Beneath the Waves: Secrets of the Seafloor
RoleCreator & Director
Beneath the Waves: Secrets of the Seafloor takes viewers aboard the R/V Sikuliaq for a two-week, NSF-funded research cruise in the Gulf of Alaska. The 30-minute documentary follows two lead scientists: Dr. Drew Steen (University of Tennessee Knoxville), who studies deep-biosphere enzymes from microbes that can survive for more than 1,000 years beneath the seafloor, and Dr. Allyson Tessin (Kent State University), who investigates how glacial retreat changes nutrient cycles, especially the exchange of iron between sediment and seawater, and what that means for algae, ecosystems and climate.
Along the way it shows how sediment cores are labeled, sectioned, sampled and stored on board, and what daily life is like on a working research vessel.
Made as public outreach with USC Dornsife's Marine & Environmental Biology Steen Lab, the film was created by Nina, who shot it at sea, interviewed the researchers, edited it and mixed the sound, and designed original 2D animations that make the science easy to follow for a general audience.
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