GODS  AND  MONSTERS:  

The  purpose  
of  this  project  
was  to  create  
an  informa3ve,  
and  slightly  
humorous,  
poster  on  a  
piece  of  
technology  we  
deemed  a  
“god”  or  a  
“monster”.  I  
felt  that  the  
hoverboard  is  
an  appropriate  
“monster”,  due  
to  its  tendency  
to  
spontaneously  
explode.

 DIY  CARTOGRAPHY  
DIY  Cartography  is  a  graduate-­‐level  seminar  on  cri3cal  mapping  and  urban  development  
of  Raleigh.  My  focus  was  on  the  natural  history  of  Raleigh,  Wake  County,  and  the  triangle  
area.  In  par3cular,  I  focused  on  parks,  trails,  and  greenways.


[Top  Le']  This  map  compares  and  contrasts  the  amount  of  green  space  in  downtown  Raleigh  to  the  built  
environment,  and  shows  where  former  green  space  used  to  be.  
[Top  Right]  This  map  shows  the  amount  of  light  pollu3on  in  Raleigh  due  to  street  lights  and  superimposes  
that  with  public  green  space  in  the  city,  which  typically  also  serves  as  conserva3on  area  for  plants  and  
animals.  
[Bo.om  Le']  This  shows  the  popula3on  density  of  Wake  county  superimposed  with  where  public  green  
space  is  located.  
[Bo.om  Right]  This  map  shows  the  loca3on  of  various  rare  plants  and  animals  in  the  triangle  area,  as  well  as  
the  greenway  system  of  Wake  county.  



This  map  serves  as  an  infographic  exploring  

both  the  distribu3on  of  parks  in  Raleigh  as  
well  as  how  the  total  acreage  of  parks  has  
evolved  over  3me.  This  is  compared  with  
the  growth  of  city  square  mileage  along  
with  total  popula3on  of  Raleigh.  There  are  
specific  callouts  for  spikes  in  park  acreage,  
one  of  which  is  the  1970’s  capital  area  
greenway  ini3a3ve.

Our final assignment for this class was to

create an experiential map based on a
location that corresponded with the
overarching theme we’ve been studying. I
decided to explore Raleigh’s first nature
preserve. This idea for this map was largely
influenced by Harry C. Beck’s design for
the London tube map. I felt it was
appropriate since the park consisted of a
system of interconnected nodes.
Senior  Capstone  Research  Proposal  
 
This  encapsulates  my  
work  from  my  senior  
research  seminar,  which  
was  taken  the  semester   OVERVIEW DS 481
SARAH TAKE
Design Studies
prior  to  comple3ng  my   AS LONG AS HUMANITY HAS EXISTED, WE HAVE BEEN IN SEARCH OF WHAT WE ARE MADE OF Capstone Research
May 2018
thesis.  I  decided  to   AND WHAT LIES BEYOND OUR HORIZON. IN THE PAST, RELIGION AND MYTH HAVE SERVED TO
ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS, THOUGH THIS HAS CHANGED FOR THE MOST PART FOLLOWING THE
focus  on  how  design   SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION. THE ISSUE IS, PEOPLE DON’T OFTEN BELIEVE WHAT THEY CAN’T SEE.
PRECEDENTS
thinking  and  problem   EVER INCREASING BREAKTHROUGHS IN QUANTUM PHYSICS AND COSMOLOGICAL PHENOMENA
OUTSIDE OF THE VISIBLE LIGHT SPECTRUM BRING FORTH A GROWING GAP BETWEEN SCIENCE
solving  principles  can   AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC. HOW CAN WE BRIDGE THIS GAP?
The Space Race
Atomic Theory
be  applied  to  concepts   The Copernican Revolution
The Witch Hunts
that  are  inherently  
VISUALIZING THE
The Casimir Effect
Gravitational Waves
difficult  to  visualize/   The Scientific Revolution
Heliocentric vs Geocentric Models
conceptualize.    
INVISIBLE Cosmic Microwave Background

