Topics: Immersive Learning, College of Communication Information and Media
June 27, 2012
Information graphics created by immersive learning classes at Ball State University have contributed to global news organization Circle of Blue and its founder being honored by the Rockefeller Foundation with the Centennial Innovation Award.
Founded in 2000 by J. Carl Ganter, Circle of Blue is a consortium of leading journalists, design experts, and scientists dedicated to chronicling the murky intricacies of the global water crisis.
Under the mentorship of Jennifer George-Palilonis, George and Frances Ball distinguished professor of multimedia at Ball State, students worked with Circle of Blue staff in 2010-11 to produce path-breaking interactive graphics and on-the-ground reporting about the growing confrontation between water, energy and climate interests that are pulling at China and the United States, the world's two largest economies.
The Rockefeller Foundation specifically cited Circle of Blue's Choke Point: U.S. and Choke Point: China projects for helping the world to better understand and respond to the global confrontation between rising demand for energy and shrinking reserves of fresh water.
By Marc Ransford, Senior Communications Strategist