Associate Professor Joe Meert was involved in coverage on early Earth, the breakup of Pangea and the formation of the Middle Eastern oil fields.  

Joe Meert, the UF associate professor involved in a new CGI film about the Earth. Photo courtesy of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

Joe Meert may not be a movie star, but what this geologist knows about the history of the Earth was essential in making a new film on that topic. The CGI (computer animated) movie called “Earth: Making of a Planet” explores how life developed on Earth. It will air on Sunday, March 6, at 8 p.m. on the National Geographic Channel and Discovery Channel Canada.

The two-hour long special documents how life evolved from microscopic organisms into the humans, plants and animals living today. University of Florida Department of Geological Sciences Associate Professor Joe Meert became involved in the production when the filmmaker’s head researcher contacted him about getting more details about a paper published by Meert’s research group in 2004.

“That led to a long conversation and they began to contact me about other parts of the show…” Meert says.

He provided information about the first 45 minutes of the film, which discuss what happened early on in Earth’s history, along with later issues, such as the breakup of Pangea and the formation the Middle Eastern oil fields.

“I have often thought it would be great to actually go back and see the events unfold in Earth history and the CGI animations in the film come close to fulfilling that dream,” Meert said. Now everyone curious about how Earth developed through time can share this experience by watching this show.  

For those who don’t get the channels broadcasting this special, the film is available on YouTube. Labeled “The Story of Earth – National Geographic,” the link for the first part of the film is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14YgKhXEgSM&NR=1 . Links to the other five segments appear on the right side of the page. The film should also be available on DVD soon.