Nautilus: France A. Cordova

This gorgeous film was made for online and print magazine Nautilus as part of its ‘Spark of Science’ series, in which scientists are invited to share the inspirations behind their career paths.

Director Colin Hesterly and Not To Scale New York were invited to create the animation to accompany an interview with France A. Cordova, the director of the National Science Foundation of the United States, who literally reached for the stars in pursuit of her dream job.

With an elegant and charming simplicity, the film charts her amazing journey, which began with her being motivated by a story on TV about what happens when you drop a marshmallow onto a neutron star, to her becoming the youngest and first female NASA Chief Scientist and Chancellor of the University of California.