Filmmaker and violinist Kenji Williams will premiere multimedia "Bella Gaia" Sept. 7 to close Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival symposium in Denver

From a Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival press release and info from its web site:

Now in its third decade, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival’s biennial 6-day conference is an unmatched international industry event drawing 650+ leaders in science, conservation, broadcasting and media to celebrate the world's finest nature films. The 2013 Festival is slated for the last week in September.

In alternating years, JHWFF hosts a Symposium targeting 300-plus technology and non-broadcast media professionals. The next conference is slated for Sept. 5-7 at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science in Denver’s City Park. This year, the JHWFF will launch the Science Media Awards, a prestigious competition to showcase the extraordinary films that illustrate the wonders of science and its far-reaching impact on our daily lives.

Join visionary thinkers in science and public media, for three full days of provocative panels, immersive workshops and casual networking. This year, we launch the inaugural Jackson Hole Science Media Awards competition, with special sessions featuring finalist programs and winners announced at a Gala Celebration Thursday, September 6.

The closing reception on Saturday night includes a 6 p.m. premiere in the IMAX Theater and Gates Fulldome for “Tornado Alley 3D” by Sean Casey. It’s followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and scientists and a chance to see the unique research vehicles up close. After that, comes a premiere of “Bella Gaia” with a live performance by award winning filmmaker, composer and violinist, Kenji Williams. Inspired by astronauts who spoke of the life changing power of seeing the Earth from space, he created “Bella Gaia” to simulate this transformative effect. Working closely with NASA’s scientific visualization studio, “Bella Gaia” successfully simulates space flight, taking the audience on a spectacular journey around planet Earth. With live music, performance art, large-scale projected NASA scientific visualizations and cutting-edge technology, “Bella Gaia” showcases a thought-provoking stream of crucial scientific data regarding our planet's imperiled ecosystems while celebrating the amazing cultural heritage of humanity and explores humanity’s ultimate challenge as we enter a new epoch called the Anthropocene; where humans become the driving force of environmental change on planet Earth. 

Click here to register for the 2012 Symposium.. For more information, please call the JHWFF at 307.733.7016.

Fifth-grader from Lander wins Arbor Day poster contest

Wyoming Arbor Day Poster winner (and budding artist) Fiachra Rottinghaus, a home-schooled fifth grader from Lander, poses with Gov. Matt Mead at the Arbor Day ceremony April 25 across from the State Capitol. Fiachra holds her winning poster. Photo by Cathy R. Lujan, PIO, Office of State Lands & Investments

"Starry Night" -- as seen from a Landsat satellite

The USGS Earth Resources Observation & Science Center offers an image gallery of artsy shots from satellites. Here's an example entitled "Van Gogh from Space."

In the style of Van Gogh's painting "Starry Night," massive congregations of greenish phytoplankton swirl in the dark water around Gotland, a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea. Phytoplankton are microscopic marine plants that form the first link in nearly all ocean food chains. Population explosions, or blooms, of phytoplankton, like the one shown here, occur when deep currents bring nutrients up to sunlit surface waters, fueling the growth and reproduction of these tiny plants. Taken July 13, 2005.