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​UW-Stevens Point biology professor brings art and science together

From the time he was a child growing up in Stevens Point, Justin Sipiorski has blended his love of animals with his love of art. If he didn’t have a shark or tyrannosaurus rex in his toy box, he’d sculpt one or use a pen or paintbrush to put one on paper.

“I was a sort of junior naturalist, always taking nature hikes and memorizing field guides,” he said.

The 1997 graduate of UW-Stevens Point is now an associate professor of biology and curator of fishes at his alma mater, putting his natural talent to use in and out of the classroom to encourage the next generation of artistic scientists. “It was just a natural pairing for me – biology and artwork,” Sipiorski said.

Recently, he and Lynn Markham, a shoreland and land use specialist with UW-Stevens Point’s Center for Land Use Education and UW-Extension, collaborated on a children’s book about how to keep lakes healthy. “Fish Hotel” tells the story of two children who discover how fish in the lake near their summer cottage can benefit from trees left in the water along the shoreline. Sipiorski did all the illustrations, and Markham wrote it.

“I was looking for an illustrator who was particularly good at drawing fish,” Markham said. “Former Professor Dan Sivek recommended Justin.” The two worked together to brainstorm the drawings to accompany each page, Markham said. “With any children’s book, the illustrations bring it to life.”

“I had never done a children’s book before, and the drawings are different than my usual work,” said Sipiorski. “I’d call it realistic cartooning.”

The images came from his own memories of visiting and snorkeling in Lake Katherine, Lake Emily and Wolf Lake as a youngster. He completed the 10- by 20-inch drawings for the book on nights and weekends over nearly a year, using colored and watercolor pencils and chalk pastels.

Sipiorski has had many drawings published. He created 200 illustrations in the 2011 “Peterson Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes” and drawings of whales and seals in “Wild Mammals of North America,” published in 2003. He also was the sole illustrator of 370 drawings for “The Fishes of Nebraska” in 2015, for which he won Nebraska Book Awards for both illustration and non-fiction reference.

Sipiorski began his art education as a child at UW-Stevens Point by taking summer workshops led by David Smith, a now-retired professor of art and design. He also took art courses at Stevens Point Area High School.

Although he focused on biology as an undergraduate at UW-Stevens Point, he created art for Schmeeckle Reserve signage and took first place in a Student Wildlife Society art and photography competition.

Since returning to UW-Stevens Point in 2008, Sipiorski has taught “Biological Illustration” along with ichthyology (the study of fish) and animal biology. He also advises the Scientific Illustration Club.

“Over the years, students in the club and my illustration classes have been creating drawings of Midwestern fish at different life stages,” he said. The long-term goal is to collect the works and co-publish a field guide of fish in the western Great Lakes area, with four drawings of each fish for identification throughout its lifespan. ”We are about one-third of the way done,” he said.

This semester, his illustration students are also creating drawings for an adult coloring book featuring Wisconsin ecosystems. He hopes to have the book and a poster available through the UW-Stevens Point Museum of Natural History's store. The students will also share their drawings and computer-generated images in an exhibit displayed at the museum at the end of the semester.

“I’d always dreamed of a career integrating teaching, research and illustration,” Sipiorski said. “It’s an honor to be back at UW-Stevens Point and give back to the community that gave me so much.”