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Camille Hall ’19 receives Global Fellowship: creating accessible environmental films

Camille+Hall+19+received+this+year%E2%80%99s+Global+Scholars+Fellowship.+Hall+was+inspired+to+make+environmental+research+more+accessible%2C+as+a+huge+divide+exists+betwen+the+public+and+the+scientific+community.%0APhoto+by+Liz+Paik
Camille Hall ’19 received this year’s Global Scholars Fellowship. Hall was inspired to make environmental research more accessible, as a huge divide exists betwen the public and the scientific community. Photo by Liz Paik

By Brendan Hyatt
hyattbre@grinnell.edu

Camille Hall ’19 is the recipient of this year’s Global Scholars Fellowship, a Grinnell College grant up to $30,000 for one Grinnell College student to conduct a year of independent study.

To apply for the Global Scholars Fellowship, a student must create a detailed, year-long plan to study in three sites around the world. Applicants create a project intended to address a global issue or to explore a set of questions. According to the College’s description of the fellowship, the winning student is selected based upon their academic achievement and plans for the year, among other criteria.

Hall, a biology major, submitted a proposal to produce a series of accessible documentary films about environmental issues around the world. Her first stop will be working with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Hall said, “People think of environmental issues as something happening somewhere else, but human impacts are everywhere.”

Next, she will travel to the Turks and Caicos islands in the Caribbean to work on a project about coral reefs. She will then travel to Cozumel Island in the Gulf of Mexico to study how ecosystems have shifted over time in response to fishing activity. Hall is currently investigating the possibility of extending her trip by adding further international stops, but does not currently know how it will work out.

Camille Hall ’19 received this year’s Global Scholars Fellowship. Hall was inspired to make environmental research more accessible, as a huge divide exists betwen the public and the scientific community.
Photo by Liz Paik

Discussing her project, Hall said, “[I want to reach out to] those who don’t have a background in STEM. I think one of the big issues with the STEM world is that information gets stuck in loops,” Hall said. “Researchers publish papers but those papers only get fed back into other researchers in STEM. Even if someone finds out something really exciting, it only gets seen by other researchers in that same field. No one really sits down to read research outside of academia. Through my project, I wanted to make information more accessible to people.”

Hall’s intention to make her films accessible is rooted in a desire to spread awareness about environmental issues. “I think now more than ever it is important to focus on environmental issues. Climate change is more important than ever. We use things in such excess and many everyday behaviors contribute to larger issues. I want to give people the information that they need to learn about environmental issues and hopefully the mitigation of those issues via environmental action. I’m hoping that people will fall in love with sustainability.”

Hall said her attraction to filmmaking stems from the “influence of media in [her] own life.” She said, “I noticed that people are on their phones all the time and generally don’t want to sit down and read something about science.” She intends to create short, engaging videos in order to spread awareness among younger audiences specifically.

Hall will return to Grinnell to share her work with the Grinnell community. In the meantime, she intends to start an Instagram account to record her trips.

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