The Texas Coast is unique for many different reasons –– it’s a major port, home to thousands of unique wildlife species, and for Texans, it’s a popular tourism destination.
This means there are lots of people with different ideas and hopes for its population and our natural resources. Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies –– an affiliate of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi –– uses data and science to help inform these decisions between businesses, government, and the community itself.
We planned for a whole week in Corpus Christi –– covering everything the Harte Research team did out in the field and capturing interviews with key stakeholders.
“I have the privilege of watching the sun rise every morning on my way to work. Blasts of pink and purple… so I get to see the coast every morning.” Executive Director of Harte Research David Yoskowitz recounts what centers him every morning.
And it’s true, the morning sky bleeds new colors each second as day breaks. We saw a sunrise every morning while we were there.
The Ocotillo Films crew paired with various research groups within the institute. These groups did things like shark tagging, oyster research, and water quality tests. All of this data is brought back to campus, collected, and categorized.
We met Ph.D. candidates working on their dissertations and professors trying to perfect their research. However, they all had the same goal –– to bring communities together and protect The Gulf of Mexico.
“Our constituents are happy to see a new, refreshed look of material come from the institute,” Emily McCauley the Marketing and Communications Manager for HRI said. “It’s elevated our development outreach since we have something people can watch and experience.”
“The main thing that our team took away from working with Ocotillo Films was just how seamless the whole process was – from the comradery, the quality, the artistry, as well as how quick and simple the administrative end of things was.
Our video was exactly as we had envisioned, if not more. They kept an art about the piece rather than just purely educational and stuffy. We’re confident our video will impress and last us for many years.”
Weaving through the Laguna Madre and running along the coastline at sunset made for one of the most memorable productions, and we’re grateful for it.