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2024 SYMBIOSIS
Our 9th edition of Symbiosis has been announced.
Scroll down to learn more about the 12 participants this year!

The initiative is supported by the Simons Foundation.

Symbiosis will take place from October 18-25 in New York as part of the
17th Annual Science New Wave Festival. Scientists and filmmakers will make short films over the course of one week.

Learn more about the Symbiosis initiative and how to apply for next year.
Key Dates

SYMBIOSIS
Initiative
supported by the Simons Foundation

>> Get your Symbiosis logos/banners in Press Section
October 17 @ 7PM
Symbiosis Mixer / SNW17 Day -1
G.M.T Tavern (East Village)

October 21 @ 7PM (doors open at 6:30pm)
Symbiosis Lab Meeting / SNW17 Day 4
Caveat / RSVP (Lower East Side, Manhattan)

October 25 @ 7PM
Symbiosis Closing Night / SNW17 Day 8
Wythe Hotel - Tickets (Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Meet the Symbiosis 2024 Participants!

All Symbiosis Participants have a unique 12-nucleotide SNW ID that identifies them as Science New Wave Luminary Members. Check out their Science New Wave Manifesto Videos on Labocine / Habitat.
Scientists
  • Elodie Freymann
    I recently completed my PhD in Anthropology at the University of Oxford, specializing in botanical self-medication amongst the wild chimpanzees of the Budongo Forest in Western Uganda. I also have field experience working in the Ecuadorian Amazon and in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. Throughout my projects, I use multidisciplinary approaches and methods, including behavioral data coding, animal health monitoring, ethnomedicinal interviews, and pharmacological testing. I also employ natural historical techniques to document my work, including filmmaking and botanical drawing. I am currently a post-doctoral affiliate at the University of Oxford, engaged in the use of art and storytelling to translate and democratize conservation-focused scientific research into accessible formats.
  • Maya Theresia Laughton
    Maya Theresia is a scientist, storyteller and artist. At Tufts University, Maya earned a B.S. in biomedical engineering with a minor in computer science, while sneaking in art classes at the SMFA whenever she could. Born in the States to Indo-Guyanese/ African-American/ German parents and raised in Australia, she refuses to be confined to a label. For Maya, storytelling and science are both tools to make sense of our world. In 2021, Maya began her post-baccalaureate training in systems neuroscience at NYU. As a Senior Research Associate, Maya wrote and received an NIH grant to study how circuits in the brain drive the perception of touch and influence behavior in mice. In 2023, Maya wrote and performed a story for the Story Collider: Random Walks show in NYC, pondering science as religion. Maya has recently transitioned into the biotech industry, where she is investigating a neuronal circuit that regulates the immune system as a Senior Research Associate at NILO Therapeutics. Outside of the lab, Maya is developing an animated short film, inspired by her Grandpa’s experience of time-shifting with Alzheimer’s disease.
  • Penelope Lindsay
    Penelope Lindsay is a bio- and sound- experimentalist born in NYC and raised in Florida. She uses genetics, cell and molecular biology to understand how plant stem cells can be rewired to change the size and shape of plant organs. When not in the lab, Penelope makes subversive pop music.
  • Sromana Mukherjee
    My long-term interests lie in understanding how cells interpret and respond to external cues during development and use fruit flies as a model to find my answers. Currently, I am a post-doctoral scientist at New York University studying how visual stimuli is interpreted in the fly brain. I am also keen on science communication and advocating for female, underrepresented scientists.
  • Sebastian Orbell
    Physicist and engineer probing the emergent properties of the Universe. My research began with investigating avian magnetoreception (how birds sense the Earth's magnetic field), followed by a PhD at Oxford developing algorithms to enhance quantum computer performance (a sci-fi-esque machine designed to exponentially increase our computing power by manipulating individual electrons). After an interlude improving the performance of Generative AI, I now harness Machine Learning technologies to improve the performance of the electron based quantum computers at a start-up in London called Quantum Motion.
  • Michelle Corkrum
    Dr. Michelle Corkrum obtained her MD-PhD program from the University of Minnesota studying the role of astrocytes in brain reward signaling. Michelle is currently a Child Neurology resident at Columbia University Medical Center. During her residency she is conducting research investigating the use of non-invasive neuromodulation to target circuits disrupted in early brain injury such as pediatric stroke. In her career as a child neurologist physician-scientist, Michelle aims to investigate non-invasive neuromodulation interventions to develop efficacious treatment options for pediatric patients.
Filmmakers
  • Phillip Gladkov
    Phillip Gladkov is a multi-disciplinary artist, filmmaker, animator, and amateur mycologist. When he’s not making films, Gladkov creates fine art in the traditional medium of birch bark, cultivating a unique style that pays homage to the relationship that humankind has had with this sacred tree for millennia. Phillip Gladkov is an impact-driven artist whose care for humanity and the environment is the driving force behind his work.
  • Courtlin Byrd
    Courtlin Byrd is a filmmaker and digital artist. Her recent work includes visual programming and sonic responses to European birdsong and Alaskan brown bear movement. She works as an Associate Media Producer at The Frick Collection and currently resides in Ridgewood, Queens.
  • Hanae Utamura
    Hanae Utamura is a Japanese interdisciplinary artist and educator based in New York and Tokyo. She is also currently a PhD candidate in electronic arts in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Her work engages with historical memory, questioning the notion of progress in modernity, ecology and technology.
  • Janna Kyllästinen
    Janna is a documentary filmmaker in New York originally from Finland. In her films, she examines stories at the intersections of art, science, myth and memory, imbuing her experimental works with a distinct sensitivity for the abstract and metaphysical. Her works have screened at film festivals around the world, and published on platforms such as The Criterion Collection and The New York Times, among others.
  • Nora Long
    Nora Long is an Emmy-nominated, multi-hyphenate filmmaker whose issue-focused work has screened at film festivals around the world and used as an advocacy tool by dozens of non-profit organizations and community groups. She holds an MFA in Film and Television Production from the Savannah College of Art and Design
  • Jaime Sunwoo
    Jaime Sunwoo is a Korean American multidisciplinary artist from New York City working in film, art, and animation. Her works connect personal narratives to global histories through surreal storytelling. Her animated short documentary Equality Tea was featured in Vogue. Her film Handwritten premiered at Lincoln Center for New York Asian Film Festival, now available on Amazon Prime Video. She is currently touring her project Specially Processed American Me. More at jaimesunwoo.com
Symbiosis 2024 Jury
  • Neuroscientist
    Anastasia is neuroscientist at Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute. I hold a PhD in tumor immunology from the New York University School of Medicine and a bachelor degree in Biochemistry from Imperial College London. As a postdoctoral fellow, I investigate somatosensory behaviors from cancer pain to sexual pleasure.


