02 · Video Essays · Current’s Wanderers · Reading the Sample

Built through the voices of Eawag scientists Marta Reyes and Stefanie Eyring, this 18-minute video essay blends their scientific knowledge with personal reflections on their research practice. Structured in five chapters — from the ecological relevance of plankton, to fieldwork on Lake Greifensee, laboratory observation, real-time data collection, and the ecosystem’s broader importance — it traces the lake, the laboratory, and the data as three interconnected dimensions of the same story, preparing viewers for the immersive experience that follows.

Reading the Sample documents a live microscope observation session recorded on 16 April 2026, using a water sample collected from Lake Greifensee that same day. Combining real-time microscope imagery with the scientists’ spontaneous commentary and reactions, it captures the moment of discovery as it happens — offering both the scientific and emotional dimensions of a practice that emerged, throughout the research, as the one most capable of generating genuine engagement with plankton life.