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Ethan C. Parrish, Ph.D.

Documentary Filmmaker·Science Communicator·Geoscientist
Wenatchee, Washington / ethancparrish@gmail.com
Profile

A flourishing human future depends, in the broadest sense, on two things: our understanding of the natural world and our relationship with it. My work moves between both.

As a geoscientist, my PhD research focused on understanding ancient lakes and the rivers that fed them — high-resolution windows into vanished worlds. Lakes record the environments they existed within and the changes those environments endured; because they depend on their rivers, my research traces these large-scale sediment systems to understand the dynamics of a changing world, and what that can tell us about our own. But data alone has proven a poor instrument for shifting humanity's relationship with the planet. The second branch of my research moved toward that gap by assessing how art-integrated geoscience curriculum affects students' emotional connection to the material.

Since departing academia I now address this pressing issue via the medium of documentary film. Through character-driven films grounded in the conviction that people protect what they love, I seek to make complex scientific, ecological, and cultural stories emotionally legible.

Education
Ph.D. Geoscience — University of Wisconsin–Madison 2024
Cumulative GPA 3.967 (unofficial)
M.S. Geoscience — University of Wisconsin–Madison 2019
Cumulative GPA 3.942
B.A. Geology — Whitman College 2014
Cumulative GPA 3.455 · Major GPA 3.512 (unofficial)
Experience — Film Production
Owner — Whispering River Media Jan 2022 – Present
Wenatchee, WA

Personal production company creating authentic stories about the intersections of earth science and humanity.

  • Death of a Glacier — Iceland — An interdisciplinary art/science effort tied to research on deglaciation across the western hemisphere, in collaboration with glaciologist and concert bassist Andrew Jones (UW–Madison). Filmed in Iceland and Bolivia.
    Official selection, Madison Film Festival · Academic screening, 2025 European Geosciences Union Annual Meeting.
  • What's in a Name? — A 30-minute documentary on the partnership between UW Geology Museum scientist Dave Lovelace and the Wind River Reservation community that named three new taxa through multigenerational collaboration between Elders and Tribal students — a call to change colonial naming practices across the sciences.
    Official selections: Wisconsin Film Festival; Wyoming International Film Festival (Nominee, Best Wyoming Documentary); Wyoming Film Festival · Academic screenings: 2024 Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting; 2025 European Geosciences Union Annual Meeting; Sierra College ECOS × ASSC Earth Week screening (April 2026); Washakie Museum Paleontology Symposium, Worland, WY (July 2026).
Production Team — North Forty (N40) Nov 2023 – Present
Wenatchee, WA

Documentary production across a slate of character-driven films exploring community, recovery, the arts, and ecological restoration.

  • Welcome Home — The story of Oxford House International and its revolutionary work in housing for recovering addicts.
  • The Hope Dealers — Former dealers and addicts, guided by lived experience, transforming how rural communities face addiction — a grassroots movement playing out where traditional systems have fallen short.
  • Working with Nature: An Ongoing Story of Wetland Regeneration — Process-based restoration as an act of reciprocity, partnering with a degraded stream and wetland system rather than imposing control.
  • Precious Little Theater — Through four passionate performance-art directors, the transformative power of theater to foster connection and bring communities together.
Camera / Production Team — Bravebird Productions Aug 2020 – Jun 2023
Middleton, WI · depicting Native and diverse stories with dignity

Camera Operator, 1st AC, SteadiCam Operator & Drone Pilot, and Associate Producer across the studio's documentary slate.

  • Trace the Line 1st AC · SteadiCam · Camera Op · Drone — Bravebird's first feature, exploring the complexities of race in America through two young artists in 2020, under cinematographer Greg Hatton.
  • Bayview Rising, Ep. 1 2nd Unit Cinematography — The historical redevelopment of the Bayview apartments, featuring the Corea family's immigration story in Madison, WI.
  • Decolonizing Dinner 2nd Unit Cinematography — Traditional Native cuisines from the kitchens of Ho-Chunk Chef Elena Terry and Mexica Chef Anthony Gallarday.
  • Dream Big 2nd Unit Cinematography — Maydm, a Madison nonprofit preparing girls and underrepresented youth (grades 6–12) for STEM careers.
  • Musicnotes — Dream Production Assistant — On the importance of big dreams and the people who believe in us.
Experience — Geoscience
Graduate Research & Teaching Assistant — UW–Madison, Dept. of Geoscience Aug 2017 – Jan 2024
Madison, WI · Advisors: Dr. Alan Carroll, Dr. Stephen Meyers
  • Fluvial–lacustrine coevolution of the Greater Green River Basin during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum.
  • Eocene sedimentary provenance and dispersal patterns within the western U.S. Laramide foreland.
  • Testing the affective influence of an art-integrated introductory geoscience curriculum.
Earth Science Intern — Chevron Corporation Jun – Aug 2018
Covington, LA
  • Analyzed production data for a key producing well in a target area of interest.
  • Interfaced with petroleum engineers, technical specialists, and geologists across groups to execute the project.
Geoscience Intern / Geological Technician — Whiting Petroleum 2011 – 2017
Denver, CO · Intern 2011–2015 · Geotech 2015–2017
  • Beta-tested Perigon's iPoint photo and core database software and integrated it into Whiting's system.
  • Designed more efficient research workflows for XRF, Schmidt Hammer, and handheld gamma ray instruments, plus in-house core photography and inventory.
  • Designed presentation figures and maps for the Senior VP of Exploration and Development.
Experience — Teaching & Outreach
Director of Photography — tadada Scientific Lab Jan 2018 – May 2023
UW–Madison · Contact: Dr. Stephen Meyers

