NAFKI Grant

This project was designed as a tutorial for a NAFKI Grant that was awarded to Dr. Andrew Quitmeyer at the National University of Singapore. He runs his own Field Station Makerspace where he blends biological fieldwork and DIY digital crafting with a community of scientists, artists, designers and engineers from around the world.

Part of the project goal is to highlight sea things that are normally microscopic and rarely thought of. In this craft tutorial, users can make their own velella in adult and larvae form using paper. Velella are close cousins of jellyfish. They are sea sailors and are commonly seen floating adrift at sea. Just below their blue body are stinging tentacles that catch planktons. The craft tutorial can be found here.

This initiative is supported by the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative of the National Academy of Sciences under award number NAKFI DBS17.