Microscopic Marvels: Dr. Shane White

In this episode, University of Florida, Department of Agricultural Education and Communication student Andy Franklin interviewed Instructional Assistant Professor Dr. Shane White. White teaches communication courses and is also an independent documentarian. Throughout the interview, Franklin asks White about his experiences working on an NSF funded nematology multimedia project in the Nebraska Sandhills and what it means to be a science communicator.

Transcript

Andy Franklin: [00:00:00] Hi everyone. Welcome to our streaming science microscopic Marvel series where tiny organisms are a big deal. Streaming Science is a student-driven science outreach platform that introduces listeners to real world scientists and professionals in the agriculture and natural resources field. Streaming science is a student driven science outreach platform that introduces listeners to real world scientists and professionals in the agriculture and natural resources field.

I'm your host, Andy Franklin, and I'm an agricultural communications major at the University of Florida. In this series, we're talking to scientists, ranchers, students, and storytellers about nematodes, nearly invisible, microscopic worms that can tell us about our environment. In this episode, you'll hear from Shane White, a UF instructor and independent documentarian.

He is an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, the Gulf Coast Research and Education. [00:01:00] Center and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences located in Plant City, Florida is also a certified diver and documentary enthusiast. While in Nebraska, he served as a science communicator on the project to help document the research.

Through his podcasting, photography, and social media experience, he helps make scientific topics such as nematodes and conservation in the Nebraska Sandhills accessible to the public. In this interview we discussed his experience at the Nebraska Sandhills and the importance of communication in this grant project.

Let's learn more about our guest and the microscopic marvels around us. Okay. So we are here with, uh, professor Shane White. Thank you so much for coming.

Shane White: Yeah, thanks for having me.

Andy Franklin: So could you, uh, briefly give a description of your background in agriculture and communications?

Shane White: So, my background in agriculture is not your typical one, especially, uh, for our department here at the University of Florida.[00:02:00]

You know, I grew up on a farm as a farm boy, and then my life just decided to become a tangled web of interest and curiosities. And so I. Went to school for first, uh, for a degree in horticulture. And then after that I decided I needed to go see a little more of the world. So I went out and just worked regular jobs, so worked in restaurants and stuff.

And then I decided that I needed to go back and, and really figured out what I wanted to do. And what I wanted to do was be a storyteller. I wanted to be a documentary maker. That doesn't necessarily mean a filmmaker or a writer, or a photographer or, or a photographer. I just, I wanted to tell stories. The, the two people who influenced me the most as a young adult were David Attenborough and Anthony Bourdain.

I wanted to be an amalgamation of their skillsets. So I went back for journalism [00:03:00] and I had been a quote unquote filmmaker since. Middle school making jackass films with my friends and making skateboard videos. So when I came inematode the journalism program, it was just, it was cake for me. I mean, I went in already knowing how to edit and I just, I refell in love with editing softwares and programs, and so it sucked me in, finished that degree.

And went on to get my master's in documentary filmmaking. Where I made a couple films did pretty well with festivals and awards and you know, you don't tell the stories to get to awards, but boy they sure do help. Uh, so I was, I was sucked in even more. And then throughout my master's program, I started following the work of several different National Geographic researchers.

And I realized that the ones who really [00:04:00] made it were the ones who had specialized in something and. I don't wanna offend anybody who is trying to make it as a filmmaker, but what I didn't want to become was a wannabe filmmaker, starving artist. I, I was tired of starving and I, I wanted, I wanted to be an artist with a purpose, so I decided to start looking at.

Doctorate programs. So I started looking at doctoral programs and I first went towards the anthropology program, uh, where I was at. They had a program called Indie Environmental Dynamics, and it was all about how to balance the cultural, social, physical parts of the world that, that all intertwine to create this, this web.

