One of the challenges among scientists is describing the work they do in language the rest of us can understand. That problematic phenomenon is at the core of a new program at the University of Tennessee that uses music to bridge the communication gap. WUOT’s Matt Shafer Powell recently spent some time at the National Institute for Mathematics and Biological Synthesis (pronounced NIM-biss) to learn how the combination of science and music can help us understand our natural world--- and each other.
>>listen
Listen to "Sexual Selection" by Jay Clark
Click here to learn more about NIMBioS' Songwriter-in-Residence program and to hear some of the songs.
The language of advanced science can be mysterious and intimidating to most of the general population.
Unfortunately, our ability to understand complex scientific concepts is critical to making sound political,
cultural and economic decisions.
The brainchild of NIMBios Director Louis Gross, the Songwriter-in-Residence program hopes to address the
communication gap that exists between scientists and the rest of us.
Jay Clark is one of several singer-songwriters moving through NIMBioS this year.
Each is charged with writing two songs that describe science in a way we can all understand.
Clark discusses his song "Sexual Selection" with NIMBioS post-doc Erol Akcay. Clark's challenge is to
create a song that's accessible and catchy, but still scientifically accurate.
Clark has written a lot of songs over his career, but never in a conference room with mathematical equations
scribbled all over the walls.
Unlike most of NIMBioS' Songwriters-in-Residence, Clark actually holds a PhD in Wildlife Biology.
STATION TOUR
Take a photographic tour of WUOT's studio
