After several weeks of ecological research, students in Choate’s Biology 400 program culminated their work through the Morris Ecology Video Challenge. The competition, taking place during the last few weeks of winter term, required students to create a 12-minute video about an ecological disruption that interests them. Each video was evaluated by the Biology 400 department, choosing the best projects from each class for the semifinals. Then, three judges — Ms. Amy Foster, Mr. Andrew Mellon, and Mr. Joseph Scanio —and all members of the Biology 400 program viewed the top four videos before a winner was announced.
Biology teacher Mr. Deron Chang, who has overseen the competition since its founding in 2015, said, “The Morris Ecology Video Challenge is a great opportunity for students to work collaboratively on something that is going to be shown publicly. It’s no easy task — learning how to take a large research project and distill it to something that’s accessible to an audience is a real challenge.”
Mr. Chang started the Ecology Video Challenge with the assistance of Mr. Trevor Peard, a former English teacher who managed public speaking competitions on campus until his retirement in 2016. Mr. Chang said, “We wanted to turn what the kids are doing right now in biology into a modern day Pratt-Packard like project.” Combining independent ecological research with a required video presentation, the video project is currently the only public speaking presentation required of the junior class.
The competition begins in biology classrooms, where all Biology 400 students work in small groups to research, write, and ultimately film a video regarding an ecological disruption. Biology student Alix Mackillop ’18, who researched the dwindling population of sea otters, said, “I thought the project brought up some really important issues in the world. We usually don’t work in groups for research projects, so the project taught me the lessons about working with other people.”
After the biology department determined the top four videos, judges Ms. Foster, Mr. Mellon, and Mr. Scanio were responsible for selecting the winning video. Looking for ecological accuracy, creativity, and production value, the three faced a difficult decision. Ms. Foster said, “The competition allows students to explore ecological topics and to learn about things within their interests. Public presentations are a different method of learning and help students gain an appreciation for collaborating with a group.”
Mr. Scanio commented, “On top of helping students learn about ecology, the video challenge is a way for students to think about how to engage a wider audience while also conveying accurate information.” He emphasized the crucialness of scientific literacy, describing the videos as “important to find ways of conveying scientifically accurate information to the broader public.”
On Monday, May 1, the results of the Morris Ecology Video Challenge were announced via an all-school email. The winning video, titled, “Burgers: The Blood is on Our Hands,” was created by Dilan Bozer ’17, Lauren Canna ’18, Blair Cox ’17, and Austen Rogers ’18. The video demonstrated the livestock industry’s impact on climate change, a topic Canna described as “commonly overlooked in the conversation regarding global warming and the earth.”
“The livestock industry accounts for the production of up to 51% of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Canna. “It’s a subject that no one seems to ever talk about, despite so much information being so readily available.”
Calling Choate students to action, the video suggested a wide array of potential solutions, ranging from skipping burger Thursdays to outright veganism. Canna said, “It’s easy to fight oil fracking companies when you don’t feel the impact so directly, but it’s a lot harder to walk in the other direction from the grill on burger day.”
For their win, Canna’s team will have their name engraved on the Morris Ecology Video Challenge plaque, located in the Humanities Building. Their video will also be stored in the Archives for future Choate students to reference. Canna stated, “It was more about getting people to really listen to our video because the issue became pretty important to me. I can’t say I’ve suddenly gone vegan, but I do really try hard to make more conscious decisions in and outside of the dining hall. When we heard about the award, it was great, but it really wasn’t about winning for me.”
Students and teachers alike are grateful for the lessons of the video project. As Ms. Foster summarized, “The videos help students and audience gain a deeper understanding of the topic that they chose. The more information we can share about the environment and our interconnectedness, the more likely we are to solve major problems that we are facing.”