And so I started getting hooked inematode it, but I had, at the same time, I had been working for the agricultural communications department and my boss at the time came to me and said, did you know we had a PhD program? [00:05:00] And I said, no. And so we talked about it and we were really able to craft my experience to not necessarily be around agriculture specifically.

We got to really hone my work inematode environmental conservation. And so I did all that through the Ag school and I gained a new appreciation for agriculture and, and the things that were going on behind the scenes and the ways that people were communicating and teaching about it. And at the same time, I was learning the ins and outs of, of conservation ethics and the work that went inematode really.

Being a conservation environmental storyteller. So I was able to combine the work I was doing with the work I wanted to do. And the University of Florida is, is a really special place because not are they, not only are they agriculture communications, they're agriculture and natural resource communications.

They also have [00:06:00] appreciate and appreciation for science communication. They seem to have an appreciation for how the world works together on multiple levels, and so that's how I became an agricultural communications professor.

Andy Franklin: So your professor is stationed in, uh, Plant City Florida. So what exactly are some subjects and, uh, lessons you teach your students?

Shane White: What I like

to say that I teach is I teach my students how to tell a story. I teach them the basics of video editing, the basics of photography, but then I teach 'em the in depth advanced levels. Of making short documentaries or short content or long form content. I teach my students how to write. I teach them how to write hard news.

I teach them how to write [00:07:00] editorial pieces. I teach them how to write creatively and then, so it's this nice opportunity to give them all kinds of experiences depending on what they want to do in life. So I teach them all of the visual components. How to write different things, how to find their style.

And then I teach audio and podcasting and I also teach an aspect outside of communications specifically, but that, that also supports it. So I, I teach leadership. Event planning, uh, groups and teams and in, in those classes we teach team building, but also how to, how to create something outside of, of a 2D piece.

So, and by that I mean a 3D real world, something that's happening, something that people can go to. [00:08:00] Um, so right now we're creating a, um, a small agricultural tour. That will be streamed inematode high school ag programs. And then next, next year, we'll do a uh, charity event with a food drive with a world food bank.

In partnership with the Florida Strawberry Growers Association, they're learning how to be communicators and whether they want to talk about ag or science, or if they want to help sell some Fortune 500 product. We're giving them the skills that, that they need to be able to do that.

Andy Franklin: So in order to, um, hone those skills, what kind of assignments or training exercises would you do with your students?

Shane White: So

for the intro to video class, they are making a short, a short film. Their, their project throughout the entire semester all builds up to [00:09:00] creating a two to five minute. Short video with a, so they're learning interview skills. They, they do a couple interviews throughout the, the, the term. And then as they do them, they get better and better.

And then by their final interview, that's the one going in their final project, they have the skill set for it to, to look good, sound good. So everything builds up to this one final piece. So they learn how to get B roll. They start by learning how to. To use photo composition and capture still images, and then translate that to moving images and how to get wide angle and closeups and extreme closeup detail shots and incorporate those to create scenes and sequences.

And it's all just kind of methodically put together throughout the semester so it all adds up. And then. For the photo [00:10:00] essay class that's going on the spring semester, we are taking media captured by Dr. Luso, Maggie, and myself on our trip to Nebraska with the hematologist. We're using that media as as a teaching tool by giving it to the students, let, letting them find the story through the interviews.

Using our photography to learn how to match the story being told with what people can see visually, how to build these out in web pages and how to build them out in short articles. Something you might see in National Geographic, but at the same time. They're also learning how to capture the images on their own.

So we're working with the hematologist at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm, and we're going down [00:11:00] there interviewing them, capturing photos of them, capturing sound bites, and they're gonna be able to create something from scratch. So throughout the semester, they're, they're given a little headstart on their first project by giving them the, the media.

Then, then they create their second project all on their own and it's, it's been beautiful to watch. It's just cool to see how media and, and science communicators can, can not only teach what they know, but can teach people about something that they're telling the story about. Like not only are my students learning how to create stories.

They're learning about nematodes and nematology and hematologists and the importance of these microorganisms that are older than dinosaurs. And it's just, it's cool to see it all come together.

