Connecting Satellites and Science to Solutions for Our Seas

Emme Watkins came to American University School of Communication (AU SOC) to become an environmental filmmaker. She had focused her undergraduate studies on earth science, specializing in the ocean, and after the first year of her MFA program she was looking for an internship. Watkins turned to professor and Center for Environmental Filmmaking Maggie Stogner for a recommendation on where to find a position that would allow her to bring her scientific knowledge together with her growing filmmaking skillset. She was surprised when Stogner suggested she look into NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Like many people, Watkins associated NASA with outer space and far away planets, not the one under our feet. But Stogner encouraged her to reach out to Goddard's Wade Sisler who had hired several SOC students over the years. After a competitive selection process, Watkins was hired. She ultimately held four successive internships at Goddard.

In the first, she was focusing on the James Webb Telescope live broadcast. Live reporting was brand new for Watkins, but she made it all come together and Goddard was pleased with the result. She also produced a few smaller projects, and when Sisler asked what she might want to focus on in a second internship, she explained that the ideal project would be a film made for NASA that would also serve as her own MFA capstone thesis film. She had two requirements. First, a thesis film would have to clearly be labeled as made by Emme Watkins, in collaboration with NASA, to be accepted by AU SOC. Second, the film had to focus on an earth science-related topic, since that was her professional goal.

"Being able to reach audiences with engaging and impactful visual storytelling is a particularly critical skill set. Film is also a critical medium for advocating for science and scientific facts such as climate change," said Larry Engel, SOC's film division director and an advisor on the project.

It turned out that the perfect project was waiting. NASA was planning to launch a revolutionary new satellite, PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) in January of 2024; Watkins was on track to graduate that May. PACE was designed to help NASA and scientists everywhere better understand how the ocean and atmosphere exchange carbon dioxide and expand long-term observations of our living planet. This grabbed Watkins' attention, because it would potentially be a tool in the fight against red tide. Red tide is a pressing environmental and economic issue impacting shorelines around the world, resulting in large fish kills and water that is unsafe for humans and wildlife. Having grown up watching the negative impacts red tide had on her family's traditional summer destination, Florida's Boca Grande, she wanted to foster better understanding of the problem in the hope of minimizing its occurrence. The final product, An Ocean in Bloom, is now available for viewing on NASA+.

Watkins got right to work on pre-production. She identified people in Boca Grande whose livelihood depended on a healthy ocean and shoreline, and coordinated interviews and opportunities to film b-roll. In a bizarre twist, while she was filming Boca Grande had its longest red tide-free streak in years. "It was great! But, also, not helpful for the film." But she was able to find just what she needed with a little research. She said, "I just went and looked on Vimeo and there was all this footage of red tide and its impact, from people who just capture drone footage for fun and they were very passionate about the issue and said 'Yeah, you can use it'" for the project. She also drew inspiration from The Erie Situation, a recent full-length documentary directed and produced by David Ruck, SOC/MFA '13, that examined the toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie that turned the waters a violent shade of green for several months each year. Coincidentally, that film was also the thesis project of another SOC alumna, Grace Eggleston, who was editor on the project.

Watkins was able to use footage that others had shot of the construction of the main parts of PACE at Goddard, and she had direct access to the scientists and engineers who could explain why PACE was so important to NASA's understanding of our world. In addition to Sisler, who facilitated Watkins' work by helping her connect to the resources she needed, she also had two mentors at Goddard. NASA+ Head of Original Content Lauren Ward worked with her in the first leg of her PACE-focused internships. "Lauren Ward has a really creative eye, so she was really helpful in the pre-production," said Watkins. She was then teamed with Producer Ryan Fitzgibbons during her second and third PACE internships. "He makes a lot of PACE-based videos so he was a very helpful person because he knew who all the important people were to talk to and how to get around, and he also knew what would make the film compelling."

Back at SOC, professors Engel, Maggie Stogner, and Laura Hinson all worked with her on various stages of production. As opposed to focusing on the science itself, they gave her creative advice and suggested ways to strengthen the film from a directorial and editorial perspective. The film was taking shape, all the pieces fitting together to tell the story of how a satellite in the sky 420 miles above the planet would provide incredibly specific data that could be used to impact daily lives in communities around the globe.

"Emme's film shows that a story about a new satellite-a rather dry subject-can be compelling and exciting. She's brought to the screen strong local characters impacted by increased red tide blooms and excited scientists passionate about a new imaging satellite that will bring new eyes and data on a global challenge," said Engel.

The final jewel in the crown would be the launch, when all the work, all the hopes, would lift off on a SpaceX rocket and the data would start to flow back to NASA. Watkins was in Florida, on the ground, capturing both the rocket and the reactions of the scientists and others who had gathered to watch.

"Emme's thesis film embodied the full potential of what an MFA Capstone project can be for our students. She envisioned and produced a gorgeously photographed documentary film featuring a story she deeply cared about, which received immediate distribution through NASA and paved the way for her to receive a multimedia fellowship at her dream institution. As one of her Capstone advisors, I could not be more proud!" said professor and SOC alumna Laura Hinson, who knows something about the value of a strong capstone film. Her own capstone, As We Forgive, earned her a student Academy Award.

The final film was well-received at both NASA Goddard and SOC. Several NASA accounts shared the video, but one post meant the world to Watkins - her former US Senator, Bill Nelson, who has since become NASA Administrator, shared the video and in his post, he tied the lived experiences of Floridians to the PACE mission.

"Emme is now a full-time fellow at NASA, joining several other alum from our program who were hired into the organization after completing their internships," said Stogner. The Center for Environmental Filmmaking has a long-standing relationship with NASA and is dedicated to creating these kind of opportunities for the next generation of science, conservation, and environmental filmmaking communicators."

Learn more about SOC's graduate programs in Film and Media Arts