this week, we’re connecting with aaron dye, multimedia producer and editor at planet forward. 

aaron dye is the multimedia producer and editor on the planet forward team. he earned his b.a. in visual media arts at emerson college in boston. aaron’s lifelong passion for filmmaking inspired him to fully focus on documentary filmmaking, digital media, and teaching, earning a master’s of fine arts in documentary production and studies from the university of north texas. he’s focused on experimental and environmental documentaries, is passionate about using film to raise awareness of land use and management issues, and explores communities’ relationships with nature.

a former educator in philadelphia, indonesia, and a lecturer of film production at the university of north texas, aaron’s love of nature was shaped by childhood trips to the pine barrens in southern new jersey.

for the past two years as a staff member at planet forward, aaron has led the planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 ’s program, and led experiential learning trips to an electric vehicle manufacturing center in michigan and an agricultural research station in arizona. he’s also accompanied winners of the planet forward storyfest contest on lindblad expeditions to iceland and to the galápagos.

q: how would you describe your role at planet forward to someone who doesn’t know anything about working at the nexus of education, media, and the environment?

aaron: i do a lot of different things here! mainly, my job is to help students through the process of constructing and refining stories on the environment for publication on the planet forward site. beyond developing compelling stories that accurately inform readers of environmental issues and innovations, i also focus on helping students make their stories more visually engaging through the use of multimedia tools. 

we know that attention spans on the internet are fleeting, and so if we want to create consensus and impact in the realm of environmental protections, the communications around that topic need to be relatable, understandable, and striking to the average reader. 

creating stories that capture that balance can be a learning curve for new writers, podcasters, and filmmakers, so teaching that process is something i absolutely love doing.

q: what’s your favorite project you’ve worked on at planet forward? or, your proudest career development here?

a: i was hired at a very interesting time for planet forward; when we were revamping and debuting our new website. the new design for the website was built with multimedia storytelling in mind (and is also just a much cooler viewing experience in general!)

so the proudest aspect of my work here has been to push students to really take advantage of the site’s new capabilities, and to push themselves to make more creative, ambitious, and visually engaging work. 

i love scrolling through the site and seeing it filled with a motley of videos, art, photo essays, and podcasts. it speaks to the diversity of the student community we work with, and to the various ways that young people can communicate with each other about this topic that so fundamentally affects our future on this planet.

q: what advice can you give to students, faculty, and staff from across the country (or world!) looking to get involved with planet forward?

a: my advice is to send us an email! we offer direct submissions of story drafts through the planet forward website, but i guarantee that you will have the best experience learning and publishing with us if you reach out directly. explain a bit about yourself; what your passions are, where you’re going to school, and what kinds of stories get you excited to take action. 

our team of editors can then help you pitch, craft, or refine your story, no matter where you are already in the process. publishing is an amazing way to beef up your resumé, demonstrate communication skills, and spread awareness of an issue you care about. 

you can reach us at editor@planetforward.org

q: what is the one thing people don’t know about you? 

a: i own a 4-year-old australian cattle dog named marcy. she loves going on hikes in washington, d.c.’s rock creek park almost every weekend and her favorite game is fetch.

this year’s summer seminar cohort is covering a wide range of environmental stories, from examining how a conservation organization is expanding how we care for both birds and people by including a wide range of backgrounds and expertise, to the experiences of a penguin researcher in antarctica who has documented climate change, to a carbon capture scientific innovation for water desalination plants, and a collaborative mapping tools for resilience in the global south. the enthusiasm these students share for the environment and for telling stories creatively is truly impressive. importantly, none are journalism students yet they are eager to tell stories to increase public understanding.

“these students are passionate about the planet and determined to raise their voices and have a positive impact,” said frank sesno, founding director of planet forward. “they know that storytelling is a vital form of communication. it’s incredibly gratifying to see them weave data, text, and media to tell compelling, creative, and memorable stories about important environmental issues.”

my colleague, aaron dye, multimedia editor and producer at planet forward, co-taught the course. his leadership and passion for documentary filmmaking helped students envision how they could capture stories through interviews and bring creativity to their multimedia stories. “students are increasingly seeking to make environmental stories more engaging, more captivating, and better looking. by putting a camera in their hands and saying, ‘go make a plan to film this researcher and turn their work into a story,’ we’re helping to build all sorts of analytical and communication skills with the students.” 

