Philadelphia Environmental Film Festival 2020

Program 02 - AMERICAN ADVENTURES

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Sponsored by The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University


Producer Hillary Pierce (The River and the Wall) talks with moderator Niki Stewart (Academy Chief Learning Engagement Officer) and Carol Collier (Senior Advisor for Watershed Management and Policy), about habitat fragmentation and impacts to community and local habitats (Delaware River and waterways).


Hillary Pierce, Producer

Hillary Pierce is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker based in Marfa, Texas. She is a part of the producing team behind both of Keith Maitland's 2016 documentaries TOWER and A SONG FOR YOU: THE AUSTIN CITY LIMITS STORY. Hillary began her documentary career at Maysles Films under the tutelage of Direct Cinema pioneer Albert Maysles and earned an MFA in Documentary Film at Wake Forest University. TOWER won the Grand Jury Documentary Prize and Audience Award at SXSW in 2016, broadcast nationally on PBS’ Independent Lens in February 2017, was shortlisted for an Academy Award and won the 2018 Emmy for Outstanding Historical Documentary. She most recently produced THE RIVER AND THE WALL directed by Ben Masters that premiered at SXSW in 2019 and won the Louis Black "Lone Star" Award. It was released theatrically and digitally in May of 2019 and broadcast on Starz in October 2019. It continues to play festivals worldwide, as well as community and educational screenings. THE RIVER AND THE WALL is nominated for the 2020 Emmy for Outstanding Nature Documentary. 


Carol R. Collier, FAICP, FAWRA,

Sr. Advisor, Watershed Management and Policy at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University 

crc92@drexel.edu

Ms. Collier serves as senior advisor and government liaison at the Academy of Natural Sciences. One of her main projects is the Delaware River Watershed Initiative (DRWI), a cross cutting collaboration working to conserve and restore the waters that supply drinking water to 15 million people in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The DRWI, working with over 60 organizations, is scaling up impact and accelerating the protection of important landscapes, restoration of degraded areas, and adoption of green infrastructure and best farming practices through on-the-ground action, policy change and outreach/education. She advises on watershed management and development of more resilient systems for an uncertain future throughout the nation and the world.


Ms. Collier served over 15 years as Executive Director of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC). Before joining DRBC, Ms. Collier was Executive Director of Pennsylvania’s 21st Century Environment Commission. Governor Tom Ridge formed the Environment Commission in 1997 to establish the Commonwealth’s environmental priorities and to recommend a course of action for the next century.


In 1995 she became the Regional Director of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) Southeast Region. Prior to PADEP, Ms. Collier served 19 years with BCM Environmental Engineers, Inc., Plymouth Meeting, Pa., beginning as a student intern and ultimately becoming Vice President of Environmental Planning, Science and Risk.


Ms. Collier has a B.A. in Biology from Smith College and a Masters in Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. She was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners (FAICP) and is a Certified Senior Ecologist. 


She is on the Boards of the PA/DE Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, the Pinchot Institute for Conservation (Chair – 2011-2012), the Water Resources Association of the Delaware River Basin and the Fund for Fairmount WaterWorks. She was President of the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) in 2013. In 2004 she was a member of a nine person U.S./China/Japan team to assist the Peoples Republic of China with river basin management. She has also participated in water management and sustainable forest practice events along the Yangtze River in China and in the rain forests of Ecuador which involved building sustainable communities. In 2015 she attended the COP21 climate change talks in Paris and in 2016 the COP22 in Marrakesh. She believes proper management of water resources is the key to our economic and environmental future.


Niki Ciccotelli Stewart, Chief Learning Engagement Officer, ANS

Niki Ciccotelli Stewart has 25 years’ experience as an artist, educator, and administrator.  She is the chief learning and engagement officer at The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia, overseeing the exhibits, learning, visitor services, and volunteer departments. She is charged with the overall visitor experience, and creating outstanding, meaningful, and relevant visitor experiences for every person that visits – and, in the course of this work, reimagining what a natural history museum can be in the 21st century. Prior to this, Niki spent 11 years at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. Her work helped take the museum from idea to reality, building exhibitions and programming. She co-led early project teams on the opening of a Frank Lloyd Wright house, the expansion of the museum (The Momentary), and the founding of Art Bridges. She has also worked at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and with The Walt Disney Company. Niki holds a BFA from Ringling School of Art and Design, and has studied at Johns Hopkins University, The College of New Jersey, Moore College of Art and Design, and the Getty Leadership Institute.

  • Runtime
    21 minutes