Andy Franklin: So, um, [00:12:00] before your trip to the Nebraska Sandhills, what was your knowledge on nematodes before all of this, before you signed on to help with this grant?

Shane White: It's embarrassing to say, but. Oh, I think if you asked me three years ago what a nematode was, I would've told you it was some sort of small salamander like creature. Um, and I think just through being around agriculture more and more as adult, I, I started to hear about nematodes and so I had a very rough idea of, mm-hmm.

How important they were. I knew before Nebraska that they weren't salamanders, but now I know how vital they are as nutrient recyclers and foundations to a, a stable ecosystem that, that they are.

Andy Franklin: Right. [00:13:00] So can you talk about your overall experience at, at the Nebraska Sandhills? What, what was it like? What, what was it like being there and filming the B roll and taking the photos?

Uh, what was it like?

Shane White: Well, as a storyteller, I think I only like to. Be part of projects where I can become immersed. And I just, I feel really lucky, um, that, that Dr. Lezo and Maggie made room for me on this trip because it was really special. I, when I think of Nebraska, I think of corn. I don't think of the Serengeti of North America with these rolling hills and sunsets that are unmatched.

Uh, and then. So going on trips like these, I hate waking. I'm not an early bird, but when I'm on trips like these, waking up at five [00:14:00] o'clock to get ready to drive three hours to the sand dunes, to these high alkaline lakes, it was, it was a pleasure. And I just, I, it went by so quick. I can't believe that the days we were there went by so fast and.

It was like we got off a plane and then we're getting right back on, and everything in between was just this fever dream of, of incredible people and incredible settings and incredible photography. These moments that, that led to some of what I think are my best images I've ever taken. So it was special, um, and I'm just very grateful and, uh, it's, I hope.

I hope that this project continues and I, I find myself on the trips every time they go.

Andy Franklin: I can just imagine the sunsets, the sunrises and sunsets [00:15:00] over those fields, uh, over those sand dunes. Me, myself, I love, uh, taking sunset photography. Uh, back out in the panhandle where I'm from, we get some of the most beautiful, um, mixtures of pink, uh, of magenta and pink to, uh.

Blue and cyan. It's just amazing. But I can't even imagine how amazing it is in, uh, the Sandhills. How crucial of a role, um, did communication play throughout your time at the Sandhills in this project in general,

Shane White: I don't know if how important communication, what, what do you mean by communication? During, while I was there,

Andy Franklin: I.

I guess the process like, like how important is it that you are there documenting all of this and then processing that information inematode something digestible for everyday [00:16:00] consumers? Like the, the normal person down the street could, uh, read in a newspaper article or see online? Well, I mean, yeah,

Shane White: I think that's just it.

You have to create something. That your neighbor down the street is gonna read. Someone who's not in academia isn't gonna read 40 page paper with graphs and tables and Latin terminology for fun. So you have to create some sort of entertainment. And let me, let me tell you, being there with these researchers was entertaining to see how excited they got and to see what they were doing and just the, the range of emotions, it was entertaining.

And so you try as a social scientist, as a science communicator to capture [00:17:00] those moments and whether it's sound or visual. You capture those to engage the non-academic people who might see these pretty pictures and read a few captions, and by the time they scroll down a webpage with 10 photos and 10 captions, they know what a nematode is for one, they know how important it is to our ecosystem, and now they know that there are researchers.

Who are vital to the future of agriculture, to the future of forests, the future of wildlife, the future of humans that are out there doing this, this un doing this work that they're just not thanked for and recognized enough for. And so it's, it's our duty as [00:18:00] communicators to recognize them and. To show the people all of the behind the scenes to show the people how the sausage is made.

And so it's just important for science communicators to be part of these big research projects so that these research studies can have an audience greater than the professor looking to write his own article.

