When my communications professor Sheena Rossiter sent an email out about the opportunity to work on the Water We Doing? podcast, I wanted to get involved. 

I don’t know much about aquatic environmental science, but something I have always been drawn to is the ocean and water. 

I have a strong love for being in the water and I think that is what drew me to this project – not just to hone my skills in the audio and podcasting industry, but also to learn more about this vast space that makes up 71 per cent of the Earth. To learn more about a place that I feel comfortable in.

I worked on the Water We Doing? podcast over the summer through the Aquatic Biosphere Project funded by the Environmental Studies Institute at MacEwan. I was the audio and video editor, putting together the interviews that host Dave Evans conducted with different experts on aquatic animal ecology. This meant editing out pauses, stutters and mistakes to make it clean, and editing it for clarity. 

This experience has not just added to my experience with audio and video editing, but it also has ignited a sense of awareness. We always hear how we need to be taking more care of the environment, but what Dave and Dr. Ross Shaw have done with this podcast is show the audience the effects their actions have on aquatic wildlife. This has had a huge impact for me.

I was originally in psychology when I began at MacEwan, but was struggling with where I wanted to go. When a friend told me about the journalism program, there was a spark of joy and excitement I hadn’t felt for learning in a long time.

Something great about being in communications is meeting people and reporting on things that we might not normally see ourselves doing. With this project in particular, I got to work with Dave and Dr. Shaw, two people who are so knowledgeable about water, but who still valued my knowledge on the editing and production side of things. 

– Leanna Bressan, Bachelor of Communication Studies

To be considered for a future Student Snapshots story, or to suggest someone we should feature, please contact our communications team at communications@macewan.ca.