By Emily Nguyen
How does a rocket fly to the moon? Why isn’t the color pink found in a rainbow? What would happen if you mix an acid and a base?
Emily Nguyen combines her knowledge in biology with technology as a means of artistic expression and marine environmentalism.
All of these questions crowded my mind as I grew up, and curiosity drove me to spend hours performing science experiments at home. Back in 2016, I began sharing these questions and their answers with eight-year-olds, hoping to instill the same wonder that continues to perplex me today. I began volunteering in San Jose, California with Sunday Friends, a nonprofit that supports early S.T.E.M. learning for elementary students from low-income households.
I worked with students like Lilly, an aspiring veterinarian, to test acidity levels in dog food, and Jose, a hopeful pilot, to examine and record weather patterns. I gave individuals a chance to share stories of their own at-home experiments. Some kids created cardboard telescopes while others tested plasmic reactions in microwaved grapes. I told my own stories, both the successes and failures, to form bonds and unite the group under one common endeavor: to learn.
My love for science and experimentation led me to enroll in Biology at UCSB, but there was something missing. I wanted to integrate my passions for visual art and design into my academics. So, I decided to pursue a minor in Art &Technology. Last winter, I took a course called Art, Science, and Technology in the Art Department, in which I designed two inventions incorporating technology and scientific material. For the technology assignment, I created a flexible polyester tool called the ‘Dexcavator,’ a multipurpose dental tool that scans, drills, and fills a tooth. Simultaneously, I was able to explore the field of biotechnology while allowing my artistic expression to flow.
Student Emily Nguyen’s prototype for her Project: Discovering the intersectionality between art and technology.
My second prototype project focused on the detrimental effects of ocean acidification. I collected biogenic sediment, grains derived from skeletal debris and shells, from Devereux Beach in Isla Vista and examined their fragile state. After weeks of intense research, I designed a new shell made of iron to reduce the effects of ocean acidification. With research help from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s magazine Oceanus and the UCSB Marine Science Institute, I learned that every ton of iron added to the ocean could remove 30,000 to 110,000 tons of carbon from the air.
Shells collected on Devereux Beach for Emily Nguyen’s Art and Science Project.
I signed up for this art class anticipating - even dreading - to learn about the history of art and technology. Instead, this hands-on course unexpectedly taught me critical research processes and how to collect data, further evolving my love for science.
I now see how influential art is in the S.T.E.M. fields. When I return as a Sunday Friends volunteer this summer, I want to start science projects that include the arts to spur engagement and curiosity among children. I hope to transition the nonprofit’s curriculum from S.T.E.M. to S.T.E.A.M. — Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math. This new acronym introduces the humanities, fine arts, and design into these interdisciplinary fields, allowing future generations to explore creative processes. By adding the arts into S.T.E.M., I hope to encourage an affinity for the arts as well as the sciences to leave students anxious to answer the same questions I once asked myself.
Emily Nguyen is a third year student at UC Santa Barbara who is pursuing a Biology major and an Art & Technology minor. She wrote this article for her Writing Program course Digital Journalism.