Andy Franklin: In our previous discussion, we talked about documentary work and how, um, a lot of them have not really an agenda of sorts, but they have the, so the purpose of a documentary is to make the audience feel something.

Based on your knowledge of, um, this nem to grant, what sort of emotions would you like to invoke if you were to make a documentary on the Nebraska Sandhills and the nematodes [00:19:00] that, that live there? That's tough. Um,

Shane White: I think there's two very core emotions that come from storytelling. I think one is hope and one is a lack of hope. And so I hope, I hope we can make people realize that I. With the things that are going on in the world and the things that we're doing to this planet, and the lack of stewardship could lead to a lack of hope, but there is still a chance to save everything.

So there is still a reason to be hopeful. So I think. I [00:20:00] think I want people to worry a little, not a little. I, I want people to worry, but then I want people to do better to realize that they can do better and be hopeful that we'll have something to leave the generations to come.

Andy Franklin: I think that's a really good message.

I, I think that's what a lot of documentaries. Try to end on, uh, of course there are some that like, if nothing changes, everything ends, but, um, the way you just said that, it gives a little bit more levity to that. Um, last bit. Where are the most crucial components in the communication and documentation process of this grant?

Shane White: Well, the, the most important component is the researchers. Uh, without their work, we'd have no story. Without their work, we'd [00:21:00] have no reason to go to these beautiful places. Uh, so they are, they are the most important component to the story being told. They are, I think, you know, you can show pretty pictures and you can tell beautiful stories, but without the human component, it lacks, I.

It lacks emotion, it lacks

the, the sympathy. And so that, yeah, they are the most important part. The other, the other important parts, uh, of, of the communication are finding the story within the story because you can't necessarily tell everything. Because people do have short attention spans, and so we have to, we have to curate [00:22:00] media in ways that are entertaining, and we have to make sure that we stay true to the science, but make it digestible for the everyday person.

So finding that balance is an important component and then time, time is an important component to, because you need time to put it all together. Mm. And uh, it's a beautiful, it's the only mathematical equation that I ever really wanna be a part of.

Andy Franklin: I, I, I can feel that I, I feel that deeply. Um, so what was it like being with researchers?

Like how, how much of their technical jargon did you understand and how much did you have to go Wait, run that by me again [00:23:00]

Shane White: at first a lot, but, uh, I heard several times while I was in Nebraska. The ne you don't choose the nematode life. The nematode life chooses you. And within, within hours I was, I was in it, I was, I was starting to put things together.

There's, there's a movie called the 13th, the Warrior with Anematodenio Banderas, and he's sitting with the, sitting around, he is like a Spaniard. He is sitting with these vikings and he's sitting around the fire and he starts, it's like this really cool scene where they're speaking in this Nordic language, but then as he starts to put everything together, it starts becoming broken English and then English.

'cause it's an English movie.

Andy Franklin: Mm-hmm.

Shane White: And that's kind of [00:24:00] how I felt being with these researchers, like at first. It was, it was all Greek to me. But then I started to catch on and I started to realize what things meant and the importance of certain words and, and where we were all going with this. And I, I, uh, it was really special to, to witness that within the circumstance, within the situation and, and be able to kind of step outside my own body and like witness it happening and.

And compare it to a childhood movie of mine. And so it was, it was just really cool. Uh, so yeah, at first I had no idea what they were talking about, and then it just all started coming together. And now I feel like a nematode life chose me

Andy Franklin: so. Of the overall experience, both going to Nebraska and filming and then coming home and then [00:25:00] trying to process all the information you gathered and collected.

What was the most challenging part?

Shane White: Hmm. The most challenging part was leaving the Sandhills in Nebraska. It was so beautiful. Um, but when it comes to the media, I think it's just sorting through it all. Finding that story that you wanna tell, uh, because there's multiple, uh, storytellers within this situation and we're all gonna tell something slightly different.

