CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- On Friday, UVA will be hosting its grand opening for the new School of Data Science building on the corner of Ivy Road and Emmet Street. One UVA professor will be showcasing his data artwork to visitors.

Matthew Burtner, a professor in the Department of Music, used data collected by UVA environmental scientists working at the Virginia Coast Reserve to create his piece called "Reef Generations."

The piece synthesizes an audio-visual computer-generated environment, focusing on oyster reefs as a living seawall, protecting the Virginia coast from the effects of erosion due to sea level rise and increased storm activities caused by global warming.

"I was able to use their data set as basically a sequencer for the synthesizers to make this music. And then, I also fed the data into a visual system that I programmed," he said.

Burtner hopes his project will inspire curiosity in viewers, who may then recognize the importance of the science and the reef restoration efforts. You can learn more about his work here.