EXEMPLARS

RESEARCH QUESTIONS Copernicus

Galileo Galilei
Isaac Newton
1. How has the public’s perception of science changed since before the scientific Albert Einstein
Johannes Kepler
revolution?
Carl Sagan
2. How do religion and culture affect people’s acceptance of science? Niels Bohr
3. Why are certain people more prone to believe pseudoscience over science? Is Richard Feynman
there a reason science is less appealing? Stephen Hawking
Democritus
4. In what ways is human perception fallable? How do we combat this? In other JJ Thompson
words, how do we detect what can’t be seen?
5. How do scientists convey what can’t be seen? THEORIES
6. What knowledge can we gain by looking into deep space and subatomic
particles? Special Relativity
General Relativity
7. How do the blind percieve our world? What can we learn from them? Can we Atomic Theory
apply this knowledge to what we can’t see? Dark Matter
8. Why do some find it easier to visualize abstract theories more than others? Dark Energy
Quantum Field Theory
String Theory
Brane Cosmology

VOCABULARY
Quarks, Gluons, Neutrons, Mesons
Electromagnetic Spectrum
Black Holes
Cosmological Models
Cosmic Microwave Background
Virtual Particles
Feynmann Diagrams
4D Spacetime
The Equivalence Principle

(left to right, top to bottom)

Feynman Diagrams, Electromagnetic Spectrum, Cosmic Microwave Background renders, Spacetime Diagram

SOURCES
1. briankoberlein.com/wp-content/uploads/cmb1.jpg. 8. Hawking, Stephen. The Universe in a Nutshell. Random House, 2005.
2. Carus, Titus Lucretius. On the Nature of Things. Rutgers University Press, 1950. 9. i.pinimg.com/originals/34/e3/c9/34e3c9c3954d73663506fd55e076069b.jpg.
3. cdn.miniphysics.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/electromagneticspectrum.jpg. 10. Newton, Isaac, et al. Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Harvard University Press, 1972.
4. Clark, Hazel, and David Brody. Design Studies a Reader. BloomsburyLondon, 2016. 11. “PBS Space Time.” YouTube, YouTube, www.youtube.com/channel/UC7_gcs09iThXybpVgjHZ_7g.
5. Copernicus, Nicolaus. De Revolutionibus. Walter De Gruyter, 1973. 12. Sagan, Carl. Cosmos: Carl Sagan. Ballantine Books, 1985.
6. Einstein, Albert. Relativity: the Special and the General Theory; a Popular Exposition. Martino Publishing, 2010. 13. Sagan, Carl. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Paw Prints, 2013.
7. Hawking, Stephen. A Brief History of Time. Bantam Books, 2017. 14. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/90/World_line2.svg/2000px-World_line2.svg.png.
The  Leading  Strand  

These  are  some  examples  of  graphics  I  made  to  accompany  an  explana3on  of  how  
humans  detect  dark  maTer.  

These are two iterations that

demonstrate how dark matter
keeps starts on the outer edges
of galaxies from flying out.
These stars are traveling as fast
as stars on the inner edges of
galaxies, but are exceeding their
escape velocity. The fact that
they stay in place is an indicator
that there is something invisible,
i.e. dark matter, holding them in.

This image demonstrates

how gravitational lensing
works. Light from a distant
source is bent due to the
presence of a massive object,
in this case dark matter,
which therefore makes the
source appear magnified and
in a different location to an
observer on earth.
Senior  Capstone:  VisualizaDon  in  Science  CommunicaDon  
This  is  a  38  page  document  that  explores  the  current  issues  of  science  communica3on,  
current  methods  of  scien3fic  informa3on  visualiza3on,  and  how  design  principles  can  be  
applied  so  that  the  public  is  more  recep3ve  to  new  scien3fic  findings.  I  am  including  
excerpts  from  in  into  this  porWolio  due  to  the  nature  of  the  file  size.  I  would  be  happy  to  
share  the  full  document,  so  if  
interested  please  email  me  at  
smtake@ncsu.edu  and  I  will  
send  it  as  soon  as  possible.