Emmy Award-winning science and history documentarian Sarah Holt will deliver a presentation on “Turning Complex Science Stories into Compelling Television” at the 27th annual Alfred and Julia Hill Lecture at the University of Tennessee’s McClung Museum Auditorium on April 2 at 8 p.m.
Admission is free and open to the public. Free parking will also be available on Circle Park Drive and in nearby lots. Refreshments will be served before and after the lecture.
Holt has won three Emmy Awards for her scientific and historical film work: RX for Survival (2006), Shackleton’s Voyage of Endurance (2003), and MacArthur (1999). She has also received three Kavli Science Journalism Awards, presented by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and nine additional national honors. (A full list of her documentary awards is provided below).
Holt has produced, directed, written, or edited more than 30 hours of broadcast television. Her work regularly appears on the acclaimed PBS science series, Nova, where she has produced 18 episodes. She has also teamed up with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Education Resources Group to produce such films as The Day the Mesozoic Died and the three-part series, The Making of the Fittest.
Holt’s latest Nova documentary, Addiction, first aired in October 2018 and explores the science of drug addiction in light of the national opioid crisis. In 2016, she produced, directed, and wrote, Can Alzheimer’s Be Stopped?, which followed patients attempting to slow or stop the disease after diagnosis.
Her production company, Holt Productions, is based in Boston.
The Hill Lecture series brings distinguished science journalists to campus to share their thoughts on science, society, and the mass media. The lecture series is made possible by an endowment created by Tom Hill and Mary Frances Hill Holton in honor of their parents, Alfred and Julia Hill, founders of The Oak Ridger. The Hill family’s endowment of the lecture series was a gift to the UT School of Journalism & Electronic Media in the College of Communication & Information.
SARAH HOLT’S DOCUMENTARY AWARDS
EMMY
2006 – RX for Survival, Outstanding Informational Programming, (PBS)
2003 – Shackleton’s Voyage of Endurance, Best Historical Documentary, (NOVA)
1999 – MacArthur Best Picture, Best Series, (American Experience)
AAAS SCIENCE JOURNALISM AWARD
2012 – Cracking Your Genetic Code
2010 – How Memory Works
2002 – 18 Ways to Make a Baby
JACKSON HOLE FILM FESTIVAL
2014 – The Day the Mesozoic Died, Finalist, Earth Science, (HHMI)
2012 – The Making of the Fittest, Best Short Program, (HHMI)
CINE GOLDEN EAGLE
2012 – Cracking Your Genetic Code
2007 – Ghost in Your Genes
2004 – World in the Balance
TELLY AWARD
2013 – The Day the Mesozoic Died (HHMI)
2012 – The Making of the Fittest (HHMI)
NATIONAL ACADEMIES KECK AWARD
2012 – Cracking Your Genetic Code (finalist)
2006 – Rise of the Superbug (finalist)