A lab that inspires scientific literacy and cultivates emotional connections to science through interdisciplinary artistic approaches to climate and earth science education.

  • Played a vital role in the innovation, development, and execution of tadada projects.
  • Filmed and edited, and helped direct and write, the majority of tadada videos.
Graduate Teaching Assistant — UW–Madison, Dept. of Geoscience 2017 – 2023
Teaching philosophy: prioritize affective engagement with the why before the what and how — a balanced cognitive–affective approach to deeper, intrinsically motivated learning.
  • Sedimentology & Stratigraphy Lab (Geo 431).
  • Introduction to Geology Lab (Geo 100) — TA rating 4.86 / 5.
  • Geologic Hazards Lab (Geo 140) — TA rating 4.48 / 5.
  • Video/digital support (Geo 100, Geo 140); reader/grader, Energy & the Environment (Geo 411).
English Teacher (ESL) — Amphawan Wittayalai School May – Oct 2015
Amphawa, Samut Songkhram, Thailand
  • Designed and executed an ESL curriculum — weekly lesson plans, midterm, and final exam — for the equivalent of 7th–9th grade.
  • Managed and taught 21 classes of 30–40 students each week.
Skills
Video / Post
Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects; field cinematography, editing, color, audio.
Camera / Field
Camera Operator, 1st AC, SteadiCam, drone / UAV piloting.
Design
Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign.
Photo
Adobe Lightroom.
Documents
Apple Pages, Numbers, Keynote.
Geoscience Methods
Stratigraphy / sedimentology, detrital zircon geochronology, paleocurrent analysis, provenance, XRF, Schmidt Hammer, handheld gamma ray, core photography / inventory.
Science Comm
Character-driven documentary storytelling; art-integrated geoscience education.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
  1. Parrish, E.C., Libarkin, J., Meyers, S., Cohen, G., 2026. Arts-Based Earth Science Instruction Impacts Student Sense of Belonging, Earth Science Interest, and Earth-Related Career Goals. Journal of Geoscience Education In Review
  2. Villa, A., Hupp, B.N., Roberts, N.M., Callahan, E., Krishnan, A., Parrish, E., Honig, S., 2026. Building community: A sustainable framework for DEI working groups in geoscience departments. Earth Science, Systems and Society, v. 6(1), p. esss2024-011. doi.org/10.1144/esss2024-011
  3. Smith, M.E., Gregorich, H.G., Gipson, L.A., Krueger, R.C., Carroll, A.R., Parrish, E.C., Walters, A.P., Honig, S., Schwaderer, C., Meyers, S., Singer, B.S., Lowenstein, T.K., Arnuk, W.D., 2024. High-resolution X-ray fluorescence-based provenance mapping of Eocene fluvial distributary fans that fed ancient Gosiute Lake, Wyoming, USA. GSA Bulletin, v. 136(7-8), p. 2831–2844. doi.org/10.1130/B37207.1
  4. Parrish, E.C., Carroll, A.R., Gregorich, H., Smith, M.E., Schwaderer, C., 2024. Watershed-scale provenance heterogeneity within Eocene nonmarine basin fill: Southern Greater Green River Basin, western USA. GSA Bulletin, v. 136(5-6), p. 1787–1807. doi.org/10.1130/B36822.1
  5. Hammond, A.P., Carroll, A.R., Parrish, E.C., Smith, M.E., Lowenstein, T.K., 2019. The Aspen paleoriver: Linking Eocene magmatism to the world's largest Na-carbonate evaporite (Wyoming, USA). Geology, v. 47, p. 1020–1024. doi.org/10/gghxhq
Dissertations
Presentations
Invited Talks, Lectures & Q&As
Conference Talks
Posters
Honors & Achievements
Certifications & Licenses
Volunteer & Community Service
References available on request Whispering River Media · Wenatchee, WA