SITKA, Alaska – “Dead animals in alcohol and other fun projects” will be the topic of the next presentation in the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) Sitka Campus’ Natural History Seminar Series. The seminar takes place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 27, in UAS Sitka Campus Room 229. The presentation is free and open to the community.

This seminar’s guest speaker is Ron Holthuysen, the founder of the Scientific Art Studio in Richmond, Calif. Ron has been working with the baby orca skeleton project at the Sitka Sound Science Center. In addition, his studio has been involved in a variety of museum and visitors center exhibits, themed environments, outdoor exhibits, motion picture and television productions, and murals and artwork around the world. His other Alaska projects include the Tote KidSpace at the Anchorage Imaginarium and the glacier illustration mural at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors Center in Juneau.

Ron was born and raised in the Netherlands, and moved to California in 1993. He founded the Scientific Art Studio in 1980, so he could create natural history exhibits after spending several years teaching biology, chemistry and physics. “There was not really a job in which I could explore and combine my interest in taxidermy, wildlife photography, film, design, history, paleontology, geology, sculpture, painting, engineering, teaching, and being an inventor, all at the same time,” Ron said. “I always have had the need to involve myself in a wide range of fields, and to challenge myself with interesting projects. The result is the Scientific Art Studio as it is now.” To learn more about the Scientific Art Studio, go to www.scientificartstudio.com/. To learn more about Ron’s work with the baby orca project at the Sitka Sound Science Center, go toscientificartstudio.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/a-baby-orca-for-sitka-sound-science-center-2/ and scientificartstudio.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/one-whale-down/.

The UAS Natural History Seminar Series hosts several seminars during the school year on a variety of topics, including Southeast Alaska flora and fauna, glaciers, volcanos, and impacts of climate change in the region. The series is supported by a grant from the Sitka Permanent Charitable Trust to the Sitka Sound Science Center and the University of Alaska Southeast.

For more information on the seminar, contact Kitty LaBounty at 747-9432 or kitty.labounty@uas.alaska.edu. To learn about UAS Sitka Campus course offerings and to register for classes, call 747-7700 or go online at www.uas.alaska.edu/sitka.