In 2017, the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department at the University of Tennessee moved from one of the oldest buildings on campus to a new building. In an effort to make our new building look more official, volunteers were allowed to decorate display cases. I took on this display case with the intention to fill it with items that represent all subjects researched by the department. I solicited items from faculty to capture our diversity. This is what I designed in 2 days with only borrowed materials along with some of my own. The contents have since been emptied to make way for a paid-for, “professional” display.

My design won a competition held by the Planetary Geology Division of the Geological Society of America to design a button to be distributed at the 2018 LPSC and GSA Annual Meeting. 

I had the opportunity via the lottery system emplaced by Great Smoky Mountains National Park to see the synchronous fireflies in June 2017.  These pictures were extremely hard to capture considering I still do not own a DSLR! I pushed the limits of my Sony DSC-RX100 and was able to capture these long exposure pictures.  That camera is simply amazing!

I made this map of Gusev Crater using Arc GIS, CTX imagery, and thermal intertia data. To the left are terrestrial and lunar analogues to some of the features seen in the map.

Pictures taken in my parent’s backyard in Birmingham, Alabama.

Eclipse on September 27th, 2015.  This was really a lesson in finding the limits of my camera.  I also need a better camera.  

Pictures taken at the I-20 Nature Preserve in Midland Texas.

February 2015.  All images taken by Sarah Roberts.

Drawings from collected dead bugs, completed by me from 2002 to present.  All images are pencil on paper, with some instances of colored pencil or interference paint where needed.  The completed drawings are generally 1.25 times the bugs true size. A bug drawing completed on a gallery wall earned a Best of Show award at the Juried Art show at the University of Alabama in 2003.

Three Rivers Petroglyphs and White Sands National Monument, February 2015.  All pictures by Sarah Roberts.

Watercolors, varying sizes.

January 2002, I created bugs out of found objects as part of my interim project at Birmingham-Southern College.  The bugs are made out of the apparent objects, including a french fry, cracker, fortune cookie, and cough drop and material, wire, and lots of fingernail polish.  The characters created of the bugs were so intriguing that I also made a book illustrating interactions and adventures of the bugs.  The hardback book was entirely made by myself, and the illustrations and stories were meticulously xeroxed on a copy machine-before I had my own scanner.  This project earned me the Best of Show award at the 2002 Juried art show at Birmingham-Southern College.

I made this informational sheet in 2012 to describe my research at the University of Notre Dame.  I took the illustrations from a vintage children's book.  

All images created in watercolor, pen, and pencil. 

All images are watercolor by Sarah Roberts

Pencil drawings created of Hawaii flora while living in Honolulu from 2005-2007

Water color paintings, 5"x7" or smaller.  

I worked on oil drilling rigs from 2015-2016 in West Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. The isolation of drilling sites in wild areas led to an abundance of wildlife for me to enjoy.

I love water and ponds.  All images by Sarah Roberts

Bugs created out of bead and wire. Embroidery and crazy quilting.

All images by Sarah Roberts.

Yellowstone July 2015.  All images by Sarah Roberts.

My master’s thesis show was held in 2005 in Smith Hall on the campus of the University of Alabama.