Author: Dawson Oakley      Major: Biological Engineering

Getting into position to shoot footage near Silverton, CO

My name is Dawson Oakley and I’m a Biological Engineering major at the College of Engineering. My mentor is Dr. Brian Haggard with the Biological Engineering department, and I’m currently in the first semester of my two-semester research grant period.

I found my mentor, Dr. Haggard, in Spring of 2020. After speaking with several professors about my research ideas, Dr. Haggard seemed like the best fit. My idea was to create a video that highlighted climate change impacts and how engineering can be used to mitigate those issues. As an engineering major, this project was one of the more creativity focused ideas that had been presented, but I felt like this topic was something that needed to be talked about. I’m also minoring in sustainability, so issues related to climate change are something I’ve become much more aware of. Making videos has been a passion of mine for several years now, so this project seemed like the perfect way to bridge the gap between engineering, sustainability, and videography.

I started working on my thesis in Fall of 2020 and came up with several potential topics for the video. After narrowing them down, the final topics ended up being greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture and access to fresh water. Dr. Runkle in our department does research on methane production in rice and has worked to develop new methods of rice production that drastically decrease the amount of GHG produced. I decided that his research would be a great first topic for the video. I still hadn’t found my subject for the second topic, but this semester I found the perfect fit. Zack Wofford, a past graduate from our program, went to work as an engineer at the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District in Salt Lake City, Utah. In this position, he works to restore streams around Great Salt Lake that are crucial for the preservation of the lake and the wildlife that relies on it. I reached out to Zack to see if he would be interested in being the second subject of my project, and he happily accepted.

Because the second half of the project is centered around Great Salt Lake in Utah, I applied for an Honors College Short-Term Travel Grant. Thankfully, I was awarded the grant and have since planned the trip and booked everything necessary for travel. I’ll be making stops in several national parks along the way, including Grand Canyon, Zion, and Arches. I’ll be staying three days in Salt Lake City to interview Zack, shoot footage of some of the projects he’s currently working on, and hopefully document some of the beautiful wildlife in the area. Using the Honors College Research Grant, I was also able to purchase some camera equipment that will be useful for conducting interviews. I’m also planning on collecting footage of Dr. Runkle’s rice research this summer when most of the action happens. He usually has a group of students in the field to help conduct research, so some small interviews with them might be useful as well.

I’m ready to get started on the project this summer, and I’m excited to see where it takes me!