Reprinted by Permission of Professor Chris Palmer - School of Communication, American University

Keynote Speech for the National Annual Meeting of the ARCS Foundation At Amelia Island in Florida

 SCIENCE AND COMMUNICATION:  FRIENDS OR ENEMIES?

 By Chris Palmer

Distinguished Film Producer in Residence

Director, Center for Environmental Filmmaking

School of Communication, American University

palmer@american.edu; (202) 885-3408

www.environmentalfilm.org

 June 3, 2011

 It’s a great honor to be invited to give this keynote speech. The ARCS Foundation is a vibrant
organization. In this academic year, you’ll award $4 million to over 400 graduate and
undergraduate scholars. I commend all of you for your dedication to passionately pursuing the
vital goal of keeping America strong in engineering, science, and medical research. It doesn’t
surprise me at all that the ARCS Foundation was selected for the distinguished CASE Award in
2009 based on the commitment and engagement of ARCS members to its scholars.

 This morning I’d like to speak about working with scientists, communicating science, and finally
about the ARCS Foundation itself.

 I. Working with Scientists

In 1986, marine scientist Greg Marshall invented the crittercam. Attached to an animal, this little
camera enables biologists to gather new information, such as feeding patterns, mating behavior,
and migration routes.

 Greg Marshall hired Nick Caloyianis, a veteran filmmaker specializing in sharks, to go to the
east coast of Mexico to shoot underwater scenes of Greg attaching a crittercam to a shark.

 A few weeks later, out at sea, the team hooked a bull shark. These sharks are aggressive and
dangerous even when they are calm and free, but this one was stressed and confined.

 While Greg Marshall was attempting to attach the crittercam to the shark, its handlers,
mistakenly thinking Greg was done, released the creature prematurely. A producer asked Nick
Caloyianis to get shots of the free-swimming shark, and though Nick knew it was a risky
situation, he agreed, resolving to keep his distance. He dove in and began filming. But what Nick
didn’t know was that shark handlers in another expedition boat had decided to recapture the
agitated bull shark and finish attaching the crittercam.

As he was peering through his lens, Nick suddenly noticed a dark shadow in the upper right
corner of the viewfinder. He didn’t realize that this was the shadow of a shark handler diving in,
hooking the bull shark in its mouth, and hightailing it back to the surface.

 The shark, now extremely agitated, lashed out at the nearest creature, which happened to be
Nick. He turned the camera toward the shark to push it away, and as the animal thrashed and bit
at the camera, Nick’s hand went into its mouth. Reflexively, he pulled it out, splitting his thumb
and forefinger to the bone. He dropped the camera. As he continued to pound and push the shark
away with his hands, it lashed out at his legs. He could feel the shark’s teeth sinking into his
flesh, tearing it open and crushing his anklebone.

 Nick somehow got his leg out of the shark’s jaws, but the angry animal charged at him again and
again as they both headed for the surface. Nick was now badly injured. He and the shark
surfaced right next to the shark handlers’ small skiff, and Nick was pulled into the boat, his silver
wetsuit streaked bright red with blood. Nick spent weeks in the hospital and months more
recuperating. He still has nightmares about the incident and suffers chronic pain from his
injuries.

 This tragic accident happened because of poor communication between scientist and filmmaker.
Often such communications are highly effective, so that both filmmaker and scientist mutually
benefit. The filmmaker can make an exciting film, and the scientist can get his or her research
conveyed successfully to the general public. Take these examples. The first is a clip from an
IMAX film on whales.

 Show clip from Whales. We couldn’t have made this film without whale biologist Dr. Roger
Payne whose work we feature in the film. He told us where the whales were, when they were
likely to breach, sing, tail-slap, and perform many other intriguing behaviors. He taught us how
to interact with the whales to ensure mutual safety and minimal disturbance.

 Here’s another clip from an IMAX film on wolves. Show clip from Wolves. We couldn’t have
made this film without wolf biologist Dr. Steve Torbit. He told us where to find wolves, what
behavior to look for, how wolf packs function, the vital role of play, how wolves mentor their
young, and how wolves collaborate when hunting.

To Read More Go to

http://www.arcsfoundation.org/national/Keynote.pdf

Professor Chris PalmerAuthor of Shooting in the Wild: An Insider's Account of Making Movies in the Animal Kingdom  (Sierra Club Books, 2010)Distinguished Film Producer in ResidenceDirector, Center for Environmental FilmmakingSchool of Communication, American Universitycell 202-716-6160; office 202-885-3408Center website: www.environmentalfilm.org SOC profile: http://www.american.edu/soc/faculty/palmer.cfm Shooting in the Wild on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/gOTUlc Shooting in the Wild website: http://bit.ly/a4L3LU Chris’s Facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/#!/chrispalmer47 Follow me on Twitter @chrispalmer_au Chris’s blog: http://soc-palmer.blogs.american.edu/  President, One World One Ocean FoundationPresident, MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundationcpalmer@mffeducation.orgwww.mffeducation.org Chief Executive Officer, VideoTakes, Inc.chris@videotakes.comwww.videotakes.com