Dena Seidel
Director, Editor, Second Camera, Science Storytelling Mentor
Dena Seidel is an award-winning science filmmaker and science communication researcher. Over the past 15 years, Seidel and colleagues at Rutgers developed an innovative science-in-action video storytelling model that translates science for public audiences while training the next generation of science communicators. Seidel has directed and produced several films featuring Rutgers scientists for national and international distribution and broadcast while including undergraduates in the creative process including “Fields of Devotion“, “Antarctic Edge: 70° South” “Atlantic Crossing: A Robot’s Daring Mission” and “Generation at Risk” and The War After. Her students have directed several successful research-based films on their own including The Women of Nsongwe, Skycatcher, The Princess of Piombino and most recently Life on the Edge: Exploring New Jersey’s Ecosystems and Biting Back: The Lifesaving Potential of Catnip and Stories from the Marsh.
Seidel supervises undergraduates who shape science video data into compelling film stories as part of their own science learning through storytelling research.