torrential downpours that seemed to wash the world clean of everything but beauty and the essentials. I produced a story board for a children’s book about gray seals. I cannot wait to finish this labor of love and hope I can return to the this absolutely beautiful and simply divine place on Earth again.
I returned to the Dunes in 2025 and continued to deepen my own understanding of what solitude, patience and staying in this space means, as I change with the seasons and it seems harder to stay still in silence. This place is magical.
Shoals Marine Lab
While the Shoals Marine Lab (SML) is known as one of the foremost Marine Stations in the country, it is also a unique island community full of creative spark and potential energy essential for innovative science and research. In addition to science, SML hosts poets, scientists and artists in residence, hosts adult learning courses, and ecosystem dinners.
Since 2011 I have conducted populations studies on the seals around Duck Island and Ledges, and co-taught Marine Mammal Biology at SML. In that time I have also been captivated by the people I have met, the stories told and the sunsets that are equal to none. Science done without spark can become just a book of facts sitting on a shelf. Science with passion, can bring the pages to life and change the world.
The Shoals Marine Lab also offers an Artists in Residence program. The artists/writers and poets who join the island community have always added greatly to the experience. Writer in residence, Naila Moreira, wrote an amazing story, The Reaper of the Sea, while on island. Her story offers an “inside view” to the conservation challenges we face with seals.
Marine Mammal Stranding Guide
I am honored to have been part of the Eastern Caribbean Cetacean Network. I was able to contribute to trainings, scientific literature and community conversations, as well as provide detailed jaw and teeth illustrations to this guide. Often with stranded animals, all that is left are the skeletal remains which hold a treasure trove of information.
Andrea Bogomolni 