And so working with each other, uh, to, to tell the main story and to make sure everybody has what they need to tell the main story, but then finding a different story to tell within everything. But it's been really cool because. With my class, they're also finding their own stories to tell within the situation.

So within this one umbrella of a story, you're [00:26:00] getting however many stories you're getting with your podcast class, and then you're getting five stories with my photo essay class, and then you're getting my story and Dr. Loizzo story and. Whatever Maggie is creating. And so it's just, it's, it's cool to see that happening, but I think, yeah, just cha the challenge is finding what story you are personally gonna tell and how you're gonna tell it and, and just making sure that you stay true to, to the science.

Andy Franklin: Do you have any, um, any closing thoughts? Anything that we didn't cover before that you would, uh, like to talk about now?

Shane White: What is your theme of like, when you put this all together, what is the message you want to,

Andy Franklin: you know, it's something that I [00:27:00] don't think I've really hammered in on. Um, I mean, I. When I first came up with this project, um, I wanted to talk about mainly the communication process because I am specializing in communications for my major. But, um, but I think mainly just the experience of just collecting all this information and then, uh, figuring out all the different intricacies of like getting it out there to the world.

I think, I think. I think in a way, um, taking this, and correct me if I'm thinking about this wrong, but taking all of the raw footage, going through it like a filmmaker would and making a finished product. Like, like something seeable for the masses, I guess is what I'm trying to do. Cool. Yeah. [00:28:00]

Shane White: So, okay. So I think like the last, last thing I would say is, you know, at the end of the day, science communication is work.

It is a job. Hmm. But if you're going to be a science communicator, allow yourself to enjoy it. Allow yourself to e become immersed in the situation in the moment. It's okay if you don't capture everything because there are so many times on this trip where something happened and it was for nobody else except the people that were there to experience it.

There were no cameras running, no audio being recorded, no drones in the air. It was just people being people together. So [00:29:00] as a science communicator, I think it's important just to be present and experience it fully and the story, the story will be there. So even though it's a job, just find pleasure in it because without pleasure it won't be fun.

And without it being fun, I don't think. I don't think you'll tell a good story if it's not something you enjoyed.

Andy Franklin: Yeah. The, I hear a lot that, um, if you love your job, it'll never work a day in your life. And while that's, while that's not true in some sense, but I can definitely see where people are coming from.

Like, my passion is video editing and storytelling, so. Given that and my current major, I think I chose, I, I, I think I get, I'm on the right path. [00:30:00]

Shane White: Yeah, I think that's a funny quote and I heard it a lot, you know, growing up. I, I love what I do, but I work my ass off.

Andy Franklin: Yeah, I hear you.

Shane White: So, yeah, I just, you gotta care and if you care, it makes it easier.

Andy Franklin: Well sir, I wanna thank you so much, uh, for coming on and letting me interview you. This has been a great experience.

Shane White: Well, thank you. Um, it's been fun to talk to you. Um, it's always fun to talk about my adventures.

Andy Franklin: I, I, I just love listening to folks. Like, I may not say a whole lot, but I do like to listen.

Shane White: You know, sometimes that's the best way to be.

Oh, I, I think of one of my other favorite movies, gangs of New York. There's two girls talking to Leonard DiCaprio and whoever's friend is, and they don't say [00:31:00] much and she says, quite the pair of conversationalists, aren't ya? And Leo says, maybe not, but we're deep thinkers.

So yeah, sometimes it's good just to listen and think.

Andy Franklin: Well on that, um, I'm gonna go ahead and end this episode. Uh, thank you so much again for coming on and chatting with us.

Shane White: Yeah, of course. Happy to do it. Can't wait to see how it all turns out.

Andy Franklin: Thanks

for tuning inematode this episode of Microscopic Marvels.

For more information or to listen to other episodes in this series, visit streaming science.com funding for this series, and the nematode research discussed in these episodes comes from a National Science Foundation, poorly sampled and unknown taxa Grant awarded to researchers at the University of Nebraska and Florida.