Former physical therapy professor Deirdre Robinson featured in Jason Jaacks’ documentary, ‘Between Moon Tides’

Rising tidal waters are posing increasing threats to one of our most inconspicuous shore dwellers: the Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammospiza caudicuta), found only in healthy salt marshes along the U.S. Atlantic coast. Weighing less than an ounce (the equivalent of three nickels), the sparrows nest in tidal salt marshes from Virginia to Maine during the summer, then migrate as far south as Florida for the winter. Threatened by a number of factors, this unique species is projected by multiple scientists to become extinct by mid-century, unless prudent conservation measures are implemented.

In Rhode Island, the sparrow is listed as a species of greatest conservation need and is the most threatened species of bird that nests in the state, according to URI Professor Emeritus Peter Paton, with sea level rise their primary threat. 

A new documentary, “Between Moon Tides,” by the University of Rhode Island’s Jason Jaacks, details local efforts to help prevent the extinction of this unique bird, depicting its imperiled home habitat. The documentary was recently purchased by Guardian Documentaries and is airing online and locally this fall.

An associate professor in URI’s Harrington School of Communication and Media, the award-winning filmmaker focuses his lens on Deirdre Robinson M.S. ’99 of Bristol, Rhode Island, who is co-director of the Saltmarsh Sparrow Research Initiative with Jim O’Neill and fellow URI alumnus Steven Reinert ’75 ’78. She’s part of a team of citizen scientists deploying DIY ‘arks’ to try to raise the sparrow’s nests to safety.

With sea levels rising in New England at some of the fastest rates in the world, Robinson, a former URI faculty member, isn’t prepared to accept the loss of this unique marsh-bird, which she lovingly describes as the hardest-working bird on the planet. While an assistant professor in the University’s physical therapy program, Robinson earned a master’s degree at URI, specializing in avian ecology. She began banding birds and monitoring Saltmarsh Sparrow nests in Galilee in 1990, and today is a Master Bird Bander.

Jaacks’ documentary follows her research team over two summers at Jacob’s Point Preserve, a 35-acre tidal marsh on Narragansett Bay in Warren, where he highlights the changing marsh landscape, calling attention to Rhode Island’s loss of half of its coastal wetlands in the past two centuries. The sparrow is an indicator species for the health of the critically important — and disappearing — saltmarsh habitat.

“It isn’t just a sparrow,” Robinson says in the film, noting the long history and outsized impact of the small bird. “Working with Jason Jaacks these past two years has been a great experience and we are so grateful for his amazing documentary. Hopefully, it provides a medium that will connect with viewers and offer encouragement for people to work together toward providing a sustainable environment for all species.”

Jaacks’ documentary also spotlights the changing landscape of Warren, calling attention to Rhode Island’s loss of half of its coastal wetlands in the past two centuries, leading to an 87% decline of the Saltmarsh Sparrow since 1998.

A filmmaker and photographer whose work explores the natural world, Jaacks’s films have screened at numerous film festivals and taken him around the world. He’s presented at TEDxURI and is a National Geographic Explorer. Jaacks’ work has aired at the COP21 Climate Conference in Paris and he has produced work for The New York Times and PBS Digital Studios.

In “Between Moon Tides,” Jaacks shows not only these tiny birds, but the importance of salt marshes.

Three years ago, he produced a short documentary, “Turtles on the Hill,” that also takes place in a salt marsh. Over the course of making that film, he learned about the Saltmarsh Sparrow as well as the Saltmarsh Sparrow Research Initiative. Jaacks reached out to Robinson and ended up spending two seasons in the field with her group making the film.

“What really drew me to this story was what the Saltmarsh Sparrow can teach us about extinction and climate change,” he says. “We often think of faraway places and exotic creatures like polar bears when we consider these important issues. But I’m interested in animals that live in our own backyards who are affected by climate change. This seemed like a quiet but very important story about an otherwise unremarkable little brown bird. I hope that, by looking a little closer, audiences will appreciate how the story of climate change is really a local story.”

“Between Moon Tides” received funding through the Redford Center as part of the Nature Connection Pitch at Mountainfilm last year. After that, a team from The Guardian’s documentary unit reached out to invite Jaacks to publish with them, and he was happy to join forces.

“I was very excited both by their global audience and their dedication to not put their journalism behind a paywall,” says Jaacks.

The film can be viewed via YouTube and also is starting to make the rounds in New England.

The film is playing on Oct. 11 at the Rhode Island Audubon Society in Bristol. The screening is limited to 75 seats to be followed by several other local screenings. Due to space limitations, registration is recommended.

Jaacks is now working on a new documentary on humans’ relationship to the deep sea.

Read more about Jaacks’ work on his website. Read more about Robinson’s work with the Saltmarsh Sparrow in 41ºN.