Rosenstiel School graduate student Véronique Koch

University of Miami graduate student Véronique Koch is part of a team that has won a Suncoast Emmy award for “Sentinels of the Seas,” an episode of the WPBT2 nature series Changing Seas. Koch has been an associate producer for the series since 2009.

“Sentinels of the Seas” is about legacy contaminants and other pollutants that are finding their way into the marine food chain and eventually into human beings through the seafood they consume. Dolphins serve as the proverbial “canaries in the coal mine” since they rely on the oceans completely and show symptoms associated with the contaminants first. Jenny Litz, a Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science alumna and UM adjunct assistant professor, is a fisheries biologist for NOAA’s Southeast Florida Science Center who was featured in the episode, speaking about bottlenose dolphin physiology and pollutant levels in dolphins inhabiting Biscayne Bay, Florida.

Koch, who is originally from Luxembourg, is pursuing her master’s degree in marine biology and fisheries at the Rosenstiel School. She is studying black grouper ecology with David Dié, associate professor and director of the Cooperative Unit for Fisheries Education and Research. This slow-breeding species is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List because of its vulnerability to increases in exploitation.

Additionally, Koch started her own production company in 2008 to produce videos with scientific and environmental themes. Visit www.veroproductions.com to see some of the videos.

“I want to produce media with a purpose, and Changing Seas is the perfect vehicle for this,” said Koch. “It is shedding a light on our oceans and the urgent challenges they face. Our goal is to build awareness of this resource and to allow viewers to see the exciting marine science that is being conducted today.”

The Emmy-winning team is already at work on next season’s line-up. The new season will feature episodes on the threat of lionfish and the importance of coral restoration efforts, as well as an episode devoted to medicines from the sea, which will feature the National Resource for Aplysia on Virginia Key.

The series is supported through a grant from The Batchelor Foundation and WPBT2. Excerpts from the Emmy-winning show can be seen at www.changingseas.tv.