See the trees for the forest

In the English language, there is an expression that says “you can´t see the forest for the trees”, which applies when one cannot see the whole picture because one is too focused only on the small details. In forest ecology, sometimes the opposite is true, and one needs to actually look in detail at individual trees in order to better understand and predict how the whole forest will respond to the ongoing change. However, as scientists, sometimes it is good to step back, zoom out, and try to -not only understand why we are studying what we study- but also see the beauty of our subjects. On those grounds, art -be it through painting, drawing, sculpting, music, writing or photography- provides an excellent opportunity to express ourselves in ways that complement the scientific experience. At the same time, art can also be a source of inspiration to spark creativity in scientific thinking.