Bruce Worden

Outreach Director

I’ve been a scientific illustrator and museum exhibit designer since 1997. I’ve worked at home as a freelancer. I’ve worked at science & natural history museums with everything from wood and nails to fiberglass and epoxy. I worked almost twenty years creating figures for a twice-monthly biomedical journal. And I’m currently the staff artist at both of University of Michigan’s archaeology museums (UMMAA and Kelsey).

When I joined GNSI in 2014 my career was fairly well established, but I was looking for inspiration. I was looking to see where the field was headed so I wouldn’t get left behind. And maybe most of all, I was looking to talk shop with other science artists. Boy, did I come to the right place! Without GNSI I would have undoubtedly stagnated, gotten stuck in a serious rut with my work, and been disconnected from the people helping define visual science communication. 

I owe GNSI a huge debt of gratitude. So, settling into U-M over the last couple years (go blue!) and sending my own son off to college (go Sun Devils!), I finally feel ready to step up my involvement with GNSI by volunteering for the Outreach Director position. Outreach is what we do. It’s why science art exists. We’re constantly performing outreach for researchers, so we ought to put our best foot forward when performing outreach for ourselves. GNSI has strong committees and incredible members, and I’d like to help coordinate their efforts centrally so we can connect more scientists with more artists. I have a lot to learn about being a board member, and I’m eager to learn it. I look forward to helping GNSI as much as you’ve all helped me. Thanks for this opportunity.