Bite Size: Bull shark predation of tarpon from UM Rosenstiel School Research Assistant Professor Neil Hammerschlag and Gareth Burghes of Lagomorph Films claimed third place honors in the Ocean 180 video Challenge. This video highlights a collaborative research project with Rosenstiel researchers Dr. Jerry Ault and Dr. Jiangang Luo.
Using three-minute videos, ocean scientists explored a piece of their own recently published research, highlighting its significance and purpose.
To determine who was best at engaging and explaining these new discoveries, the Ocean 180 Video Challenge looked to a group of potential future scientists: a team of nearly 31,000 middle school students from around the world. Viewing each of the finalists, students were asked to evaluate the films for their clarity and message. They were also asked to consider which videos made them excited about the scientists’ research. After 5 weeks of classroom viewing, deliberation, discussion and voting, the three winners emerged.
“The competition is both a great opportunity to communicate our science as well as evaluate how our outreach efforts resonate with young audiences,” said Hammerschlag.
Finalists had their videos viewed by thousands of classrooms around the world, exposing diverse and new audiences to their research. Students also provided scientists with feedback on how to improve their video storytelling and technical skills and ways to make science more relatable to the public.
For some middle school students, and budding scientists, sharing science might be the best part of Ocean 180. As one student judge explained, “It’s not very good to keep information that’s valuable to the world cooped up in a little box. You need to open the box and let everybody see it so they’re more aware of the environment and what’s in it.”
Sponsored by the Florida Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE Florida) and funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation, the Ocean 180 Video Challenge was designed to inspire scientists to communicate the meaning and significance of scientific research with a broader audience.
Click here to learn more about the research study – Hammerschlag N, Luo J, Irschick DJ, Ault JS (2012) A Comparison of Spatial and Movement Patterns between Sympatric Predators: Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) and Atlantic Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus). PLoS ONE 7(9): e45958. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0045958.
