For each threat the Hudson River has ever faced, there’s always been a proportional force working to protect it. A cast of characters ranging from sailors to farmers to citizen-scientists emerge as heroes, tirelessly defending “America’s first river.” Join Jon Bowermaster for a screening of The Living River and Seeds of Hope, followed by discussion.
- A Living River chronicles the efforts of Riverkeeper, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and others to restore the life and the ecosystem in the Hudson River.
- Seeds of Hope follows the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe at Akwesasne, the Hudson Valley Farm Hub and Seedshed as they honor Native American seeds that are at risk of disappearing. Can they preserve their rich agricultural heritage and the stories that each seed holds?
Writer, filmmaker and adventurer, Jon Bowermaster is a six-time grantee of the National Geographic Expeditions Council. One of the Society’s ‘Ocean Heroes,’ his first assignment for National Geographic Magazine was documenting a 3,741-mile crossing of Antarctica by dogsled. Jon has written eleven books and produced/directed more than thirty documentary films. His feature documentaries include ‘Dear President Obama,’ ‘Antarctica, on the Edge,’ ‘After the Spill’ and ‘Ghost Fleet.’ (oceans8films.com) His National Geographic-sponsored Oceans 8 project took him and his teams around the world by sea kayak over the course of ten years (1999-2008), bringing back stories from the Aleutian Islands to French Polynesia, Gabon to Tasmania, and more, reporting on how the planet’s one ocean and its various coastlines are faring in today’s busy world.
Jon lives in New York’s Hudson Valley. He is the President of the One Ocean Media Media Foundation and Chairman of the Advisory Board of Adventurers and Scientist for Conservation. For the past several years, Jon and his One Ocean Media Foundation / Oceans 8 Films team have focused on a series of short films about the environmental risks to, and hopes for the Hudson River Valley, the birthplace of the American environmental movement. Jon is a Visiting Lecturer at Bard College in the Environment and Urban Studies Department. Tune into his weekly radio show/podcast, ‘The Green Radio Hour with Jon Bowermaster,’ at radiokingston.org.