Tumble wins Anthem Award for social impact
We're Anthem Award winners! Nurdle Patrol: Special Agent Training Course, our audio course that turns students into citizen scientists investigating plastic pollution, has won Silver in Podcast Limited Series at the 6th Annual Anthem Awards.
The category honors a series created to drive awareness and action around a cause. For us, that cause is twofold: protecting our oceans and waterways, and showing what well-designed audio can do in a classroom.
What is Nurdle Patrol?
Nurdles are tiny plastic pellets, the raw material for most plastic products, and they turn up on beaches and in waterways around the world. Nurdle Patrol invites students to join a "secret agent" training program where their mission is to investigate this pollution as real citizen scientists.
The course was funded by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine through its Gulf Research Program Tumble produced it in partnership with Associated Universities, Inc. and the Harte Research Institute, and it is available in both English and Spanish.
Evidence that audio works in the classroom
We piloted Nurdle Patrol with more than 280 kids, and an external evaluation found the course was highly effective on three fronts:
Knowledge: students came away understanding plastic pollution and the science behind it.
Engagement: kids were deeply engaged in the story and the missions.
Stewardship: the course fostered a real sense of responsibility for the environment.
Those results matter beyond this one course. They add to the growing evidence that well-designed audio can be a powerful classroom tool.
"Nurdle Patrol was successful beyond what we could have imagined. We are so excited for the potential to build more hands-on, citizen science experiences guided by audio. This award validates the impact of our approach to audio in classrooms." — Lindsay Patterson, Co-founder and CEO, Tumble Media
About the Anthem Awards
Launched in 2021 by The Webby Awards, the Anthem Awards recognize brands, nonprofits, and individuals setting the standard for good worldwide. Winners are selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and this year's judges included leaders from the National Audubon Society, Lincoln Center, the Yale School of Public Health, IBM, and the United Nations Development Programme.
The 6th Annual Anthem Awards drew more than 2,500 submissions from 43 countries, the largest competition in its history.
"The work of social impact doesn't pause when conditions get harder, and this year's Anthem Winners proved it." — Patricia McLoughlin, General Manager, Anthem Awards
Thank you to our team
Nurdle Patrol took a remarkable group of collaborators. Our thanks to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine for funding the project; to Associated Universities, Inc. and the Harte Research Institute for their partnership; and to Shake It Easy Media for the Spanish production.
And a huge thank-you to the people who made it happen: Marshall Escamilla, Sara Robberson Lentz, Nuria Net, Alvaro Ramos, Lorena Galliot, Gary Calhoun James, Jace Tunnell, Adriana Reza, and Wendy Tackett.
Bring Nurdle Patrol to your classroom
Teachers, homeschoolers, and curious families can start the training course today. Check out our Teacher page to see all of our audio courses.
About Tumble Media
Tumble Media makes audio for curious kids, grounded in the science of learning and designed for screen-free listening at home and in the classroom. Its shows include Tumble Science Podcast for Kids, Tumble En Español, and Yoga Kids Adventure.
