LEWISTON – A leading expert in the use of imagery to express scientific data and concepts will lecture at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the Keck Classroom (G52) in Pettengill Hall, Bates College, Andrews Road.

Felice Frankel’s presentation, titled “More Than Pretty Pictures: The Power of the Science Image,” is part of a celebration that marks the opening of Bates’ Imaging and Computing Center, which serves as a “one-stop shop” for the high-tech rendering of visual information.

The event is open to the public at no cost. Refreshments will be offered at 4:15 p.m.

A photographer and senior research fellow at Harvard University,

Frankel heads the Envisioning Science program at Harvard’s Initiative in Innovative Computing. She holds a concurrent appointment as a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Completed in January, Bates’ Imaging and Computing Center enhances Bates’ ability to teach visual presentation and interpretive skills.

The center assembles high-tech gear – from optical microscopes to large-format printers – that enables researchers to capture, interpret and present in visual form all manner of information.