126: CCI Blurs Lines Between Science and Art

Catalyst is a Creative Industries podcast, from Chapman University. Each episode features Chapman students who have completed a Podcasting course through the Center for Creative and Cultural Industries at the university. Students who had no podcasting experience or technical ability in the genre before taking the course were able to contribute all the segments to Catalyst this season with the goal being that they will take this ‘hands-on’ experience and carry it over to the launching of their very own series. Each episode of Season 14 will feature one to two different interviews conducted by CCI students, exploring different aspects of the Creative and Cultural Industries.

This week we kick off the episode with Parker Dalton who sits down with Emma Bekes, a recent graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder who has already carved out a career in international advertising. Originally an Environmental Science major, Emma discovered her creative calling during college and decided to pursue it wholeheartedly. That choice led her abroad, first to Sweden for a semester and later to South Africa for an international advertising internship. With global experiences under her belt Emma reflects on how working overseas felt like a natural extension of her life. In their conversation, she discusses why she chose to stay in South Africa after graduation, the lessons she’s learned about navigating a foreign workforce, and her advice for college seniors interested in building careers that cross borders.

We conclude our episode this week with a segment that comes to us from Greta Kunze who speaks with Emily Willoughby.  A renowned paleo-artist, illustrator, writer, photographer, and researcher at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Emily’s work bridges the worlds of art and science, with her illustrations and research reaching institutions such as the Shanghai Natural History Museum, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and journals like Evolution. Together, Greta and Emily explore how creativity informs scientific understanding, particularly in the popular realm of dinosaurs, and how artists can use technology to bring prehistoric life to the public imagination. Emily reflects on her journey from a high school dinosaur sketch that went viral online to a career that blends behavioral genetics research with internationally recognized paleoart. Listeners will gain insights into her creative process, her path through both science and art, and even how scientists can predict the colors of dinosaurs through modern discoveries.