Documentary Filmmaker, U-M Alum to Speak in Northern Michigan About Making Science Fun for All

The free, public event, titled “The Art of Science Filmmaking with Sharon Shattuck,” is 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 29, at Charlevoix Public Library, located at 220 Clinton St. in Charlevoix, Michigan, followed by a reception.

“We are thrilled to once again partner with the incredible team at Charlevoix Public Library to bring the fascinating world of science out into the community,” said Dr. Aimée Classen, director of the U-M Biological Station and a professor in the U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

“The planet needs more creative thinkers like Sharon who can bring humor, drama and compelling storytelling to research and discovery.”

While in northern Michigan, Shattuck also will screen new films at the UMBS campus for students, researchers, staff and their families.

Shattuck’s documentary films have broadcast on the New York Times, PBS and Netflix and she cohosted a Spotify Original podcast, but she said she will always consider herself a botanist first.

In fact, Shattuck started building her film production skills at the U-M Biological Station in Pellston with a funny film about parasites while working as a teaching assistant (TA) for a General Ecology course in 2009.

Shattuck's first experience at UMBS was as a student taking a course in spring 2002 while a U-M undergraduate student studying forest ecology in Program in the Environment (PitE). She later returned to the field research station along Douglas Lake to do undergraduate student research with a mentor studying cattails and to serve as a teaching assistant for academic courses from 2006 through 2009.

“The spirit of UMBS was and is a huge inspiration for me,” Shattuck said. “The playfulness and humor of my colleagues and friends; the boundless curiosity and intelligence of the researchers; and the delight of teaching students cool things about nature — I've taken all of that with me in my work as a filmmaker.”

In honor of her upcoming talk co-hosted by UMBS and Charlevoix Public Library, read our Q&A with Sharon Shattuck.

Q. We’re thrilled to welcome you to the UMBS community in July. Tell us about yourself.

I'm so happy to be back at UMBS this summer! I'm from Petoskey, Michigan, and studied forest ecology at the University of Michigan, in the PitE program. After college I worked at the Field Museum in Chicago in the tropical botany department before going to grad school at NYU for documentary journalism. I got an internship at the NPR show Radiolab and from there, I moved into nonfiction filmmaking, TV production and podcasting. My documentary films have broadcast on the New York Times, PBS and Netflix and I cohosted a Spotify Original podcast, but I will always consider myself a botanist first and a filmmaker second.

Q. This won’t be your first experience at the research and teaching campus along Douglas Lake. You are an alumna of the University of Michigan Biological Station. When were you here and what classes did you take?

My introduction to UMBS was through a general ecology course waaaay back in the day after my freshman year. Immediately I absolutely loved UMBS — the environment, the people — it felt like a big family. After that first spring, I was lucky enough to get a UROP with Dr. Nancy Tuchman studying Typha (cattails), and once I graduated I returned for several summers as a TA. I was a teaching assistant for General Ecology for several years, and Field Botany of Northern Michigan.

Q. Do you have any favorite memories during your time here?

I have so many fun memories, but names would need to be changed to protect the innocent. One summer my friend Alex and I spent way too much time training the chipmunks behind our cabins to scamper up my leg to eat sunflower seeds out of my hand (I think I even tried lying down so they would eat off my belly at one point! Do not recommend — I ended up with little red claw marks all over my torso).

But really, I loved the people I met at UMBS and even now, when I'm able to catch up with my UMBS friends it's like no time has passed.

Q. What inspired you to come back this year?

Any chance I get, I love to reconnect with old friends and visit UMBS. This year, I have a series of new short films about microbes out, and I was looking through my film archive (including films that haven't been released yet) and thought, wouldn't it be fun to screen some of this work at UMBS, and pull back the curtain on science filmmaking?

Q. You’re an ecologist turned filmmaker. What was your focus as an ecologist and why did you pivot to bringing science to life on screen?

I am a forest ecologist by training, but after undergraduate, while I was working at the Field Museum, I became transfixed by the NPR science show Radiolab and thought, "I could do that!" I've always liked to write stories, but I didn't know a thing about how to shoot video or how to put together and edit a film, much less a podcast. So I went to graduate school to learn the nuts and bolts of storytelling. While the stories I've told since then have varied a lot and aren't always 'science stories,' my background allows me to think like a scientist when researching and putting together stories.

Q. You have an amazing, unique career. Did UMBS plant any seeds that led you this way? I’m told you started building your film production skills at the Biological Station with a very funny film about parasites.

Absolutely! I filmed my first movie, a short, funny film about parasites (Parasites: A User's Guide) while at UMBS as a General Ecology TA in 2009 (that film was actually nominated for a Student Academy Award!). I think that the spirit of UMBS was and is a huge inspiration for me; the playfulness and humor of my colleagues and friends; the boundless curiosity and intelligence of the researchers; and the delight of teaching students cool things about nature — I've taken all of that with me in my work as a filmmaker.

Q. You particularly focus on women in science in your Emmy-nominated feature documentary “Picture A Scientist”. Why did you choose that and what made it so meaningful for you?

Picture A Scientist initially came after we heard about a group of 16 women professors at MIT, led by biologist Nancy Hopkins, who collected data in the 1990s to prove that they were being marginalized and paid less than their male colleagues. We decided to make a film that explores the basic question, "why are there still so few women in science?" We included Nancy's story, as well as two other personal stories from women in science (chemist Raychelle Burks and geologist Jane Willenbring), and then folded in data from researchers studying things like implicit bias to essentially "back up" the personal anecdotes from our subjects. The film was personal for me in that I think a lot about what we are losing as a society when women and other marginalized groups are cut out of, or forced to leave, science. What great discoveries have been lost to us because certain women dropped out to pursue a less hostile path?

I am so proud of how the film turned out, and in 2025 it feels more relevant than ever.

Q. You use hand-made puppetry and other creativity in sharing science — including microbes — with the general public. How do you come up with these great ideas and why do you believe it’s important?

I think puppetry is such a fun, playful tool. First of all, it's totally goofy-looking, and it disarms people. It's also a great way to visualize things that are very small, or things that happened in the past, in a way that's less literal and stodgy than typical play-by-play recreations. I come up with ideas for stories based on what I'm reading that I find interesting, and by speaking with other stakeholders who may have stories they hope to see on screen.

Q. What do you wish everyone knew about microbes?

Did you know that some microbes can digest radioactive waste? And some can light up in unison to create displays of glowing oceans over 100,000km2, that are visible from space?! I'm just blown away by their variety and collective power.

Q. What is/was your favorite thing to do at UMBS?

I have very fond memories of sitting in a hammock and reading (or grading!) next to Douglas Lake, listening to screen doors creaking open and slamming shut while the waves lap at the shore. 

Q. What do you miss most about UMBS?

Living in an environment where your friends are just a few steps away and you can pop over anytime.

Q. If there’s one thing you want a prospective student or researcher to know about UMBS, what would it be? 

Just try it. Go for a spring or summer semester, and I promise you'll be hooked. I'm so glad I went to UMBS early in my college career; I was able to return for many years and really grow my roots in the community.

The U-M Biological Station — the largest of U-M's campuses — is one of the nation's largest and longest continuously operating field research stations.

Founded in 1909, the Biological Station supports long-term research and education. It is where students and scientists from across the globe live and work as a community to learn from the place.

The University of Michigan Biological Station serves as a gathering place to learn from the natural world, advance research and education, and inspire action. We leverage over a century of research and transformative experiences to drive discoveries and solutions to benefit Michigan and beyond.

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