Taste of Science San Francisco Bay Event, Gallery House, Palo Alto, CA.

I had the privilege to work with Anja Scholtze on this activity. Anja developed the bacterial bio ink at the Tech Museum in San Jose. She is Experience Developer and Program Manager, Biotech and Health. The consistency of the ink is now close to a dark blue/gray watercolor. If lemon juice is added one can get nice shades of pink. The stamps were made from the files I created for my plankton wall.

Make you own mini Plankton Soup
Plankton are a like the canary in the coal mine of climate change. By monitoring them, scientists learn about the ocean’s health. What if bio inks could be part of the solution, by being a great alternative to harsh chemicals needed to make art supplies?
Create your own petri dish art using stamps of microscopic ocean life and bio ink – a natural bio-pigment produced by living bacteria. On display: an ensemble of plankton species made of recycled and salvaged materials.

Hands-on activities of the evening
MICROBIAL ART: Create your own microbial artwork. Skip brushes, paint and canvas for bacteria and agar dish.
BIO INK PLANKTON ART: Create your art piece using stamps of plankton species and bio ink, a natural bio-pigment produced by living bacteria at the Bio Design Studio – Tech Museum.
PAINT THE MICROWORLD: View your surroundings through a microscopeand paint or sketch what you see, using bio ink.
DESIGN YOUR SCIENCE HAT: Create a design(s) for a science themed hat, inspired by your own science or any science topic that you find fascinating. Our knitter scientists will choose one lucky winner and will knit their design for them.
LEARN TO KNIT: Our knitter scientist will also teach how to knit, if you wanna knit your designs yourself!