Journalism & Media

A graduate field scientist-cum-multimedia storyteller trains her eye on the confounding challenges of western water, with award-winning student reporting on three family farms that face the draining of critical groundwater basins. Could land that drought makes untenable for farming be restored as habitat for endangered species? That, plus how the “ladder of abstraction” helped her tell the tale. The most recent entry in EJ Academy.

The “underworld” of sewage treatment had fascinated one journalist for years. But it was only after winning a reporting grant that Christine Woodside had the luxury of spending dozens of hours to focus on how one old, malfunctioning plant left a local community appalled and angered. Woodside shares the details in the latest installment of SEJournal’s newest column, FEJ StoryLog.

That's what SEJ Board President Meera Subramanian offers — and asks for — in her latest report on the state of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Plus, board elections, bylaw amendments and webinar initiatives.

For Boston Globe environment reporter David Abel, a side project shooting video of the 2013 Boston Marathon sealed his passion for nonfiction filmmaking, one that has since yielded four high-profile nature documentaries. In EJ InSight, Abel traces that path and details how he balances his environment reporting and filmmaking. Plus, view images from Abel’s documentary work.

As a young journalist, freelancer Madeline Halpert worried about her late start in the profession. So she took charge of her career path to get a leg up. Check out her six steps for successful advancement in the freelancing field, including self-publishing and building relationships with editors. From the latest Freelance Files.