Public Health in a Warming World

Public Health in a Warming World
Interviews with Dr. Paul Epstein

Interviews with Dr. Paul Epstein

In January 2011, I interviewed Dr. Paul Epstein, co-founder of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, for a video. Paul had a talent not only for research, but for communicating it with lucidity and compassion. His "foggy voice" (as his good friend, author Ross Gelbpsan describes it) drew you in and made you listen. As is so often the case, we used only a small fraction of his wonderful interview for the program we were producing. A few months later, Paul died of lymphoma.

In collaboration with director, editor Ian Brownell, and Mary Dewart, producer of the original video for Climate Change Action Brookline, I am publishing 11 videos cut from the original footage, with the hope of keeping Paul's vision alive at a time when his message is more urgent than ever.

Life in Death Valley

Headed for Death Valley?

Stock up on beer! A six-pack of Sam sets you back about $14.00 once you're inside the park... in this blog, check out some natural history, a haunted hotel, a look at the Ranch at Furnace Creek and a very useful shopping list.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Snowball Earth - Climate change that rocked our world...


Right now, I'm working on an article for the Harvard Science website about Paul Hoffman, a geologist who worked with colleagues to develop Snowball Earth, a theory of dramatic climate change that occurred between the Precambrian and the Cambrian.  Here's what they say happened. 700 million years ago, a supercontinent called Rodinia (Russian for motherland) broke up. (This was long before Pangaea.) Like dancers in a Busby Berkeley chorus line, the continental plates circled the equator. This unusual tectonic choreography triggered a chain reaction that disrupted the carbon cycle, caused temperatures to plunge, made the earth's surface more reflective and glazed the globe in a layer of  ice. Glaciers encased the earth from the poles to the tropics. Why did the loop of  continents at the equator spike a global deep freeze? And how did the earth escape eternal winter? Did these dramatic events spark the origins of multicellular life?  Stay tuned...

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Professional Experience

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Writer
Cover developments in cancer research and treatment; work with principal investigators and staff to craft donor reports and articles for publication.

Harvard University School of Public Health
Writer
Worked with faculty to develop distance learning programs that incorporate video, discussion, networking, and assessment.

ElectroKite
Writer
Scripted mobile apps and songs for educational activities.

AARTPACK Interactive
Science editor
Scripted over 80 standards-based science and math activities for use on interactive whiteboards.

Harvard University
Correspondent – HarvardScience Website
Wrote online articles about Harvard scientists.
Geology is Destiny, A Profile of Paul Hoffman


Writer –
Dig It! The Secrets of Soil
Exhibit and website explore the importance of the earth's soil and its affect on climate. Developed and scripted numerous programs including Chef's Challenge, an animated/live action short that pits two soil chefs against each other. Boston Productions, MFM Design

LOTT Alliance, Olympia, WA
Writer
Visitors Center
Visitors control a drop of water as it works its way from the clouds to a treatment plant and troubleshoot problems during a flood. Boston Productions

Department of Homeland Security – Northeast Regional Advisory Council
Copywriter – It's Up to You to Stop the Flu
Developed concept and copy for advertising campaign. Wrote copy for television spot, transit ad, poster and PowerPoint presentation. Winner: CINE Golden Eagle. Geovision

Writer – Cape Cosmos
Developed content and scripts for website about the relationship between the Civil Rights Act and the space race. Kids explore Cape Cosmos to learn about women and African Americans who broke social barriers and made achievements in science and technology.

Scripted song lyrics and wrote all collateral material for ad campaign that teaches subtle signs of stroke. Distributed internationally. Geovision

The Connecticut Science Center, Harford, CT
Writer for Media
Scripted more than thirty interactive exhibits about weather patterns, global warming, mountain-building, and preventative health. Boston Productions, Thinc Design

We Treasure Elephants, The Philadelphia Zoo, Philadelphia, PA
Writer for Media and Interpretive Text
Developed content for exhibit story. Worked with museum designer to conceive and develop 3-D elements and panels that communicate changes in elephant populations. Scripted a conservation game based on research done by the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Project. Boston Productions, Trace Design Group

Gray Fossil Museum, Johnson City, TN
Writer
Wrote scripts and created storyboards and flow charts for games for museum overlooking Miocene fossil pit. Visitors assemble virtual fossils or determine whether the animal was a carnivore, an herbivore or a reptile by looking at a single tooth. Boston Productions, Gallagher & Associates

Build-A-Business, Newark Children's Museum, Newark, NJ
Content Developer, Instructional Designer, Writer
Created learning objectives, interactive design, content, and script for video game in which visitors operate a bakery and learn fundamentals of running a business. Game pay-off highlights social benefits of entrepreneurship such as providing employment and contributing to a vibrant community. Boston Productions

The Discoveries Project, D. C. Heath, Lexington, MA
Head Writer
Led a team of writers, graphic designers, video producer, programmers, and composer. Immersive multimedia programs appealed to multiple learning styles. Students explored virtual worlds that offered realistic settings, video, animation and interactive games. Natural history programs featured an in depth look at the Sonoran Desert and The Everglades.

Children's Television Workshop/Sesame Street
Lyricist, Scriptwriter
Wrote classic song lyrics including The Toothpaste Song and The Library Song. Scripted several short films. Geovision

Education

BA English Literature, University of Notre Dame
MS Communications, Boston University

Associations and Memberships

National Association of Science Writers (NASW)
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)
Ed Tech Up, Boston