The Atlanta Science Tavern is proud to support the 2013 series of Science Cafes at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, this year exploring the intersection between art and science.

Sponsors include sponsors the NASA/NSF Center for Chemical Evolution, the NSF funded Amborella Genome Project and Balentine Investment Group.

Admission is free for Garden members and $18.95 otherwise. It includes the Science Cafe, access to the gardens, and Cocktails in the Garden.

Be sure to sample this month's signature cocktail. Details to be announced.

"Indigo Snake Biology and Scientific Illustration" at the Atlanta Botanical Garden

Mark Mandica, Amphibian Conservation Coordinator
Atlanta Botanical Garden

In conjunction with The Orianne Society

Perhaps the connection between art and science is nowhere more immediate than with the field of scientific illustration.

This month's installment of the Atlanta Botanical Garden summer Science Cafe series explores this fascinating connection as scientific illustrator and Amphibian Conservation Coordinator, Mark Mandica, discusses his role illustrating the upcoming book, The Biology and Conservation of the Eastern Indigo Snake, authored by Chris Jenkins, CEO and Executive Director of The Orianne Society, which is dedicated to the conservation of imperiled snakes around the world.

About Mark Mandica

Mark Mandica, Amphibian Conservation Coordinator at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, has been a professional scientific illustrator since 1998. He specializes in biological illustrations and figures for scientific publications.

Mark's illustrations have been featured in the journals Science, Nature, Journal of Experimental Biology, Zoology, American Zoologist and many others. His scientific figures and illustrations have appeared both within the text of and as covers for a number of books, including Evolution of Animal Communication, The Rise of Placental Mammals and The Everglades Handbook.

Mark enjoys any opportunity to combine his art with his passion for the science, biology and conservation of critters. At the Garden, Mark runs the amphibian conservation program which focuses on imperiled amphibian species of the south east United States and neotropics.

About the Orianne Society

Research is a unique and important component of The Orianne Society and of its Indigo Snake Initiative. By using a strong, science-based approach to research projects, the science staff is able to inform boots-on-the-ground conservation efforts both within the organization and the scientific community at large.

Their comprehensive research program identifies questions that need to be answered in order to conserve and restore Eastern Indigo Snakes throughout their range and to guide their reintroduction into places where they have been extirpated. Whether in their Land Management and Captive Conservation Programs or their Education Outreach efforts, all decisions concerning the conservation of this important species are vetted by sound science.

Images courtesy of Mark Mandica.

Please allow plenty of time to park and make your way through admissions to Mershon Hall and enjoy the featured cocktail or other beverages before the talk begins at 7:00.