Original Score Composed by Austin Ali

Audio Production by Steve Kaplan

Videography by Katie Osborn

——————————————————–

When describing the reason why the United States government created the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, famed science communicator and astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson cited the Apollo missions to the moon as the primary impetus. On the subject, Dr. Tyson said, “a cosmic perspective can descend on you such that your survival and the survival of others are aligned in a way that maybe you’re going to do something about it.”

The musical composition A Cosmic Perspective by Austin Ali dives into the PhD research of Katie Osborn (UCLA Environmental Engineering), unraveling reams of data from NASA’s Sentinel satellites studying the bar-built estuaries of the California coast into a work for brass quintet and film projection. Just as estuaries join rivers and oceans, A Cosmic Perspective attempts to demonstrate humanity’s inarguable effect on our environment and urges our scientists, artists, and citizens to collaborate—to take action with the unifying perspective from above of our shared blue gem.

Commissioned by Climate Notes @ UCLA, with special thanks to the generosity of Ms. Suzanne Morgen.