GoMRI and Screenscope Films Announce Dispatches from the Gulf 2: Research • Innovation • Discovery
– DECEMBER 18, 2017
(From Fall 2017 Newsletter) Contributing Authors: Rebecca Howland and Sam Sheline
The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI), the GoMRI Research Board, and Screenscope Films are pleased to announce the release of Dispatches from the Gulf 2: Research • Innovation • Discovery (Dispatches 2), the follow- up to the Emmy® Award-winning documentary, Dispatches from the Gulf 1: Science • Community • Recovery.
Narrated by Matt Damon, Dispatches 2 is the fifteenth episode in Screenscope’s Journey to Planet Earth series. The sequel features GoMRI- funded researchers investigating the Gulf of Mexico’s health in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Stories from the film include research on the health of the bottlenose dolphin population, the collapse of the Louisiana oyster industry, and how the oil spill impacted the Gulf’s largest predatory shark. The film also chronicles the development of a brand new type of ocean drifter that tracks ocean currents. An interdisciplinary research team battled inclement weather to launch the largest-ever deployment of these devices, and the results are radically improving scientists’ understanding of ocean currents.
Dispatches 2 will premiere at the 2018 Environmental Film Festival in Washington, D.C. The Mississippi PBS network will broadcast the show in the United States, and additional screening announcements will be shared on the Dispatches from the Gulf website. The National Geographic Channel in New Zealand and Australia will also broadcast both films.
To accompany the documentaries, Screenscope has launched a series of short videos and podcasts. DVDs, teachers’ guides, and lesson plans are available free of charge to educators, librarians, homeschoolers, and community activists. Visit the Dispatches from the Gulf website for more information.
“This is what we live for, what we work for. All the time spent behind the computer – we only do that so we can get out here and collect data at sea.” Dr. Dean Grubbs, Dispatches from the Gulf 2
