Scientific Illustration
General Illustration
Projects & Installations
About
Comparative Physiology of the Ostrich
Digital, 24'' x 36'' poster print.
Day and Night
Digital. Accompanied "Dynamic Localization of the Cyanobacterial Circadian Clock Proteins" by Susan Cohen, et al. Certain proteins within cyanobacteria follow circadian rhythms. Proteins were observed to be distributed during one phase and localized during a second phase, mimicking day and night.
The Acute Innate Immune Response
Digital. Created for C Barrett and M Yaffe, published in Trauma Induced Coagulopathy, by Gonzalez, Moore, Moore.
Rolling Clones
Digital, modeled on Blendr. Accompanied "Genetic and transcriptional evolution alters cancer cell line drug response" by Uri Ben-David, et al. Published in print.  Cancer cells, represented by marbles, undergo subtle but pertinent changes in phenotype as they continue to be cultured. As each marble rolls down the tumor evolution graph, the distribution of colors within each marble shifts in favor of a different color.
Quinine-mediated Binding Response
‍Digital. Created with the NEJM Graphics Department.
Factors of Flooding: Pajaro River
‍Digital
Rare Birds of Evolution Range: Inyo National Forest
Gouache on map.
A Guide to Dimsum
‍Digital, print poster.
Stages of Feminism
Digital
Fish!
‍Gouache and ink
Merry Mycelium
Gouache and ink
Queer Scientist Spotlights
‍Digital and print. Created for Benchling's science publication, Benchtalk. Spring 2020 issue.
Fig 1. Kiwi
‍Screen print.
Holiday Evolution
‍Ink and watercolor

Towards Inevitability

3D-print & polyester thread, 2024
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'Towards Inevitability' draws inspiration from the flocks of brown pelicans that fly northwards each evening across the surf at Ocean Beach.
 

Axonography

'Axonography' explores the mundane by juxtaposing it next to the highly pedestaled style of architectural model drawings. This set of works appeared as part of a group exhibition following this theme. Showcased at the Keller Gallery, 2018.
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Touch Grass

Plants & raspberry pi, 2024
In collaboration with Tess Rinaldo

An audio-interactive piece where audience members are invited to interact with the plants and "play" them as an instrument. Playing off the phrase "touch grass", I wanted to find ways for technology could make us pay closer attention to the natural world around us.

MIT OCW Coloring Pages

Coloring pages designed for MIT's OpenCourseWare donor giveaway campaign, distributed as a printed insert mailer included in the monthly OCW newsletter. Highlighted topical themes from each issue to include in each page.
Hi, I'm Iris 👋

I specialize in helping biologists visually explain their science. For the past eight years, I have collaborated with scientists to distill their message into a variety of forms - scientific figures, summary diagrams, cover illustrations, patient education information, and more. In doing so, I have had the pleasure of collaborating with a diverse group of content experts, editors, writers, and other illustrators.

I received my B.S. in Biology from MIT, along with a concentration in Arts, Culture, and Technology. Since then, I have worked as both a researcher and an artist at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT,  at Benchling, and as part of Genentech's Experience Design group.
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Notable publications:
Select clients:
Broad Institute, Dana Farber, UCSF, Stanford, MIT Office of Digital Learning (ODL), Global Oncology (GO), University of Massachusetts, UC San Diego

Talks/Exhibits:
  • "Hierarchies in scientific visualization", talk, Benchling, 2021
  • "Visual communication in science", panel, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Pattern Design group, 2019
  • "Human Forms", group exhibit, Weisner Gallery, MIT, 2017
  • "Axonography", group exhibit, Keller Gallery, 2016
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