Nautilus - Think Like A Scientist
2016 - 2018
Short Documentary Series
Commissioned by Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The conservation ecologist discusses the plight of animals in a human-dominated landscape.
Produced by Day’s Edge Productions
Director of Animation – Dustin Grella
Harvard’s first tenured woman physicist tells us about her heroes and her work.
Produced by Day’s Edge Productions
Director of Animation – Dustin Grella
The computational geneticist explains why she chose research over being a doctor.
Produced by Day’s Edge Productions
Director of Animation – Dustin Grella
The Princeton ecologist tells us about the scientists who inspired his work.
Produced by Day’s Edge Productions
Director of Animation – Dustin Grella
Think Like A Scientist: Boundaries
Conservation photographer Krista Schlyer, who has spent the last seven years documenting the environmental effects of the U.S./Mexico border wall, and biologist Jon Beckmann, who studies how man-made barriers influence the movement of wildlife. Schlyer and Beckmann have seen damaging impacts of the border wall firsthand, but they remain optimistic.
Film by: Day’s Edge Productions
Copyright 2016 Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Director of Animation – Dustin Grella
Animator – Melissa Ferrari
Animator – Emily Hoffman
Animator – Harriet Lenneman
Think Like A Scientist: Currents
MIT professor of science writing and the author of “The Hunt for Vulcan”, Tom Levenson, retells the amazing history of planet Vulcan – a story that reveals how the power of an idea can shape the currents of thought, and sometimes, lead researchers down the wrong path. Meanwhile, Harvard experimental particle physicist, Melissa Franklin reflects how the lessons from Vulcan apply to research today, and how, in the end, science manages to get things right.
A film by Day’s Edge Productions
Copyright 2016 Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Director of Animation – Dustin Grella
Animator – Melissa Ferrari
Animator – Drew Grella
Animator – Emily Hoffman
Animator – Harriet Lenneman
Think Like a Scientist: Saiga Saga
Why did two thirds of all saga antelope die in a couple of months?
A film by Tangled Bank Studios
Copyright 2016 Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Animation by Dusty Studio
Think Like A Scientist: Renewal
The Elwha dams were built without fish ladders, gently sloping structures that connect waters on either side of the dam. These ladders are important for anadromous fish, meaning stream-born fish that live part of their lives in the ocean and later return to their natal streams to spawn. Salmons are anadromous, and carry with them marine-derived nutrients that are important to the entire Elwha watershed ecosystem. Salmon carcasses provide nutrients for other wildlife and fertilizer for riparian vegetation.
A film by Plumb Productions
Copyright 2016 Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Writer/Director – Jessica Plumb
Animator – Dustin Grella
Think Like A Scientist: Natural Selection in an Outbreak
The tragic 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak in west Africa shocked the world. In this episode of Think Like a Scientist, computational genetiicist Pardis Sabeti and disease ecologist Lina Moses bring us to the front line of the epidemic and explain the science behind how this event became the largest ebola outbreak in history. This film was produced by Day’s Edge Productions for HHMI BioInteractive and Nautilus Magazine
A film by Day’s Edge Productions
Copyright 2016 Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Director of Animation – Dustin Grella
Illustrator/Motion Graphics – Drew Grella
Illustrator – Simoon Kim
Motion Graphics – Richard Trammell
Think Like A Scientist: The Culture of Meat
As farming practices continue to evolve, and as the demand for sustainable food becomes more critical, scientists like Mark Post look to artificial meats as the next leap forward in food innovation.
A film by Off the Fence
Copyright 2017 Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Director of Animation – Dustin Grella