Environmental Studies

Story posted November 17, 2014

Event date(s): December 01, 2010 — December 01, 2010

Wesdnesday, November 19  7:00 PM
ES Common Room, Adams Hall

Award-winning photographer Nick Caloyianis will present a behind-the-scenes look at some of his groundbreaking film/research projects and the extraordinary effort these projects sometimes entail. Included will be the first-ever underwater encounter by man with a free-swimming Greenland shark,   first-ever underwater footage of a Great White shark in Atlantic waters (off Cape Cod), as well first-ever underwater footage and stills of Basking sharks in the Gulf of Maine.

Over a span of 30 years, Nick's artistry has been honored with numerous awards, including an Oscar, Primetime Emmys and a NOGI in the Arts.  He has directed and produced films for National Geographic and Discovery Channels, has filmed for IMAX and Hollywood screens and still continues to collaborate with marine scientists not only to record their work, but to help them make their groundbreaking discoveries.  He was the first to film the bizzare Greenland shark in Arctic waters. At the time (1995), not much was known about this polar creature.     Also an accomplished underwater photographer,  Nick’s still pictures have appeared in hundreds of national and international publications and is co-author of a highly popular summer read, “The Shark Handbook”, by Greg Skomal, Ph.D.

An avid conservationist, Nick has used his visuals to help in lobbying for the protection of sharks, the creation of undersea parks (e.g. Ras Mohammed Park in the Red Sea), as well as sanctuaries (for nurse shark mating areas in the Dry Tortugas).  Additionally, Nick’s company has been instrumental in raising awareness and much needed funding (for the highly successful Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative) to help restore marine habitats  in denuded areas through placement of low-lying cleaned structures in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean waters.  More recently, his visuals have helped raise awareness for much needed Federal protection of vital natural reefs, located in our mid-Atlantic waters offshore.

While at Bowdoin, Nick will also work with students in David Conover’s class: Seashore Digital Diaries, at the Bowdoin Marine Laboratory- kicking off a project on underwater filming.