each year, planet forward works closely with students from a variety of majors who attend the pillar and 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 schools in our network. this is the second year for the summer seminar, which is designed as a master class to deepen student knowledge of storytelling formats and environmental issues. pillar and 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果 schools in the planet forward program include liberal arts colleges, state universities, historically black colleges and universities, public polytechnic universities, and graduate schools of environmental studies in the united states and the united kingdom.    

in the program, students paired up with a member of their cohort and worked closely throughout the week with the planet forward team, who provided deep expertise in journalism, storytelling, science and environmental communication, and multimedia skills. 

the week unfolded as a master class in environmental storytelling. the early part of the week included sessions on responsible reporting, including interview preparation, conducting the interview, and setting the stage with proper lighting and framing. 

students interviewed dr. elizabeth north, a professor at the university of maryland center for environmental science, who discussed her novel research on capturing carbon and improving air quality while addressing freshwater security. in another session, students interviewed dr. naamal de silva, vice president, together for birds,at the american bird conservancy, who subsequently led an urban walk focused on justice and equity. students captured the contemplative urban experience on video and in photos, learning to enrich the multimedia narrative of the story.

students maya teiman, of middlebury college, and shannon taylor, of the university of arizona and an indigenous correspondent program alum, explored the importance of mapping frontline communities affected by climate change. “i was surprised by how hard it can be to access data for mapping in different regions,” teiman said. the team highlighted the need for mapping as a solution for understanding how communities are affected by climate change worldwide, drawing from their interviews with experts like gwu geography professors dr. david rain and dr. richard hinton. “gis is a very strong tool,” taylor said, adding, “i believe that utilizing gis helps bring social and climate issues to light.”

students took over the podcasting studio for an audio interview with ron naveen, ceo of oceanities. teesside university’s danny nicholson, who worked on the story about the impact of climate change on the antarctic, said, “i learned from ron that as humans, we can learn a lot from penguins!” 

participants in the immersive seminar sharpened their media skills and gained a deeper understanding of environmental storytelling, leaving them well-prepared to complete their first multimedia story to include original reporting, video, audio, photography, and graphic design elements. 

planet forward will publish stories from the 2024 summer cohort throughout july and august. 

dr. robert baker, director of performance studies at gw, and erin freeman, conductor and director of choral activities, handpicked sacred place from a myriad of compositions to mark this historic occasion. their choice reflects not only the beauty of music but also its capacity to foster dialogue and connection amidst the most pressing environmental and climate issues of our time. in a world often marred by discord, music stands as a beacon of unity and civil discourse, baker explained.

for more, see the story here:

the summer seminar scholars applied their skills to create people-centered multimedia stories that captured innovations and responses to environment problems and the climate crisis, and catalyzed perspectives that advance a more socially and environmentally hopeful future.

the scholars came to washington, d.c., from nine colleges and universities and an environmental nonprofit across the u.s. they attended hands-on workshops and sustainability-focused lectures led by influential and creative environmental leaders and communicators. the planet forward team created experiential learning opportunities in  crafting compelling narratives through text, visual and audio storytelling, and partners from adobe creative guided students through state-of-the-art media tools.

“i would recommend this program to people who are interested in storytelling, who are interested in the environment, who are even interested in both. you walk away with community, reflections, and your own way of knowing and doing.”

-shondiin mayo, 2023 seminar attendee

“this week, students learned how to build strong characters, communicate the obstacles in their path, and to identify each story’s worthy outcome.”

-frank sesno, planet forward founding director

research professor of science communication anneliese (lisa) palmer, planet forward’s education lead and senior editor, designed and directed the summer seminar. other speakers included project drawdown’s matt scott and native news online editor valerie vande panne. founder and executive director of planet forward, frank sesno, led a workshop in the art of the interview. planet forward’s multimedia editor, aaron dye, also led a workshop on how to set up a video interview for documentary filmmaking.

