It was a productive and creative week! I hope I inspired both researchers and members of the local community. It was certainly inspiring for me to hear their feedback and exchange ideas.
Later, I was also invited to present this talk in Portuguese at the Oeiras Experimenta Focus Group.
I concluded by encouraging the audience to reflect on their own research and explore ways of thinking about it more visually.
This project brings local communities and researchers, together to study alternative and sustainable crops.
As a case study, I presented the visual storytelling work I have been developing over the past 2.5 years within #OeirasExperimenta, a citizen science initiative that is part of the #CienciaMaisCidadã program.
Clear communication is crucial at every stage of the scientific knowledge life cycle, from conceptualization and grant writing, to publishing results, and to building bridges between science and society. Visualizing science can greatly facilitate its communication.
In my talk, I discussed how visual storytelling can be a powerful tool to reach and connect with diverse audiences, helping to translate complex ideas into accessible, take-home messages.
It was a great pleasure to present a talk on “How Visual Storytelling Complements Research: The Example of the Oeiras Experimenta Citizen Science Project” at the December Plant Interaction Meeting, Green-it, @itqbnova.bsky.social.
#ColourYourResearch
Another recent project I loved: an infographic on rainwater recycling in Brazil for Instituto Serrapilheira!
Such a rewarding collaboration!🌳🌲
Check out the project here: joanaccarvalho.com/water-recycl...
A recent project I loved: editorial illustration + graphical abstract package to visualize a study on cancer immunotherapies.
Full project breakdown (plus a few behind-the-scenes notes):
joanaccarvalho.com/programming-...
Huge thanks to Ervin and Filipe for the trust and collaboration!
It is amazing!!
✨ A big thank you to everyone who took part in the PPBI Logo Contest! ✨
The quality and diversity of the proposals we received have exceeded our expectations, and we want to ensure a careful and fair selection process.
The result will be announced soon - stay tuned to our channels! 👀
📊 Academic papers can be challenging to read, especially for students new to a field.
Alyxander Burns shares an activity that uses data comics to help students better understand and engage with academic literature.
www.nightingaledvs.com/learning-academic-papers-making-data-comics
Inga, the former Deputy Director, and me as former Director of the BRU. Decorations and goodies courtesy of Sandiswa and her present crew.
Often the news happens so quickly that there's little time for it, so we took a step back to talk about the stories of the researchers who have been fighting back against the Trump administration's assault on science.
w/ @maxkozlov.bsky.social and @heidiledford.bsky.social
🚨 Applications are open for the 2026 JXB Editorial Internships! 🚨
🌱 Designed for ECRs, you will gain behind-the-scenes publishing experience, write commentary pieces & join the JXB Editorial Board meeting next year 👩💻✈️
Deadline: 30 Sept 2025
👉 bit.ly/jxbinterns
#PlantScience 🧪
This artwork reflects the essence of the Ciência + Cidadã project "MicroMundo-Oeiras".
@itqbnova.bsky.social
Here’s my final submission for the Microbe Art Competition in celebration of International Microorganism Day 🦠✨
Every year on September 17th, this day highlights the incredible role of microorganisms — from supporting our health to sustaining our environment and economy.
"MicroMundo"
🖌️ Illustration of a petri dish with soil bacteria colonies. Three of them produce antibacterial compounds, visible as clear halos with no growth around them.
#MicrobeArt2025 #InternationalMicroorganismDay
Comment below with your favorite microorganism! Spoiler: mine is the human papillomavirus, since that was the topic of my research a few years ago.
"Under the microscope"
Excited to share my submission for the Microbe Art Competition in celebration of International Microorganism Day! 🦠✨
Every year on September 17th, this day highlights the incredible role of microorganisms.
#MicrobeArt2025 #InternationalMicroorganismDay
In each illustration, I strive to convey the essence of the research happening in the field in a way that sparks the curiosity of participants and the public.
Stay tuned to see other illustrations in the coming weeks.
#ColourYourResearch
I was invited by Maria João Leão to visit the #OeirasExperimenta field at the @itqbnova.bsky.social 2023 open day, and since then, I have been fascinated by the project — addressing sustainability, climate change, and food security — topics that greatly interest me as a plant molecular biologist.
I believe that visual storytelling is essential to bring science and society closer together, and I seek to contribute to this through clear, simple, and engaging illustrations.
Since 2023, I have been collaborating with #OeirasExperimenta - Programa Ciência mais Cidadã as a scientific illustrator.
🎉 During the past few weeks, I had the honour of re-designing the logo for the @netbio.bsky.social part of the #ISCB - International Society for Computational Biology.
🎨 #ColourYourResearch #ScienceDesign #NetworkBiology #NetBioCOSI #SciComm #LogoDesign #ComputationalBiology
🙏 A big thank you to @mkutmon.bsky.social and the #NetBio organizers for trusting me with this project. I had a great time designing it and learned so much in the process!
These are represented as three distinct network clusters, each with its own intuitive icon — converging toward a central point that highlights the community’s name and shared mission.
💡 In the new design, I brought together NetBio’s three main pillars:
- Tools and Resources
- Use Cases / Applications
- Algorithms and Methods
🔗 As described on their website:
“The Network Biology Community of Special Interest (NetBio COSI) serves to introduce novel methods and tools, identify best practices, and highlight the latest research in the growing and interconnected field of network biology.”
🎉 During the past few weeks, I had the honour of re-designing the logo for the @netbio.bsky.social part of the #ISCB - International Society for Computational Biology.
🎨 #ColourYourResearch #ScienceDesign #NetworkBiology #NetBioCOSI #SciComm #LogoDesign #ComputationalBiology
