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RAVENSWOOD
MEDIA
NEWSLETTER
Issue #7, June 2009
Providing a conduit between science and the public |
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RAVENSWOOD MEDIA'S WEBSITES
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DISASTER AND HOPE
The Battle for Bats: White Nose Syndrome
"An ecological disaster" is how Dr. David Blehert describes the fungus that has killed hundreds of thousands of bats in the Northeast and Appalachian Mountains since it was first detected in 2006. The disease is threatening to spread to the Southeast and Midwest where there are major hibernaculua of endangered bats. If it infects these areas (scientists think it’s likely) it may mean extinction for three endangered bats; the Indiana bat, Virginia Big Eared bat and Gray bat. |
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Cindy Sandeno of the Monongahela National Forest asked Ravenswood Media to produce a short program that outlines what is currently known about the fungus and what government agencies are doing to mitigate its damage. "The Battle For Bats" was screened at the US Fish & Wildlife Service and the US Forest Service last month in Washington, DC. Dr. Merlin Tuttle of Bat Conservation International presented at the event. The program interviewed representatives from four agencies; Craig Stihler or the West Virginia Dept. of Natural Resources, Lori Pruitt of the Bloomington Office of US FWS, Dr. David Blehert of the USGS National Wildlife Health Center and Rebecca Ewing of the US Forest Service.
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The interviewees represented a small part of a much larger effort, by state and federal agencies as well as several conservation organizations, to combat the disease. It is very encouraging to see so many institutions come together for a committed partnership to find a way to save our bat populations. On June 4 the House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, led by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), and Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, led by Del. Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-GU), held a joint oversight hearing on "White-Nose Syndrome: What's Killing Bats in the Northeast?" The committee was well informed about the issue and showed a bipartisan concern for the welfare of bats. A video of the proceedings can be viewed here. |
David Blehert (USGS), Marvin Moriat (US Forest Service), Joel Hoptrop (US Fish and Wildlife Service) left to right
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White Nose Syndrome is the opening salvo of increasingly intractable ecological challenges in the 21st century. We are already battling chytrid fungus in amphibians, chronic wasting disease in deer and collapsing oceanic fisheries to name just a few of the environmental problems confronting the United States alone. Globally, we’re witnessing truly harrowing issues like climatic change and deforestization. If we can cooperate as a world body, across borders like our state and federal agencies have done with WNS then these is a ray of hope that we can overcome future ecological disasters.
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WHERE WATERS WED
The Nature Conservancy
In Southwest Indiana
Making good movies is often about luck and we were very lucky with the Nature Conservancy’s "Where Waters Wed." The first fortunate event was a rare congregation of herons and egrets in a secluded slough in Posey County. Hundreds of wading birds fed on stranded fish in a drying pond. McGowan camped out in a bird blind for 10 hours under an intense September sun but the results were stunning.
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The second bit of luck was meeting Greg Meyer and the students of Culver Elementary School in Evansville, Indiana. Greg and the students provided a delightful example of why the Nature Conservancy works so hard to protect natural areas. Children, particularly inner city children, have less and less access to nature. Greg and the teachers at Culver have adopted a nearby wetland, Eagle Slough, as a field trip destination. McGowan filmed one of these excursions for the program. A child’s expression does not lie and it was apparent that they were in awe of a habitat with birds, turtles and frogs.
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"Where Waters Wed" was initiated by the Blue River office of TNC. Allen Pursell and Cassie Hauswald have been active in extending land conservation in southwest Indiana and with the help of a local business, CountryMark, hired Ravenswood Media to capture the natural beauty of this corner of the state.
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The program premiered on May 15 at Culver Elementary School and at TNC’s world office in Arlington, Virginia on May 21. The movie can be viewed here. |
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www.rifflefish.com
Phil Willink of the Field Museum spent the day with Ravenswood Media at Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie filming fish. Fresh water fish are just as colorful and intriguing as anything in the ocean. They are just hard to catch in a movie. Our goal is to create a site similar to www.midwestfrogs.com about native fish.
It’s a great way to spend a warm spring day. Place the camera in an underwater bag, plunk it in the stream and lounge about on shore for an hour. Phil provided the spots most likely to attract fish. It’s a learning experience but one that’s in a pleasant environment, unlike some of our previous projects.
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ASSIGNMENT EARTH
David Cottrell
In recent years the news media has directed much more attention toward the plight of the environment than they did in the past. Television and online resources have experienced a demand for quality environmental stories. Assignment Earth has been born out of this demand and it provides a solid journalistic platform for conservation issues.
Assignment Earth was conceived by Gary Strieker, who drew his inspiration from his time as Africa’s Bureau Chief for CNN. "I’ve always been interested in nature, and how we relate to it as people," Gary explains. "I saw violent things happening to the environment, and I wanted to develop something where we could devote the time needed for presenting and discussing these issues."
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Assignment Earth’s main goal is to reveal information on the plight of our environment through quality video content, where balanced storytelling is essential. "Habitat loss keeps snowballing year after year," says Gary. "We need to provide a large amount of education that the public needs to know about, story by story and piece by piece. If we keep destroying our lands and creatures, we have to remember that extinction is final, and there is no turning back."
Peter White (pictured right) is Assignment Earth’s boots-on-the-ground reporter. He writes on subjects ranging from land use to otters. Peter spends his time covering stories that are crucial to Assignment Earth’s web audience. "Whether we do stories ranging from habitat loss that may be threatening a species, to water pollution, we are sounding an alarm to tell people what the negative effects are to living creatures." |
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Assignment Earth’s stories have a major impact on the environment. Peter covered Louisiana loggers who were mulching Cypress trees and selling it to Home Depot. Cypress trees are a keystone species in wetlands along the Gulf Coast. Dramatic video shot from an airplane confirmed that the trees were being over harvested. A week after the story ran on Assignment Earth, Home Depot announced they were no longer going to sell Cypress mulch. "The coverage really made a difference at the corporate level," says Peter. "When a story like that goes out and is seen by everyone, it is bad public relations for whoever’s involved." |
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Policy change is central to Assignment Earth’s purpose. "The oceans, wetlands, forests, and the creatures in them, are suffering," says Gary. "Some government entities around the world are corrupt and focusing on economic development, and don’t care about what’s happening to biodiversity. We have to show them that conservation is a huge economic interest to them. Then, the rest of our work is to get the general public to understand what the issues are. We want to get these issues out there to join the public debate, get both the government and public debating it, and if all the facts are known, the right decisions will be made."
Visit www.assignmentearth.com |
GREEN LENS
Ravenswood Media's Blog
Weren't you just about to ask if we have a blog, too? The answer is yes and you can find it here.
We're diving head first into social media, posting video, information and opinion from time to time.
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UP AND COMING FILMMAKERS
Wonjung Bae is moving from Ravenswood Media to WGBH’s Frontline series. She assists eight on-line editors. “My tasks include minute things, making coffee, picking up mail, stocking and stripping tapes, dubbing, keeping up with archives, picking up masters and whatever, to running around buildings and towns.”
Won shared a picture of her foot crossing the threshold of the Frontline offices and stepping into a fabulous career as a documentarian.
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Ethan Barnowsky is editing a fundraiser doc for the Ngamba Island Chimp Sanctuary. The sanctuary is located on Lake Victoria in Uganda. Ravenswood Media shot the footage while producing a program for Envirovet. He hopes to have the project completed by the end of the summer. |
Steven Spence recently completed his short doc about a mountain stream in Kentucky. Steve just graduated from Western Kentucky University.
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