MAS Climate Science and Policy student Luke Aronson produced his capstone film “Chasing Carbon” with the support of the Julia R. Brown Education and Research Fund. His documentary explains carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) methods in an engaging and accessible way and has already earned praise from Scripps screenings and a freelance media contract. In this post, Luke relays his motivations and methods – and how the experience strengthened his skills and broadened his portfolio of outreach and media‑production work in climate science.
I used the money awarded to me by the Julia R. Brown Education and Research Fund to help me travel and purchase necessary equipment in order to create my film “Chasing Carbon.” This video was my main capstone deliverable for my Master’s of Advanced Studies in Climate Science and Policy program at SIO. The video is an educational documentary about the efficacy and methods of carbon capture.
“Chasing Carbon” is the culmination of my academic and professional career, starting all the way back in 2012 when I began attending the Film and Television program at the Orange County High School of the Arts. After high school film making became more of a hobby, however I quickly began to favor photography, rather than videography, as a creative medium. At the same time I went to community college where I graduated with an AS in marine science. During my time at this community college I realized I had a propensity for scientific education as I tutored other students in both marine biology and cellular biology. Concurrently, I was an education volunteer at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA, where I got the chance to teach the public about the ocean organisms I spent years being so passionate about. In both circumstances I noticed my enthusiasm for the subject matter was infectious, causing students/aquarium guests to be more receptive to the information I presented.
The idea for “Chasing Carbon” actually originated before I even started the MAS CSP program. A few years ago I did some freelance work for a nature based carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) company, and after learning about their process and carbon capture potential, I became an advocate for carbon capture. However, not all of my environmentalist friends shared my enthusiasm for CCS, which I was taken-aback and dismayed by. I later found out that the majority of easily accessible information about CCS, for instance CCS Youtube videos, was largely negative. However, the videos all contained general misconceptions, half-truths, and incomplete information about CCS, its methods, and its purpose. The prevalence of these negative videos, and the lack of positive and factually accurate videos is what I attributed to my peer’s skeptical opinions of CCS. I then set out to begin to change the hearts and minds of my peers and in the first quarter of the MAS CSP program I gave an in-depth presentation on CCS (the multitude of methods and its true viability as a method for climate change mitigation). The director of my program, Dr. Gabriel, told me that despite spending years hearing researchers and industry professionals talk about CCS, he had seldom heard such a concise explanation of both its pros and cons. It was at this point he suggested I utilize my film making background to make an educational video about CCS for my capstone.
Considering CCS is a niche and rather complicated topic, I set out to make my video educational, but also widely accessible to both the scientific community and general public. Though I already knew more about CCS than the average person I still had a lot to learn, so I reached out to the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions (CNCE), at ASU. The CNCE is at the cutting edge of CCS research, focusing on not just the scientific aspects but the regulatory and economic aspects as well. They also work with a lot of affiliate programs and start up companies pioneering new methods of carbon capture, carbon utilization, and carbon sequestration. The CNCE enthusiastically accepted my filming inquiries and helped me arrange interviews with their top researchers as well as many of their associated programs/companies.
I utilized a portion of my Julia R. Brown funds in order to travel out to Arizona to meet and interview these experts to discuss all aspects of CCS. While there, I interviewed the founder of CNCE, the current director of CNCE, one of their graduate researchers, and was given a tour of their research laboratories. I was also given access to their Mechanical Tree, a new low cost method of passive direct air capture jointly developed by CNCE and the company Carbon Collect. I then interviewed a researcher from Arizona Geological Survey Basin Analysis team (trying to find suitable areas for geologic carbon storage), researchers from the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (to talk about oceanic nature based CCS methods such as ocean iron fertilization and ocean alkalinity enhancement), two top level employees from CarbonCaptureInc. (a company developing novel modular direct air capture systems), and received a tour of the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation (who investigate algae cultivation as a method for carbon capture and utilization for products like biofuels.) Being able to talk to experts and tour their facilities provided me an unparalleled inside look at the world of technology based CCS and its potential role as a climate change mitigation solution. I was extremely grateful to be able to make in-person face to face connections with professionals in the field I wish to work in.
On my Orange County trip I travelled to a natural gas power plant, a farm, and various nature areas in order to have topic specific backgrounds while talking about climate change and nature based CCS methods. Having the multiple filming locations in my video helped to keep it interesting and engaging, which after all was one of the intentions I had for my video. During my Orange County trip I filmed a scene while standing chest deep in the Upper Newport Bay, which many of my audience members told me was the most entertaining part of the video.
The reaction to my video after the two screenings at Scripps told me that my video had achieved its goal. One comment I received multiple times were statements about how not only was the video entertaining, but it explained the topics in a succinct and easy to understand way. The interviews with experts were sandwiched in between casual and slightly comedic moments that gave context to the scientifically verbose statements given by the experts. By pairing the two elements together, I was able to lend credibility to my own statements while contextualizing the statements of my interviewees. I felt as though this was an essential strategy for holding the attention of both scientific and non-scientific audience members alike while still providing content conducive for learning.
I have come to realize that the best way to fight misinformation is information; however, that information must be presented in ways that keep viewers engaged and wanting to learn. Oftentimes scientists (either intentionally or unintentionally) gatekeep their research through heavy handed use of scientific jargon, and as others have told me, I seem to have a unique ability to translate said jargon into a form that anyone can understand. I plan to utilize this along with my videography skills to help educate the public on important climate/environmental issues. Not only did my video help me to hone both of these skills, but its screening has also already landed me offers to do just that. I was recently contacted by a local non-profit organization and offered a freelance media contract to create long and short form promotional video content about their organization and its mission.
Thank you again so much for providing me the funding for the equipment and travel related expenses I needed to complete my video. I set out to make an educational and entertaining video, and with your help I have done just that. Concurrently, the screening of my video and the overwhelmingly positive compliments I received gave me a confidence boost I did not know I needed. It reminded me that I have a diverse and applicable skill set that not only will help to keep me away from a life trapped behind a desk, but that I can use those skills to have a meaningful impact on the world.
Blog content and images provided by Luke Aronson – thank you!