Bigelow Laboratory Brings 100-City "A Sense of Wonder" Film Tour to Boothbay Harbor
The Laboratory is collaborating with the National Women's History Project and Sense of Wonder Production to host a free public showing of 'A Sense of Wonder,' the biographical film about Rachel Carson's life and advocacy for the natural world on March 24, 2009 at 7 p.m. at the Harbor Theatre in Boothbay Harbor.
(3/11/2009)
West Boothbay Harbor, ME – On Tuesday, March 24, 2009, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, Sense of Wonder Productions, and the National Women's History Project will present a free public screening of the critically-acclaimed film A Sense of Wonder. The film is a portrait of scientist Rachel Carson's life and her passionate advocacy for the natural world after publication of her best-selling book Silent Spring in 1962.
This event is one of the Laboratory’s Café Scientifique events to promote an understanding and appreciation of scientific research and discovery.
The 55-minute film will be shown free of charge at the Harbor Theatre, 185 Townsend Avenue (in the Meadow Mall), Boothbay Harbor at 7 p.m. This event is not a fund-raiser, however, donations to support the Laboratory’s Keller-BLOOM Education Program for high school juniors will be gratefully accepted.
“In many ways, Carson’s work catalyzed the environmental movement and marked the beginning of contemporary society’s awareness that human actions can have inadvertent and massive environmental consequences,” said Dr. Mike Sieracki, a Senior Research Scientist at the Laboratory.
“This realization continues to be at the center of today’s policy debates about climate change.”
Following the screening, local scientists will lead a discussion about thE role of science in environmental policy and the challenges faced by women in the sciences.
The documentary-style film stars Kaiulani Lee, who uses many of Carson’s own words to describe how her findings about the risks of chemical pesticides led to attacks from the chemical industry, government officials, and the press. The film was shot in 2007 at Carson’s Southport Island cottage. The film is based on the play A Sense of Wonder written by Kaiulani Lee, with the help and guidance of many of Miss Carson's friends and colleagues and with permission from the Rachel Carson Literary Estate.
The National Women’s History Project is collaborating with local
organizations around the United States to show the film in 100 North
American cities and towns this spring. The tour honors women leaders in the environmental movement in general, and the pioneering work of Rachel Carson in particular.
The Café Scientifique series at Bigelow Laboratory is an opportunity for participants to engage in informal conversations about scientific issues, research, exploration, and the latest news from the field. Cafés are free and open to the public. Bigelow scientists have been hosting talks with the general public since the beginning of the Laboratory’s residence on the Maine 35 years ago. The Café Scientifique movement itself began in 1998 in England, and has spread quickly throughout Europe and the United States (www.cafescientifique.org). There are over 150 science cafés
organized over 40 countries that host regular get-togethers to bring
science into our conversations and our culture.
Established in 1974, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
is a center for global ocean research. An independent,
nonprofit research institution, the Laboratory is supported by federal
research grants and private funds. The Laboratory’s research focus ranges from microbial oceanography -- examining biological productivity in the world’s oceans at the molecular level -- to the large-scale biogeochemical processes that drive interactions between ocean ecosystems and global environmental conditions. These programs have taken Bigelow scientists around the world to every ocean and the polar seas.
Photo: Kaiulani Lee as Rachel Carson. Courtesy of Sense of Wonder
Productions.