Human Elements - Season 3

For the last few months, I’ve had the pleasure of working on HUMAN ELEMENTS, our series at KCTS that asks scientists not only how they do science, but also why.

This season, producer Sarah Hoffman decided to focus on scientists whose work is affected by climate change and I, along with fellow editors Andy Motz and our newest team editor Danielle Driehaus have been working closely with Sarah to find the valuable bits of interview and verité scenes to efficiently portray each scientist’s method along with their personality and passion.

I edited the third episode of the season which introduced us to Alana Quintasket, a member of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Senate, who works alongside her community to build habitats for native clams and make the community’s coastline more resilient to climate change and encourage healthy ecosystems for marine life.

Shout out to DP Bryce Yukio Adolphson who provided us with stellar cinematography that was a pleasure to edit.

This next episode I edited is about Darnell Sam, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, who describes his role as a Salmon Chief and his philosophies regarding hunting, the environment and his cultural relationship with first foods.

I am so very proud of how this episode turned out. So much of the time, I feel rushed to tell stories under 8.5 minutes, the longest our series episodes can be. But for this episode Sarah encouraged me to embrace quiet moments, stillness in order to portray Darnell’s extreme patience as he hunts for elk with his bow and arrow.

In this final episode I edited for season 4 of Human Elements, Carmen Vanbianchi, research director of the nonprofit Home Range Wildlife, and her team sample vegetation plots to see how a scorched landscape and changes in habitat could impact the survival of the severely endangered Canada lynx.

I love how this episode evolved and the way it shows the joy and passion of the two scientists.