    Symbiosis 2023 participant with G. Anthony Svatek "Pinky NAcc"
  • Physicist
    Niccolò, after traveling the world, finally settled down in New York as a graduate student in Physics at Columbia University. His work focuses on developing our understanding of the quantum mechanical rules governing the behavior of the fundamental constituents of matter: atoms and molecules. I aim to gain enough insights into the building blocks of our world to then be able to attain as much control over them as physically allowed.

    Symbiosis 2022 participant & winner with Ramey Newell: "Interference Pattern"
  • Filmmaker
    G. Anthony makes nonfiction films that examine humans' relationship with natural and urban environments. Having grown up at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Anthony is deeply awed by the living.

    Symbiosis 2023 participant with Anastasia Zavitsanou "Pinky NAcc"
  • Filmmaker
    Adriana is a Latinx filmmaker, originally from the Washington D.C. area, who currently resides in Brooklyn, N.Y. She is passionate about telling meaningful diverse stories, creating content for clients as a cinematographer, editor, and producer. She is equally interested in creating work that explores movement and rhythm through the audiovisual medium. Adriana has worked on many socially conscious projects in various countries including England, South Africa, and Brazil. She has been selected to participate in this year’s Symbiosis film competition sponsored by the Simons Foundation, Imagine Science, and New Wave Science.

    Symbiosis 2023 participant with Arun Dayanandan: "Rift"
  • Neuroscientist
    Lauren is a Neuroscientist and science communicator based in NYC. She is currently a postdoc in the Shuman lab at Mount Sinai, where she studies how different parts of the brain communicate to make memories and how that communication goes wrong in epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease. Outside of the lab, she is involved in science outreach and mental health advocacy. In her free time you can find her writing, baking, and listening to sci-fi/fantasy audiobooks in central park. She was one of the winners of the 2023 Symbiosis competition and is serving as the 2024 Symbiosis Coordinator.

    Symbiosis 2023 participant and winner with Gavati Wad "this creature called Memory"
Films are created over the course of the festival week from Oct 18-25.
HOW IT WORKS

On opening night, October 17th, 6 filmmakers and 6 scientists will be paired up and sent off into the city to begin filmmaking with a $2,500 stipend in hand.

The pairs will meet on Monday, October 21 at Caveat for our Symbiosis Lab Meeting and speak about their art/science works-in-progress. The audience will provide feedback. All final films will be screened on our October 25 at Wythe Hotel when one artist/scientist pair will be announced as the winner of the Symbiosis Film Competition.

The films will also be made keeping in mind the Science New Wave movement/philosophy characterized by its rejection of traditional scientific film conventions and stereotypes in favor of experimentation and personal expression. Learn more at sciencenewwave.com
SYMBIOSIS is supported by the Simons Foundation.

The Simons Foundation's Science, Society and Culture division seeks to provide opportunities for people to forge a connection to science — whether for the first time or a lifetime. Through our initiatives, we work to inspire a feeling of awe and wonder, foster connections between people and science and support environments that provide a sense of belonging.

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