BIOGRAPHY

Lea Cox grew up in Los Angeles County and enjoyed sketching, painting, climbing trees, observing birds, gardening, and taking photographs which she developed in her father’s darkroom. She would create still lifes with rocks and dinosaurs, examining different compositions.

She became a geologist and worked in the field, on the computer, and in the laboratory. She studied soils and the interactions between bacteria and minerals, earned a Ph.D. in soil science from the University of California at Berkeley, and as a postdoctoral researcher in the Mars Program, continued to collect and make images of the structures of magnetotactic and other bacteria with electron microscopy and analyze the chemistry of the minerals.

While working professionally as a scientist, Lea continued to develop her art as a painter. In 2004 she decided to leave her science career to see if there was a way to combine science and art. She took courses in digital media, and earned a Masters of Fine Art degree in Digital Arts and New Media from the University of California at Santa Cruz. There she developed projects using recorded birdsong to both entertain and educate people about birds. She continues to work on her paintings, on graphic and web design, and would like to design media for educational institutions such as museums, parks, and other nonprofits.