A Northern Illinois University professor contributed to a docuseries that is available now available on PBS.
The six-part series “Life Unearthed with Ariel Waldman” is streaming on PBS and has been picked up by numerous affiliate stations.
Wesley Swingley is a microbiologist and NIU professor. He said he didn’t have a hand in the Antarctica part of the series, but he used funding that he received to help with the part about prairies.
“I earned funding through a supplement to the National Science Foundation,” he said. “And then I also acquired funding through NIU, just through flipping over couch cushions and finding money wherever I could to get enough funding to do the film.”
He said he also helped with some other things.
“On the film shoot,” Swingley added. “I was doing a lot of help in writing scripts and research background, you know, providing science advice. So, I think I'm listed as a science advisor as well. And then really small fun jobs, like holding a boom mic.”
The series focuses on ecosystems, microscopic organisms and other environmental subjects.
