The film “Antarctica: The Great Awakens,” which features Rowan University professor Jennifer Walker, debuted at Climate Week NYC, one of the largest events to raise awareness for climate change.
Walker, an assistant professor environmental science in the School of Earth & Environment, is a featured scientist in the film that explores the role of Antarctica in global sea-level rise and climate change. It was produced by the Earth Observatory of Singapore, a research organization.
For the film, Walker embarked on a voyage to Antarctica with other researchers who provide scientific perspective on how climate change affects the world globally. This documentary provides a geological insight of the Antarctica landscape which faces a rising sea-level threat.
“It was a really special thing for me, getting to have been in a part of the film, and then be at the U.S. premiere,” said Walker.
Professor Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, led the Antarctica expedition. Other people involved with the project include Sean Davies, CEO of Green is the New Black, international award-winning director Liz Courtney, and renowned expedition manager Christine Amour-Levar.
Walker knew she had a passion for the field of science at a young age.
Growing up in Media, Pennsylvania, she ultimately saw herself as a future scientist or professor educating young people about environmental changes.
“I was really into environmental science starting in high school, and I was on the environmental science academic team until eventually winning the national competition in my junior year,” said Walker.
Walker has a Ph.D. in Oceanography from Rutgers University and taught at Bryn Mawr College and Rutgers before coming to Rowan. In New Jersey, Walker studies sea level rise and “ghost forests,” swaths of trees that have died off from salt water.
At Rowan University, Walker has established herself in the research field, as 21 of her research works have over 300 used citations since 2019.
“It’s humbling, I was able to write a few higher impact papers which got more citations than ever,” said Walker.
An earlier version of this article originally appeared in the The Whit, a student-operated campus news outlet for Rowan University and a content partner with South Jersey Climate News.
