Getting to the root of a story

Nematodes are usually bad news for gardens. But not always - as I just learned doing this piece on how they are tiny superheroes in one aspect of agriculture. These wriggly microscopic worms can actually be used as a tool in fighting larger corn rootworms, which are currently a major scourge of the Corn Belt here in the U.S.

The challenge for this video is that I shot it - both the interview and the b-roll - before seeing the written story it would accompany, so I did my best to try to imagine all the visuals I might need to illustrate the science. This was backwards from the usual approach, so I was pretty pleased in the way it ended up coming together.

I also worked with senior art director Jeff Chase again to illustrate what happens in this epic battle beneath the soil’s surface. The result is this short explainer video that we added as a card to the main story.

Read more about this research in this UDaily article >>

From the storyboard to the screen

Planning is key for videos - especially when it comes to animated sequences. I enjoyed helping to write this script and storyboard it, then watch it come to life under the graphic magic of my colleague, Jeff Chase.

A few shots of my planning sketches on the script, followed by the final video.

Learn more about this $23 million grant here >

A link between farting termites and cleaner energy?

I have to say, that got my attention…

In reality, it is microbes doing the “farting” - specifically methane-producing microbes who live within the gut of termites. And since these microbes also help termites digest wood, researchers are looking at how they might be put to work “mining” vast reserves of coal that are otherwise difficult to access, since coal is basically compressed wood. By having these deep diving microbes convert coal directly to methane, or natural gas, its energy can be captured and utilized in a cleaner burning form to serve growing energy needs as greener alternative energies come on line.

I worked with Jeff Chase, senior art director at University of Delaware’s Office of Communications and Marketing, to produce this series of videos on the topic to accompany an article by Tracey Bryant. These pieces were designed to work in concert with each other if viewers wanted to dive deeper into the topic and are linked by cards. The wood to coal explainer was also designed to stand alone as educational piece.

A huge shout-out to Jeff for his beautiful graphic work on this!

UPDATE Jan. 16: Cool to see this was picked up by Newsweek!

Termites may hold the key to transforming coal - a big polluting chunk of the global energy supply - into cleaner energy for the world, according to Universi...

#SUKAYAKSDelmarva

Twenty-one days kayaking and camping around the Delmarva peninsula - not a bad way to start the summer! I was fortunate to spend June assisting with a summer semester course doing just that with the writer Tom Horton and students from Salisbury University. I am currently compiling and editing footage from the journey, but here are a few of the social media posts I made during the trip. 

We have our “warm-up” day on the #WicomicoRiver in the books! Day 2 starts now - heading to the upper parts of #Delmarva today.

A post shared by SUENVRdept (@suenvrdept) on May 29, 2018 at 3:40am PDT

Day 6 of #SUKayaksDelmarva kicked off Week 2 with an adventurous paddle through #MarshyHope Ditch & Creek before exploring the woods of Nick Carter’s land in #GreensboroMD, where he showed everyone the headwaters of the #ChoptankRiver. The day wrapped up with grilled kabobs and a lengthy discussion on the many issues being addressed in the #ChesapeakeBay region.

A post shared by SUENVRdept (@suenvrdept) on Jun 6, 2018 at 6:46pm PDT

Day 8 of #SUKayaksDelmarva: The group took a day off from the water after their long paddle the previous day & stayed at their Walnut Landing campsite. They visited with the #Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance at #Handsell, a historic property that they are restoring as a center to teach the rich history of the Native Americans, colonial settlers, and African Americans who once lived on the site. The grounds also contain a replica of a #Chicone Native American lodge and garden. After lunch the group met with local lawyer Mike Pretl to learn about #environmentallaw before returning to camp, where they caught & prepared their own dinner, which also helped to put a small dent in the local invasive blue catfish population!

A post shared by SUENVRdept (@suenvrdept) on Jun 10, 2018 at 8:58am PDT

Day 12 of #SUKayaksDelmarva: a return to #CedarIsland under much different circumstances! This time the group took a boat with Virginia Institute of Marine Science out to the south end of the #island where they seined & beachcombed. They also trawled the waters & took samples back to the lab to take a closer look at some of what they found 🔬 In the evening Brian Scharle, a #wildlife biologist with USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services, dropped by to talk about wildlife management.

A post shared by SUENVRdept (@suenvrdept) on Jun 26, 2018 at 7:33am PDT

Day 14 of #SUKayaksDelmarva saw our group push off from the #CapeCharles Town Harbor and Marina for a pleasant paddle south to their base camp at #Kiptopeke State Park. They made side trip up Old Plantation Creek to look at the #CustisTombs and have lunch before continuing down to the Concrete Fleet, also known as also known as the Kiptopeke Breakwater. The “fleet’ is made up of concrete ships lined end to end and include nine of the 24 concrete ships that were contracted by the U.S. Maritime Commission during #WWII. Quite a sight to see! #Student-led discussions in the park amphitheater closed out the beautiful #ESVA day.

A post shared by SUENVRdept (@suenvrdept) on Jul 7, 2018 at 10:01am PDT

Winning Entry - University of Delaware Environmental Film Fest

Proud to have won this year's student video competition! 

Winning entry of Delaware Environmental Institute (DENIN) student ambassador’s third annual video competition during University of Delaware’s second annual environmental film festival, “Lights, Camera, EARTH!"