When it comes to Science people tend to believe that answers are right or wrong, black or white.  Environmental Studies,by its definition, is the science that it deals with people and their interactions with the environment.  Thus, for any of the environmental problems we face, there will be a set of people who carry out research with numerical results that are as concrete as the text books I study from.  However, the grey area arises in the human element, the interpretation and the implementation of solutions, as people try to agree on conflicting ideas.  Environmental Studies issues all have different perspectives be it cultural, ethnic or racial.  In some cases some people can’t understand, don’t have access to the right data or in some cases they only care if the issue directly affects their home or family. 
                Thus,the key problem facing Environmental Scientists is communication.  How can scientific data be presented in a way that engages and impacts an audience, especially those hard to reach individuals?  As an Environmental Studies Major and a Fine Arts minor, I believe I have found a solution.  Science and Art do not exist on separate planes, polarized by different processes.  I have found that creative mediums can powerfully convey scientific fact.  In Nothing is Black and White I sought to call upon the discipline of Scientific Illustration to discuss a pertinent and yet overlooked issue at the heart of my home city of Los Angeles.  The L.A. River is known to many as little more than a storm drain in its current state.  Dirty and nearly completely channelized this concrete wasteland is of little concern to most Angelinos.  And yet, the River still contains life, it’s riparian ecosystem still exists in the northern reaches of the River, givingbirds, fish and even humans on the fringe of society a safe haven.  The History of the L.A. River is complex, multifaceted and deserves attention. Thus, I journeyed to the River myself to photograph and document its story as the focus of Nothing is Blackand White.    
However,my work itself provides yet another insight into the complexities and coalescence of Science and Art.  When thinking of scientific illustration many envision a narrowly defined spectrum of work, often in fact, black and white. However, scientific illustration can encompass much more.  Thus, I have carefully chosen specific processes to depict the story of the L.A. River.  Just as Environmental Studies issues require many layers of understanding I have researched and experimented to give my work the those extra layers from a scientific perspective.  The Chlorophyll and Anthotype processes utilize materials found almost entirely in nature providing a unique organic layer to the work. The Cyanotype, process delves more deeply into the precision andthe delicate balance of scientific processes in nature, a key to understanding the extent of environmental problems. All of the processes allow for a unique approach to the body of work allowing me to be a field researcher, a lab scientist and an artist, discovering that the difference between the three is slight.  To heighten this, the presentation of my workis organized as an art display and research display simultaneously.   
The final element of my work and something that has interested me for a long time is the temporality of thepieces.  All of them against my will, though the never ending action of the sun’s rays, will eventually fadeaway.  This raises interesting parallels with the way humans treat and sometimes destroy their environments like the L.A. River.  Nature, just as the L.A. River stays resilient in some areas, will find a way to prevail but humans are the ones who will ultimately suffer.  The idea of temporality causes us to think deeply about what we value.  Try as I might, there is no current method to preserve my careful and cherished works. Thus, I deliberately imitated this temporality on my final piece, an expressive oil painting of the L.A. River on an unprimed canvas but with tar blended into the water.  The tar will eventually eat away at the canvas just as the pollutants make it really hard for life to exist in the ecosystem.  As mentioned before, those environments will go on and adapt. But we lose something beautiful in the meantime.