What do you get when you combine photography, artwork, and a passion for all animals? Saritazoo!

Sarah Armstrong is a Conservation and Wildlife major on track to graduate in the spring of 2024. Using her digital art skills, Sarah creates educational zoology infographics for the public.

She combines eye-catching pictures to draw the viewer in and grab their attention, using the opportunity to encourage learning.

“I want to create answers to common questions Zoologists face in a fun and interesting way. Information like cladistics and what makes an animal an animal are a lot easier to explain and comprehend when art is involved!”

Like a blast from the past, Sarah also runs a paleo account focused on illustrating paleozoological specimens.

As technology advances, so does our understanding of the majestic creatures that lived before us. Artists play a pivotal role in providing a descriptive image based on scientific informed hypothesis.

“My goal is to help in continuing to change the general perception of dinosaurs from movie monsters to simply extinct animals that and acted like animals.” She stated. “By normalizing these more plausible designs in a fun and easy to digest way, I’d love to find out I brought back someone’s love for dinosaurs the same way other paleo artists have done for me.”

While illustrating and educating are her passions, Sarah’s main goal is to pursue zookeeping and active work with animals.

Bugs? Check. Art? Double-check. Sophomore Conservation and Wildlife Management major Elizabeth Weed loves insects. Specifically, she adores Lepidopterans: butterflies and moths. 

Through her digital artwork, Elizabeth seeks to illustrate every North American butterfly (and eventually moth), providing conservation information on each butterfly as she goes.  

“Some butterflies take hours to render, others take me weeks to paint, making sure to get all the minute details correct. I like to make them as realistic as possible for an added oomph.”

The project began as a long-term challenge for the artist, but rapidly evolved to become a subject of research and study.

“Not everyone has a meadow or forest in their backyard, but learning about the wonderful creatures that inhabit this planet is crucial to conservation efforts.” She began. “Through my art and knowledge about insects, I can bring the nature to anyone, anywhere.”

Knowing the impact is a strong motivation. With butterfly populations in decline, highlighting species through artwork helps them live on. It also provides people with an opportunity to learn about insects in their area, and how to support them through planting native foliage.

Moving forward, Elizabeth hopes to continue wildlife illustration as a hobby and pursue a career in entomology or ornithology research.