Selected Works

In 2020, the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 upended life as we know it in a matter of weeks. The crisis also sparked an unprecedented global effort to understand and contain the virus—and find a treatment for the disease it causes. NOVA: Decoding COVID19 joins doctors on the frontlines of the pandemic, and meets the scientists racing to develop treatments and vaccines. The film also takes a hard look at the origins of this virus, its impact on the human body, and the conditions that led to this global pandemic.

How do you study giant armadillos when hardly anyone has ever seen one? Or figure out if a whale is losing weight—without getting too close? NOVA: Animal Espionage meets scientists all over the world who are employing camera and drone technologies to keep a close watch animals without disturbing them. Capturing everything from the unexpected to the comical, these technologies are giving wildlife managers and conservationists insights into animal behavior that will help them fight extinction and habitat loss.

Leonardo da Vinci was arguably one of the greatest artists who ever lived. He was also an obsessive scientist and inventor who dreamed up complex machines centuries ahead of his time — including parachutes, armored tanks, and robots. On the 500th anniversary of his death, and with the help of biographer Walter Isaacson, NOVA investigates the secrets of Leonardo’s success in Decoding Da Vinci, investigating how his scientific curiosity shaped his artistic genius and led to the creation of the Mona Lisa.

The search for extraterrestrial life is an age-old quest that is now accelerating, thanks to breakthroughs in science and technology. The prospect of finding life beyond Earth has never been stronger, despite the daunting obstacles that remain. NOVA: Are We Alone? joins leading explorers as they search the galaxy for signs of life and intelligence on other planets, and asks an important question: if we do find life out there, what does that mean for our planet?

Once the envy of the world, the U.S. education system faces more challenges than ever, as evidenced by lagging test scores and underfunded schools. As the divide between rich and poor widens, the goal of preparing all students for college and the workforce gets harder by the day. NOVA: School of the Future asks: Can the science of learning—including insights from neuroscientists, psychologists, and educators—reveal how kids’ brains work, and show which techniques are most likely to engage growing minds? Teachers, students, parents, and scientists take center stage as NOVA explores a new vision for the school of the future.

Four and a half billion years ago, young Earth was a hellish place of meteorite impacts and noxious gases. Then, in a process that has puzzled scientists for decades, life emerged. But how? NOVA joins mineralogist Robert Hazen as he journeys around the globe to advance a counterintuitive idea: that the beginning of life on Earth started with microbial life embedded in the rocks and minerals beneath our feet.

On June 6, 1944, the Allies launched the biggest armada in history. In less than 24 hours, more than 5,000 ships and 200,000 soldiers crossed the English Channel to invade Normandy’s beaches and liberate Europe from the Nazis. Hundreds of Allied ships sank while running the gauntlet of mines and firepower, creating one of the world's largest underwater archaeological sites. NOVA: D-Day’s Sunken Secrets highlights the ingenious technology that helped the Allies overcome German defenses, and features first-hand accounts from veterans who return to the site of this epic battle.

Between 2002 through mid-2013, the New York Police Department (NYPD) reported making more than 5 million stops.  More than 80 percent of those stopped were Black and Latino youth, and 88 percent of the stops did not result in evidence of any crime. In this installment of her Black in America series, Soledad O’Brien uses video evidence and interviews to show how the lives of Black and Latino youth and their families have been fractured by aggressive policing. Black and Blue introduces viewers to those who have been frisked without cause hundreds of times, and the police offers who insist they’re just fighting crime.