SLU Faculty Explore Innovative Approaches for Digital Storytelling about the Environment
Faculty members from across campus recently convened to discuss innovative approaches to digital storytelling and explore ways the university’s Digital Scholarship team can support environmentally focused classes and projects. The gathering was led by the Digital Scholarship team, Center for the Environment Executive Director Diane Husic, and Nature Up North Director and Biology Professor Erika Barthelmess and brought together faculty from Environmental Studies, Outdoor Studies, English, Biology, Performance and Communication Arts, Global Studies, Digital Media and Film, and more.
Participants shared their experiences integrating digital storytelling into their courses and highlighted new opportunities for engaging students in immersive, interactive learning including podcasts, digital narratives, data visualizations, field recordings, and more.
Hosted in the recently renovated Digital Scholarship Studio, this event provided faculty with the opportunity to see and interact with equipment they and their students could use on upcoming projects, including a 360 camera, a MixPre3 audio recorder, and microphones purchased with the help of a grant awarded by the Northern New York Libraries Network in fall 2024 for “Digital Storytelling for the Environment and Climate Action.”
In their stories, observations, and comments, faculty underscored the power of digital media to connect students with real-world environmental challenges, whether through capturing soundscapes of local ecosystems, mapping climate data, or producing documentary-style narratives. As the group pointed out, powerful stories can make meaning out of data, discoveries, and conversations that might not be accessible to all audiences.
As English professor Paul Graham noted, “Scientists and storytellers need each other—desperately.”
Attendees also explored strategies for strengthening digital storytelling pedagogy and expanding access to resources that can help bring these projects to life. Key challenges associated with digital storytelling in the classroom were also addressed, such as instructors often feeling they have to “give up content” to allow time for teaching digital skills-building, uncertainty about how to effectively grade digital projects, and a lack of knowledge about best practices for citations and preventing copyright concerns.
Throughout the discussion, faculty emphasized the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration and institutional support. The Digital Scholarship team reaffirmed its commitment to providing technical expertise, training, and infrastructure to help faculty and students develop compelling, media-rich projects with lasting impact.
