MSU scientific illustrator combines science, art
By the time Joe MacGown sold his first piece of art at age 11, he already had logged several years investigating insects under a microscope. Even at that age, blending science with his creativity came naturally.
“I’ve been looking through a microscope since I was 5,” he said. “I’ve always thought drawing them was the best way to learn about organisms. I think it’s so cool how everything is connected.”
That belief has guided MacGown through a decades-long career at the Mississippi Entomological Museum on Mississippi State’s campus, where he has worked for 37 years as a scientific illustrator and research technician. His legacy is a continuation of family tradition—his father earned a doctoral degree at MSU and spent years researching and teaching in the same museum, and his son recently graduated from MSU and works with the museum’s gardens and murals.
MacGown says he basically grew up in the museum halls of Clay Lyle. As early as 1976, he remembers drawing freelance illustrations for MSU graduate students.
“I wasn’t officially working back then, but I was in the lab,” he said. “I did drawings for people’s presentations and research projects. Even though I wasn’t being paid by the university, I was still here.”
After graduating from Starkville High School, MacGown moved to Tennessee to study at Memphis College of Art. After a year, he returned for family reasons. What began as a temporary illustration job with the entomological museum turned into a permanent position and a career of illustrations and scientific research papers.
“I love learning, and I wanted to learn something new every day,” he said. “This was a great place to do it.”
Over the years, he has illustrated thousands of insect specimens and contributed to hundreds of websites, presentations, news articles and scientific papers, many of which he also wrote. He officially retired in 2020, but was back in the lab within a year.
“I’m what you call a retiree rehire,” he laughed. “I came back because I had so many unfinished projects and I just want to share everything I have and know with others.”
For MacGown, accurate and accessible visuals are crucial in scientific research. Mississippi Entomological Museum Director JoVonn Hill said MacGown’s work adds a dimension that photographs often can’t capture.
“Joe is, by far, the best scientific illustrator I’ve ever seen,” Hill said. “He’s completely self-taught. A photo can mislead someone into thinking a species must look exactly like that one example, but Joe’s drawings show the species more clearly.”
Though he was born in Maine, MacGown spent most of his life in Starkville. His work has taken him across the country, studying environments, documenting species and connecting with the world through science.
“Writing these papers, traveling around and doing illustrations has connected me to the entire world,” he said. “I love the inter-connectivity we have because science is available to everyone and we’re able to disseminate this information to people all over from this lab.”
MacGown said he didn’t plan this path. He didn’t want to live in Starkville, but somewhere along the way, he started to view everything from a different perspective.
“Once you start learning about what’s around you, it almost doesn’t matter where you live as long as you’re safe,” he said. “Everywhere can be interesting, and that’s the case here. I became so invested here, built a home and life.”
On paper, MacGown said his career might seem like happenstance. That wasn’t the case. He says he took every opportunity as a new way to grow, learn and educate others.
“It wasn’t luck. Luck allowed me to be born at this time, with arms, legs and a capable mind,” he said. “I just loved learning and never stopped. There’s no rule that says you can’t do more than what’s expected of you. You always can.”
By Mary Pollitz, Photos by Beth Wynn