Regional Emmy® Award Winner! Changing Seas: A Decade After Deepwater Horizon
– DECEMBER 21, 2020
 Promotional photo for Changing Seas provided by and used with permission from Liz Smith, producer/writer for South Florida Public Broadcasting System. Photo taken by the U.S. Coast Guard APRIL 21, 2010, public domain https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/battling-blaze-deepwater-horizon-oilrig. |
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Suncoast Chapter selected Changing Seas: A Decade After Deepwater Horizon as the 44th Annual Suncoast Regional Emmy® Awards 2020 winner in their environmental program category. Changing Seas is a public television series produced by South Florida Public Broadcasting System in Miami, Florida that takes viewers on exciting ocean adventures.
WPBT-TV (Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, FL area) collaborated with Samantha Joye, Erik Cordes, Steven Murawski, Claire Paris, and the late David Hollander – scientists who conducted research through the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative program following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill – to create this special episode for Changing Seas. The WPBT team hosted a virtual premiere screening on June 23, 2020 that was followed by a live Q&A with the scientists.
The program A Decade After Deepwater Horizon allows viewers to join scientific experts who describe their research and the technology they used as captured in vivid imagery and video. Viewers can learn about impacts from the “dirty blizzard” event where marine snow transported oil and dispersants to the seafloor that affected deep-sea corals and other benthic ecosystems, the impacts from chemical dispersants on oil-degrading bacteria, and the evaluation of the sub-surface use of chemical dispersants, all of which provide lessons learned that can help us prepare for future spills.
The named recipients of the award for South Florida PBS are Liz Smith (producer/writer), Sean Hickey (editor), Norman Silva (animator), and Alexa Elliot (series producer).
The 26-minute program A Decade after Deepwater Horizon is available at https://www.changingseas.tv/season-12/1202/.
To learn more about the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, listen as Mat Damon narrates three 50-minute films produced by Screenscope, Inc., that features scientists, the technology they used, and their research to understand the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill : Dispatches from the Gulf 1, Dispatches from the Gulf 2, and Dispatches from the Gulf 3 – Ten Years after Deepwater Horizon.
By Nilde Maggie Dannreuther. Contact maggied@ngi.msstate.edu with questions or comments.
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The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) is a 10-year independent research program established to study the effect, and the potential associated impact, of hydrocarbon releases on the environment and public health, as well as to develop improved spill mitigation, oil detection, characterization and remediation technologies. An independent and academic 20-member Research Board makes the funding and research direction decisions to ensure the intellectual quality, effectiveness and academic independence of the GoMRI research. All research data, findings and publications will be made publicly available. The program was established through a $500 million financial commitment from BP. For more information, visit https://gulfresearchinitiative.org/.
© Copyright 2010-2020 Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) – All Rights Reserved. Redistribution is encouraged with acknowledgement to the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI). Please credit images and/or videos as done in each article. Questions? Contact web-content editor Nilde “Maggie” Dannreuther, Northern Gulf Institute, Mississippi State University (maggied@ngi.msstate.edu).