“as social beings, our brains are wired for narrative and for storytelling. in the context of environmental and sustainability, the degree to which a concept or innovation fits a strong narrative can differentiate between whether we remember it, or it’s forgotten,” palmer said.

attendees included rashawn merchant of columbia university, teagan o’hara of connecticut college, elizabeth oliver of eckerd college, esperanza ortega-tapia of george washington university, darrien benally and shondiin mayo of northern arizona university, yukthi sangoi of new jersey institute of technology,  shannon hughes of rmi, eva sideris and owen volk of suny-esf, amanda budd of university of georgia, and shreya agrawal of the university of southern california.

applications are open for the 2024 summer seminar. 

if you want to observe change and see how humans affect the world, go to the edges. whether it’s a natural landscape, a community, or a feeling inside you, spending time on life’s boundaries can transform your perspective. in ecological terms, edges are zones of transition from one ecosystem to another, where you can see dynamics and changes in species and activity that can explain, for instance, how some generalist plants thrive and others don’t. planet forward’s contingent traveled to the edge of southeast alaska, visiting its remote glacier-filled landscape, fjords, and islands with lindblad expeditions.

as a journalist covering environmental change and looming climate crisis over the past 23 years, i’ve hiked 100 miles along the continental divide in wyoming, accompanied a seedbank expedition in the andes of colombia, lived for two weeks at a remote biological research station in the peruvian amazon near bolivian and brazilian borders, sailed from the north atlantic to the caribbean, and walked through rice paddies of northern punjab, in india, reporting on the water adaptations near the pakistan border. in each instance, the location mattered. my stories covered the consequences of human actions on the people, food, and nature because these were places on some edge.

“whenever possible, go into the field,” i tell my science journalism students, “to a place where you can report what you see. what does it tell you?” place-based reporting has been harder in this time of covid-restricted travel, soaring fuel costs, and canceled flights. this trip with planet forward’s digital editor victoria middleton and our storyfest winners was a welcome return to the field, a chance to work with environmental storytellers to find their inspiration, and to experience a landscape where lindblad naturalists shed light on the world around us.

wild places are capable of making us feel small, yet they are places where humanity’s footprint is disproportionately large and visible.  
 
more of the world’s boundaries are at risk from human development and have proven to be at further risk from climate change, and so it’s important for those reporting on the natural world to spend time in it. alaska is being transformed by climate change at a rapid pace. temperatures have warmed more than 3 degrees fahrenheit, more than twice the warming seen in the rest of the united states. annual precipitation is increasing by 10%. late summer arctic sea ice has decreased significantly — it’s predicted that arctic waters in summer will be free of ice by 2050. still, alaska remains a source of resilience with its adaptation planning centered regionally.

we often turn away from news and images of climate destruction and environmental change, like the melting glaciers and dying animals that attest to the challenges of our sustainable future. but going to wild places focuses our attention on the forgotten beauty worth protecting, the precious intact environment teeming with life. that week in alaska, i saw a brown bear foraging for barnacles on the beach at dawn; humpback whales cooperatively feeding by forming “nets” by blowing bubbles; sea lions feasting on schools of fish; the marbled murrelet seabird, which takes its first flight to shore from its nest high in the old growth forest several miles away; and a mother sea otter diving for fish, surfacing with her pup on her chest to share in the catch.
 
this natural richness asks us — in all its beauty — to look at its strength of resilience and reflect on our own. wild places are capable of bouncing back. so are we. in 2015, the world came together and agreed to limit emissions that lead to an extreme and unpredictable climate future. it’s now time for us to deliver the goals we set to build a peaceful, more resilient planet — starting at the edges.

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editor’s note: lindblad expeditions, our planet forward storyfest competition partner, made this series possible by providing winners with an experiential learning opportunity aboard one of their ships. all editorial content is created independently. we thank lindblad expeditions for their continued support of our project. read all the stories from the expedition in our astonishing alaska series.

we have seen amazing things — creatures of all types, glaciers, natural wonders, and the absolute vastness of planet earth. the whales, porpoises, sea lions, sea otters, and seals have dazzled us and the clear skies and calm seas have centered us. we have all discovered inspiring stories along the way.

we look forward to sharing the students’ reporting in the coming weeks, right here on planet forward.

(note: our 2022 storyfest winner from ithaca college, and a 2020 storyfest winner from carleton college, will travel later this summer — so we’ll have more reporting later, too!)

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editor’s note: lindblad expeditions, our planet forward storyfest competition partner, made this series possible by providing winners with an experiential learning opportunity aboard one of their ships. all editorial content is created independently. we thank lindblad expeditions for their continued support of our project. read all the stories from the expedition in our astonishing alaska series.