At first glance it seemed Marco Fania's role on the Sedna IV did not really fit in with all the others.

He's not a scientist, his navigational skills are sub-par, and a rough night at sea makes his stomach turn. "This editing suite is great while the ship is not moving, but when it's moving, it's tough," Mr. Fania said with a laugh while giving a tour of the Sedna IV.

The 36-year-old from Quebec was hired to be a sound technician on a documentary film crew that went all the way to Antarctica and back. His immediate responsibility is to chronicle a one-year-plus mission.

But the lofty goal is to make an intensely scientific journey into a highly produced feature-length documentary that will hit theatres in Canada and perhaps around the world.

Environmental issues have captivated movie audiences of late — not always becoming a popular sensation, but at least reaching critical acclaim.

Former US Vice President Al Gore succeeded on both levels when he released a movie last year called "An Inconvenient Truth," a documentary about his efforts to alert the world to global warming.

The movie has been shown in Bermuda to high school students. It's now nominated for an Academy Award and is the main reason Mr. Gore is also considered a front-runner for a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Plus the former politician is set to become a concert promoter this summer when he kicks off "Save Our Selves — The Campaign for a Climate in Crisis."

The series of concerts will play on seven continents, including Antarctica, with performances from the likes of Snoop Dog, Pharrell Williams, and Bon Jovi.

The former American Presidential candidate and Marco Fania, a regular guy from Canada, are both part of the globe's popularisation of the environment.

That's why Mr. Fania's role onboard the Sedna is more substantial than it appears at first glance. "In French there's a good word for this vulgariser," he said.

"It doesn't translate well into English because we don't say vulgarise, but it's: to make science vulgar, to make it into a language that everyone can understand. I think that's what they're tying to do with this film."

The documentary is only a snapshot of a bigger popularisation picture. Mr. Fania's work will also be presented through other platforms including three one-hour mini-documentaries on the Canadian Broadcasting Company and a 13-part half-hour series on cable.

The longer series will run like a reality show — cameras following the sailing scientists' every move as they work and live side-by-side for more than a year.

Although this part of the operation is more art than science, researchers say is paves the way for them to get the funding they need. Dr. Damien Lopez, 33, the chief scientist on the>Sedna mission said: "Ten years ago to get funding for a project like this would have been impossible or much more difficult.

"Now that this subject is on the table it's getting easier to do this kind of research."

He said the popularisation has helped tremendously. An onboard editing facility allowed the film crew to begin putting their project together while still at sea.

They would shoot each day on high definition video, and when the scientists retreated to their laboratory the filmmakers would head for the stern where they could work through the paces of post-production.

Occasionally they would treat the dozen or so people onboard to a screening of some of their work. Eventually they hope their audience will be thousands.

"Part of the mission through the documentary is to make people more sensitive and aware of what's going on. Environmental awareness is a big part of what we're trying to do," Mr. Fania said.