This anthology began as a joint project between me, Dr. Laura Guertin, and Betsy Wilkening. Dr. Guertin and Betsy Wilkening have been creating fascinating exhibits at the Annual Geophysical Union meetings since 2021, which combine their love of fiber art with science. Their goal has been to educate, amuse, and inform the public about topics of scientific interest, and to raise awareness about global warming, climate change, environmental threats, and other changes to our planet, as well as some possible solutions. The first year focused on fiber art quilt creations, and since 2022, entries have expanded to include other forms of fiber art.
In 2024, I suggested that we create a multimodal ekphrastic project, pairing fiber art with poetry. Several poems were made in time for the December 2024 American Geophysical Union exhibit to pair with fiber art. Throughout 2024 and early 2025, we accepted more submissions to create this book. Thus, some of the artwork in this book, added after the conference, takes the form of drawings, paintings, and even art in museums. However, each artwork accepted for the book was carefully chosen to fit with the theme to explore "making the unseen, seen" and to link science and art through poetry.
The reader is strongly encouraged to read the Artist/Scientist Statements at the back of the book. They are wonderfully illuminating, and even non-scientists can learn from the brief explanations that accompany the thoughtful poems, which cover topics that concern us all, through the use of colorful illustrations.
It has been a joy and a deeply satisfying challenge to match these poems with artists to create this book. We hope the reader will peruse the pages multiple times to glean deeper meanings through the layers of its pages. I am grateful to have such distinguished Associate Editors and colleagues as Dr. Guertin and Betsy Wilkening. It is a continuing pleasure to work with Jeanne Johansen and High Tide Publications to create such fine publications as this book!
Contributing authors include: Donald Beagle, Emily Bilman, Joyce Brinkman, Sarah-Beth Bradley, Megan Brown, Emma M. Burkett, Samantha Carr, Joan Ellen Casey, Loralee Clark, Tricia Coulson, Marcela Bianchessi da Cunha-Santino, Dr. Kathleen P. Decker, Zoey Dudding, Jae Dyche, Christie King Eckardt, Kerry Faraone, Catalina Florina Florescu, Anna Isabella Fratarcangelo, Chapman Hood Frazier, Dennis Owen Frohlich, Gail Giewont, Dr. Michale Glennon, Marjorie Gowdy, Jody Gruendel, Dr. Laura Guertin, Cathy Hailey, Lauren Haygood, Kate Hedstrom, Wayne David Hubbard, Mark Hudson, Piper Jameson, Robert J. Keeler, Dr. Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, Barbara Martina Linde, Sally Harcum Maxwell, Greg McNamara, Susan Copley Novack, Holly Panzera, Sarah Parker, Tessa Peixoto, Suzanne Underwood Rhodes, Lynne Schreiber, Mattie Quesenberry Smith, Ron Smith, Alica Swain, Johannes Vermeer, Betsy Wilkening, Diana Woodcock, Nicole Zwolinski
Dr. Kathleen P. Decker, Editor-in-Chief
Associate Editors: Dr. Laura Guertin, Betsy Wilkening
