FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

‘One Water’: Making a Splash on May 7

Final 2008 Sea Secrets lecture showcases
acclaimed documentary about precious global resource

VIRGINIA KEY, FLA. (May. 1, 2008) — Worldwide, fears have grown over the role that clean drinking water will play in the Earth’s collective future. Potable sources of water are limited and dwindling, sending ripple effects through every aspect of life on the planet. In a cross-disciplinary collaboration to celebrate the planet’s relationship to water, and bring the issue to the forefront of global consciousness, faculty, students, and staff from the University of Miami’s School of Communication, College of Engineering and Frost School of Music embarked on a six-year-long project that produced the critically acclaimed documentary film, One Water.

As the final engagement of the 2008 Sea Secrets lecture series to take place on Wednesday, May 7 at 6 p.m., Ali Habashi, co-director and editor of the film, will host a screening of One Water and provide answers to community questions about the movie and the impact of freshwater shortages on world populations. Filmed in 14 countries, One Water is an immersive experience that shows the state of the world’s fresh water and its affect on people, which is becoming aggravated by population growth and climate change, and greatly compromises the future of all life on the planet.

This visually stunning 67-minute movie raises the essential question about clean, safe water being a basic human right. It includes candid interviews with many international notables like the H.H. Tenzin Gyatso, the XIV Dalai Lama and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and shows how people from India to Ecuador, Hungary to Kenya, and China to the United States are struggling to obtain water for their most basic needs, while the more fortunate thoughtlessly squander this precious resource and even fight over control of water resources.

The lecture will take place in the Rosenstiel School Auditorium, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Virginia Key, Fla.  The event is free and open to the public, and includes a reception at 5:30 p.m., preceding the event.

Sponsored by The Lawrence J. and Florence A. De George Charitable Trust, and the Charles N. and Eleanor Knight Leigh Foundation, Sea Secrets is designed for the South Florida non-scientific community.  The events, which are free and open to the general public, are designed to provide insight and information about the oceans that cover two-thirds of our planet, and much of which, are still an enigma.

For further information, please call Laura Bracken, Outreach Coordinator, at 305-421-4207.

About the Rosenstiel School
Founded in the 1940’s, the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science has grown into one of the world’s premier marine and atmospheric research institutions. Offering dynamic interdisciplinary academics, the Rosenstiel School is dedicated to helping communities to better understand the planet, participating in the establishment of environmental policies, and aiding in the improvement of society and quality of life.  For more information, please visit www.rsmas.miami.edu

Media Contact:
Barbra Gonzalez
Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science
305.421.4704
barbgo@rsmas.miami.edu