Steve Horne, Silixa’s Senior Geophysicist, will be running a short course on Data Visualization Principles for Scientists at the 87th EAGE Annual Conference and Exhibition in Aberdeen on 8 June 2026.
He will demonstrate good, bad, and ugly visualisations, and explain what makes an effective data visualisation, as well as how some plots can be deceptive — sometimes intentionally. The course will include a brief historical overview featuring pivotal examples from Florence Nightingale, William Playfair, John W. Tukey, and Edward Tufte. Participants will then learn about human vision and how we can leverage our biology to process charts more efficiently.
The course will then take a deeper look at human colour perception, including issues relating to colour vision deficiencies, and how thoughtful colour choices can help reach a wider audience. Steve will also explore human visual perception further by introducing pre-attentive attributes and Gestalt principles and demonstrating how these can be applied in chart design.
Particular attention will be paid to line charts and pie charts, along with why 3D effects should be used with caution.
Next, the course will review typefaces (fonts), tables, and file formats before moving on to a practical session. In this session, participants will select a plot, identify its shortcomings, and complete a data visualisation “do-over” using the principles learned during the day.
Steve will also be presenting “A Year of Data Visualization in the Geoscience Industry: Can We Do Better?” as part of the Dedicated Session Picture This: From Complexity to Clear Communication on Thursday, 11 June 2026 (Room 14, 08:50–09:10).
In this talk, he will review data visualisation practices in the geoscience industry and suggest ways to improve graphical communication.
To pre-arrange a meeting please email us at marketing@silixa.com
