Where art teaches science: inside UGA Lamar Dodd’s scientific illustration program

Consider the diagrams of the human body in a biology textbook, the infographic that untangles a complex geological process, or the lifelike rendering of an extinct species that seems ready to step off the page. These images don’t appear by accident, they’re crafted by scientific illustrators, artists who translate complex ideas into visuals that anyone can understand who are truly tapping into the intersection of the arts and sciences. 

Striking a delicate balance, these talented individuals walk a fine line; too much detail can overwhelm while too little can mislead. Scientific illustrators learn to walk that line with precision, clarity, and creativity. 

At the University of Georgia (UGA), that training happens in one of the world’s rarest undergraduate programs, housed in Franklin’s Lamar Dodd School of Art and enrolling just 18 students at a time. Small by design, and one of fewer than 20 undergraduate scientific illustration programs offered worldwide, the program is selective, intensive, and deeply personal. And for the students who make it in, it becomes a launchpad into a field where accuracy and artistry carry equal weight. 

A degree in scientific illustration is a story about people, artists, scientists, teachers, and explorers, who use drawing not just to show the world, but to explain it. UGA’s scientific illustration program is one of the rare places where that kind of work is taught with intention, rigor, and community. From the teacher and the medical illustrator and the naturalist to the textile artist and teacher, learn more about the talented individuals from this program and where they are today in the Spring 2026 issue of Georgia Magazine. 

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