NSF Award
2431828
This project provides travel support for approximately 9 researchers, with priority given to students, underrepresented participants, and early-career scientists, to participate in the 14th International Conference on Light and Color in Nature organized as a scientific workshop at Leiden University in the Netherlands in July 2024. This workshop brings together a diverse group of scientists and engineers with expertise in atmospheric and environmental optics to advance the scientific understanding of naked-eye optical phenomena that are visible to a human observer. In addition to satisfying scientific curiosity about what causes different types of rainbows, halos, auroras, and animal iridescence, this research provides understanding that leads to practical applications ranging from new and improved methods of sensing weather and environmental conditions to bio-inspired nanostructures that form the basis of advanced materials used for beauty and function. This particular workshop emphasizes collaborative development of tools that leverage smartphones and everyday devices for improved outreach and education so that people of all ages learn how to see and better understand the beauties of the natural world. <br/><br/>The scope of this workshop is atmospheric and environmental optics, beginning with meteorology and extending into the water and including biological vision and artistic rendering of natural scenes. Topics include any optical phenomenon that can be observed with the naked eye, such as rainbows, halos, auroras, and colors in the sky, water, biology, and art. Scientists and artists will share their new research and learn from their colleagues’ often-unfamiliar work to foster learning across optical disciplines and integration of those disciplines’ disparate ideas. A theme running throughout this workshop is a rigorous discussion of how ubiquitous smartphones can be used for scientific observations by scientists and citizens alike. These discussions will confront the challenges of calibration and consistency of the images recorded with these devices and will seek solutions in the form of observational methodologies designed to be robust to these uncertainties while still providing meaningful and quantifiable results. A primary outcome will be new ways for scientists and artists to promote curiosity and understanding of the natural world.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
