Purdue researcher's climate change film, 'Young Ice,' to premiere during Earth Week activities
April 15, 2014
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The documentary "Young Ice," created and conceived by filmmaker Derek Hallquist of Green River Pictures and produced by Purdue chemistry professor Paul Shepson, will premiere during an Earth Week event on April 23. |
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A documentary produced by Purdue University analytical and atmospheric chemistry professor Paul Shepson that captures the impact of climate change on the coldest parts of the globe will premiere next week in conjunction with campus Earth Week activities.
"Young Ice," a 15-minute documentary created and conceived by filmmaker Derek Hallquist of Green River Pictures and produced by Shepson, is part of a free double feature with the 2012 full-length film, "Chasing Ice," from 6:30-9 p.m. April 23 in Stewart Center's Fowler Hall.
The event is sponsored by the Purdue Climate Change Research Center and the Center for the Environment in Discovery Park.
With a background in cinematography and gaining special access, Hallquist traveled to Barrow, Alaska, on a chance invitation from Shepson to capture beautiful images of a place rarely seen by the rest of the world.
Shepson and his Purdue research team converted a Beechcraft light twin airplane into a flying laboratory outfitted with climate research equipment for taking samples around the sea ice and over North America's largest oil drilling operation in Prudhoe Bay.
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Paul Shepson |
Hallquist indicates that he discovered the local community also proved to be a fascinating subject to film. Families financially supported by "Big Oil" come to grips with the reality that the ice is truly disappearing because of the use of fossil fuels, he said.
For a preview of "Young Ice," go to http://vimeo.com/87038027
"Chasing Ice" is a 75-minute film by acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog, who discovers evidence of the changing planet by deploying revolutionary time-lapse cameras to capture a multiyear record of the world's changing glaciers.
Balog traveled with a team of young adventurers across the brutal Arctic for the film. Through a unique video technique, he compressed years into seconds and captured ancient mountains of ice in motion as they disappear at a breathtaking rate. To view the film's trailer, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIZTMVNBjc4
Shepson, who has been on the Purdue faculty for more than two decades, has focused his research on an array of topics in the field of atmospheric chemistry and climate change, focusing on tropospheric ozone and on atmosphere-surface chemical interactions in both forest environments and the Arctic.
Sources: Paul Shepson, 765-494-7441, pshepson@purdue.edu
Rose Filley, 765-496-3211, rfilley@purdue.edu
