About

Often driven by very specific curiosities, scientists have a keen eye for observations and a desire to record what they see. When this innate ability is deep-rooted in passion for heritage, teaching, and the arts and humanities, it can lead to fruitful, colorful, and diverse outcomes.

Eugene is a formally trained scientist in evolutionary biology, biogeography, ichthyology, and environmental sciences, but that is just one tiny part of his genetic makeup. He has no formal training in art—with the exception of one art class in college—but has been painting ever since his teenage years. As a researcher, professor, and science communicator, Eugene has held a constant life-time focus to inspire an appreciation of the natural world, which can compel a change in attitude and a desire to protect the planet as if it is one’s own body. He challenges you to not just gaze at the natural world, but to really see it for all of its beauty and complexity, and to take steps in your daily life to promote its protection.

Realizing his scientific publications are limited in their reach to elicit a change in behavior, Eugene uses the arts and humanities to ignite a call to action. For much of the biodiversity he has spent a lifetime studying is succumbing to the human hand—what he calls the CHIPPO factors (climate change, habitat alteration, introduction of exotic species, pollution, population growth, and overconsumption.

Although his subjects vary significantly, Eugene’s primary intent is to capture a moment in time. Other works speak to the evolutionary relationships and behaviors of fishes in freshwater environments in North American and Europe, and in marine environments of Chesapeake Bay, North Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and the Caribbean archipelago.

Exhibitions and Film Festivals

2024 - Seascapes of the 21st Century, Gallerie, Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond,VA. June, 2024 - May, 2025.

2023 - Rock Stars, University of Idaho Fish & Wildlife Film Festival Official Selection Showing, Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre, Moscow, Idaho, April 27, 2023

2023 - The Underwater Wonders of Toms Creek, Perspective Gallery, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA,, March 14 - May 10, 2023.

2022 - Rock Stars, Audience Award and Best Editor (Hiromi Okumura), WeMakeFilms International Film Festival, Great Britain.

2022. Maurakis, E. G. Ephemeral Breeders’ Place (Oil painting, p. 14). Roots and Resettlement Journal. Virginia Tech Center for Refuge, Migrant, and Displacement Studies. 28 p.

2021 - Arctic Circle Toxic Beauty, Gallery5, Hail Sagan Exhibition, Nov. 5-30, 2021.

2021 - Plastic Oceans, Best Short Film Award, Virginia Environmental Film Festival Contest http://bit.ly/Maurakis-Film-Award

2021 - Plastic Oceans, Semi-Finalist, London Eco Film Festival.

2020 - Virtual Art Show - St. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Richmond, VA

2020 - Seascape of the 21st Century, Gallery5, beginning May 1 (Postponed indefinitely due to Covid-19)

2019 - See the Heat, Science Museum of Virginia

2019 - Cosmos: Celebrating Carl Sagan, Gallery5

2018 - Fantastic Fauna, Science Museum of Virginia

2017 - Change of Heart, Change of Mind, Science Museum of Virginia

2016 - Let the Fishes Speak, Science Museum of Virginia

2023 - The Underwater Wonders of Toms Creek, Perspective Gallery, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA