Bagnani Hall was packed with enthusiastic students, faculty and staff for the world premiere of Trent University’s “Wild Thing” lip dub video on Thursday, December 6, produced by the Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program (ELS).

Click here to see the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK97HBluvGE

Dr. Craig Brunetti, director of the ELS Graduate Program welcomed the crowd that included a few new celebrities on campus. "This lip dub video captures the essence of our graduate program, emphasizing the amazing research we do in the field and in the laboratory. We also wanted to convey the enthusiasm that Trent faculty, staff, and students have for learning and that we can also have fun," he said.

To much applause, Professor Brunetti thanked Linda Cardwell, the program coordinator who was a major force behind seeing the project to completion that was over a year in the making. Ms. Cardwell thanked the many students for their dedication and introduced local artist and filmmaker Lester Alfonso, who attended the launch and shared some insight into the video.

“My hope is that this work will help to inspire a generation of future environmental superstars. Wild Thing really is everything,” he said. “After going through this amazing experience at Trent, the song now resonates for me with a love of nature and all things wild.”

Cheers and laughter filled the hall as the lip dub played – with an immediate request for a second viewing. Within 12 hours the video received 3000 hits on Youtube.

For every hit on Youtube that the video receives, 0.1 cent will be donated to a scholarship to help a future ELS grad student, thanks to support from Trent University Alumni, Advancement, Dr. Chris Metcalfe, the Graduate Student Association, Havelock Truck and Auto, and many more.

See the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK97HBluvGE

The Environmental & Life Sciences Graduate Program (ELS) is an interdisciplinary program offering both masters and doctoral degrees.  Students are supervised by faculty members from Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Resource Sciences, Forensic Sciences, Geography, and Psychology, as well as by scientists at the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Health Canada, and other governmental and non-governmental organizations.  There are typically 160-190 students enrolled and the program annually accepts an average of 50 students out of approximately 300 applications.

Posted on Friday, December 7, 2012.