Geomicrobiologist Yuri Gorby returns to his childhood home of Bethany, WV, to give voice to people suffering from chemical exposure who live and work in the gas fields of PA, WV and OH. Realizing that scientific assessments take years to complete — time insufficient to avoid the environmental disaster unfolding before his eyes, Yuri teams up with a documentary film team, citizen action groups and medical, legal and government experts to shine light on those living amidst toxic gases and contaminated fluids within one mile of well pads, compressor stations, cryogenic separators, crystalline silica mines and transport stations.
Geomicrobiology expert Yuri Gorby recently joined Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as the Howard N. Blitman '50 P.E. Career Development Professor in Engineering. He is an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Gorby's interdisciplinary research is at the nexus of environmental engineering and biology. An accomplished microbial physiologist and bioprocess engineer, his work embraces the use of controlled cultivation to understand the fundamental properties of bacteria for a range of applications.
Branda Miller is an internationally recognized media artist, and Professor of Media Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Her media art works have been screened at festivals, museums and exhibitions, broadcast nationally and internationally, and used in community organizing and education. She is an Emmy award-winning editor who has worked in the media industry of L.A. and N.Y.C.
Elizabeth is a media-maker and educator based in New York City. For the past five years her video work focused on documenting smart transportation design and policy around the world for the blog Streetfilms.org. Before she focused her work on alternative transportation, she mainly worked at alternative media outlets. Elizabeth produced for the independent TV/Radio program, Democracy Now!, edited for Worldfocus on PBS, and freelanced for Grit TV with Laura Flanders. She is currently freelancing for The International Institute for Sustainable Development and teaches video production at The New School.
Kim Fortun is a cultural anthropologist and professor in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer. She has studied and taught about environmental disasters and communities living near high-risk industrial facilities throughout her career.
