Educational Multimedia Production
Documentaries, Multimedia Exhibits, Online Learning Programs
Effective Storytelling in Multimedia
Education happens when learners of all ages connect with engaging subject matter. Hamline's Center for Global Environmental Education (CGEE) excels in adapting one of the world's oldest and most effective communication traditions—storytelling—to the media of the digital age.
Since the 1990s, CGEE’s in-house multimedia production team and a network of partners in video production, programming, illustration, animation, acting, and translation have produced internationally acclaimed documentaries, museum-quality multimedia exhibits, online learning programs for students, and professional development resources for educators. Our productions have reached millions of viewers and users and garnered dozens of national and international awards and honors.
Public Television Documentaries and Digital Storytelling
Endangered Estuaries: Freshwater Nurseries of Lake Superior
Freshwater estuaries—shoreline environments where river water mixes with lake water—provide critically important wildlife habitat and unequalled ecological services to people. Estuaries are also among the world’s most endangered ecosystems. Endangered Estuaries tells the story of two iconic Lake Superior estuaries: The St. Louis River Estuary—the nation's largest freshwater estuary and heart of the traditional homeland of the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe—is recovering a long history of industrial degradation. A pristine estuary complex on the Bad River Band of Ojibwe’s reservation has been managed by the band through time. Both estuaries face threats from continued industrial impacts.
60-min. Documentary | In Development | Natural and Cultural History | Indigenous Voice
Rekindled: An Indigenous Wildfire Crew, Tribal Wisdom, Fires Fueled by Climate Change
Rekindled follows the wildfire crew of the Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe as they battle fires fueled by our warming climate. Conditions have been made more dangerous by decades of official fire-suppression policy—but times are changing. The film looks back on how our forests have been managed in the past and documents long-outlawed cultural burning practices that are gaining acceptance along with Indigenous perspectives on forest management. Fire-dependent forests are benefitting from bringing back fire.
60-min. Documentary | In Development | Natural and Cultural History | Indigenous Voice
The Glittering World: Starry Skies Southwest
This documentary journey follows Ojibwe night sky photographer Travis Novitsky—host and co-producer of CGEE's Emmy-winning Northern Nights, Starry Skies—as he explores the incomparable starry skies of the desert Southwest. Novitsky explores the region's world-renowned Dark Sky sanctuaries, engages in dialogs with Indigenous star knowledge practitioners, visits world-class observatories where important discoveries continue to be made, and documents leading efforts to address the human-health and environmental impacts of light pollution.
60-min. Documentary | In Development | Natural and Cultural History | Indigenous Voice
A Sea Change for Superior: The Warming of the World's Largest Lake
Lake Superior is now among the fastest warming of the world’s largest lakes due to the impacts of climate change. A Sea Change for Superior explores the lake's legacy as famously frigid, clear, and clean in a time of unprecedented change that is impacting natural systems, wildlife, and people. The film—a co-production with PBS North—is being broadcast on PBS affiliates throughout our region and beyond, has received a nomination for a regional Emmy award, and has been a featured selection in multiple film festivals. Watch the full documentary on our Vimeo page.
60-minute Public TV Documentary | Emmy Nominated | Natural and Cultural History | Indigenous Voice
Ojibwe night-sky photographer Travis Novitsky’s stunning images celebrate the wonders of our northern night skies in this acclaimed documentary co-production with PBS North. Novitsky explores the world’s largest Dark Sky sanctuary complex. He opens the door to Dakota and Ojibwe Indigenous star knowledge traditions, and to ways the night sky has been a living presence through time and across cultures. Astronomers and dark-skies advocates address the importance of curbing light pollution to mitigate negative health and environmental impacts. A companion PBS LearningMedia website offers lesson plans to educators nationwide. Watch the full documentary on YouTube.
60-minute Public TV Documentary | Emmy Winning | Natural and Cultural History | Indigenous Voice | PBS LearningMedia Resources
This hour-long documentary and virtual field trip was co-produced by CGEE and PBS affiliate WYES New Orleans. It includes field segments with content experts interviewed by student reporters and was winner of a prestigious NETA award. View on WYES YouTube channel.
Chased by the light: A Photograpic Journey with Jim Brandenburg
Produced by CGEE and Aurora Pictures, Chased by the Light follows National Geographic photographer Jim Brandenburg on his quest to renew his creativity by taking a single picture for each of 90 days in Minnesotaʻs boundary waters wilderness areas. The hour-long film has won dozens of national and international awards and has been broadcast on PBS stations nationwide, throughout Canada, and Scandinavia. See excerpts on Vimeo.
Explore CGEE's YouTube channel to access hundreds of short educational videos on a wide range of environmental, science, and social studies topics.
Our Multimedia Gallery™ exhibit kiosks are large-format, museum-quality, multi-touch computer installations offering hours of place-based storytelling that deepens visitors’ appreciation and connections to place. CGEE manages a network of more than 70 Gallery kiosks extending across the U.S. from the East Coast to Hawai’i and from Minnesota to Louisiana. The exibit kiosks are placed in highly-visited areas such as resorts, museums, visitor centers, national wildlife refuges, national and state parks as well as coffee shops, brew pubs, and retail establishments.
CGEEʻs Pocket Gallery™ mobile app is the ultimate interpretive field guide and planning resource for your pocket. It offers the same rich media found in Multimedia Gallery™ exhibit kiosks, plus turn-by-turn driving directions, walking and driving tours, historic timelines, and a live-view function that uses the deviceʻs camera to locate nearby points of interest.
Interactive Tools For K-12 Classroom Learning
Waters to the Sea® Online K-12 Learning Resource
Waters to the Sea® is a series of internationally acclaimed, interactive multimedia learning for grades 4-8 about North America's waterways and the watersheds that sustain them. Explore NGSS-standards-aligned, place-based stories, videos, images, and interactive modules about each watershed's natural and cultural heritage.
Waters to the Sea®: Lake Superior Odyssey: Resource Link
Waters to the Sea®: Mississippi River Adventure: Resource Link
Waters to the Sea®: Kaua'i Adventure: Resource Link
Waters to the Sea®: Trinity River (Texas): Resource Link
Waters to the Sea®: Guadalupe River (Texas): Resource Link
Explore dozens of award-winning learning modules and programs focused on wide range of environmental, science, and social studies themes, from estuary ecosystems to monarch butterfly migration to climate change on our K-12 Classroom Resources page.
Production Services
Explore with us how your organization's educational mission can be enhanced at CGEE. Learn more about multimedia at CGEE through the links to the right. Our experience includes partnerships with prominent national and international nonprofit organizations and federal and state agencies.
Contact
John Shepard
Assistant Director of CGEE, and Director of Multimedia Development
jshepard@hamline.edu