W. Scott Rawlins

Professor Emeritus - Visual and Performing Arts

PHONE: (215) 572-2879

EMAIL: rawlinss@arcadia.edu

Office Hours: Check schedule posted by office door

Social

Biography

Education

University of Michigan
1989
Medical and Biological Illustration
Master of Fine Arts

The George Washington University
1981
Museum Education
Master of Arts in Teaching

Earlham College
1976
Biology
Bachelor of Arts

Antioch College
1977
Program in Environmental/Outdoor Education

Research Interests: Natural Science

Curriculum Vitae: Download

Hometown: Piscataway, NJ

Home Country: United States

Languages: English

Scott Rawlins is a scientific illustrator, naturalist and museum educator who has been teaching at Arcadia since 1994. He holds degrees in biology, museum education and medical & biological illustration. In addition, Rawlins has studied scientific illustration at UC Berkeley, environmental education at Antioch College, and British museology through Hertford College, Oxford University. Rawlins currently oversees Arcadia’s major in scientific illustration. He teaches this subject as well as general illustration and design. He has served on the boards of the American Society of Botanical Artists and the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators and has been president of both organizations. Rawlins has had illustrations published in journals such as the Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Invertebrate Biology and Acta Zoologica. His work has appeared in numerous books, including Your Inner Fish, Today’s Botanical Artists and The Guild Handbook of Scientific Illustration. He presently works as a research associate in vertebrate zoology at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. In keeping with Arcadia’s commitment to the development of a global perspective, Rawlins has taken advantage of a number of “study abroad” experiences, including an opportunity to work with a native healer in Belize, a botanical artist on the Amazon and a nature journalist in Italy. Additional areas of exploration have included Cuba, Egypt and Portugal. In each location Rawlins has recorded observations in his sketchbooks, and this work usually results in a series of illustrations and presentations. In terms of “domestic” interests, Rawlins has been working with paleontologists at Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences, where he draws or reconstructs specimens of various fossil fish, including the well-known “fishapod” Tiktaalik roseae.

Publications

Rawlins, Scott. 2023. Introducing Tradigital Illustration.

The Journal of Natural Science Illustration 55 (2): 13 – 16.

Rawlins, Scott. 2022. Lasting Impressions: Images That Inspire Contemporary Botanical Artists (“Scott
Rawlins on the work of Gerald Hodge”).

The Botanical Artist 28 (1): 35.

Marcus, Cora B. and Libby Kyer. 2008. Today’s Botanical Artists.

Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd.

Shubin, Neal. 2008. Your Inner Fish.

New York: Pantheon Books.

Weiss, Mitchell J. 2001. Widespread Hermaphroditism in Freshwater Gastrotrichs.

Invertebrate Biology 120 (4): 308 – 341.

Hodges, Elaine. 2003. The Guild Handbook of Scientific Illustration.

New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Daeschler, E.B.. 2000. Early Tetrapod Jaws from the Late Devonian of Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Journal of Paleontology 74 (2): 301 – 308.

Martin, Scott M. 2000. Terrestrial Snails and Slugs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Maine.

Northeastern Naturalist 7 (1): 33 – 88.

Rawlins, Scott. 2018. Silverpoint and Pastel Dust: Encouraging the Exploration of Non-traditional Methods of Drawing.

The Botanical Artist, 24 (4): 18 – 20.

Shipley, Oliver, Niel Bruce, Mackellar Violoch, Amy Baco, Nicole Morgan, Scott Rawlins & Edward Brooks. 2016. A New Species of Bathynomus Milne Edwards, 1879 (Isopoda: Cirolanidae) from the Bahamas, Western Atlantic.

Zootaxa 4147 (1): 82 – 88.

Downs, Jason, Katharine Criswell and Edward Daeschler. 2011. Mass Mortality of Juvenile Antiarchs (Bothriolepis sp.) from the Catskill Formation (Upper Devonian, Famennian Stage), Tioga County, Pennsylvania.

Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 161: 181 – 03.

Davis, Marcus C., Neil H. Shubin and E.B. Daeschler. A New Species of Sauripterus taylori (Sarcopterygii, Osteichthyes) from the Famennian Catskill Formation of North America.

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 24(1): 26 – 40. (2004)

Daeschler, E.B., Anna C. Franklin and Frederick Mullison. Groendlandaspid Placoderm Fishes from the Late Devonian of North America.

Records of the Australian Museum, 55: 45 – 60. (2003)

Davis, Marcus C. , Neil H. Shubin and E.B. Daeschler. 2001 Immature Rhizodontids from the Devonian of North America.

Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 156 (1): 182.

Professional Experience

Professor of Scientific Illustration
Arcadia University
Glenside, PA

Curator of Natural Science
The Public Museum of Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids, MI

Instructor
Kendall College of Art & Design
Grand Rapids, MI

Director of Education
The Calvert Marine Museum
Solomons, MD

Assistant Curator of Natural Science
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Indianapolis, IN

Media Mentions