Publication Items

A Town Derailed, a Trust Obtained [1]

The devastating 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, toxic train derailment left a legacy of illness and a town torn by competing understandings of the contamination’s aftereffects. A yearlong reporting initiative with photojournalist Rebecca Kiger and Time magazine writer Alejandro de la Garza worked to gain the community’s confidence and tell its story. Their prize-winning feature, in the latest Inside Story Q&A.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [3]
Chemicals [4]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [7]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [10]
Pollution [11]
Science [12]
Transportation [13]
Water & Oceans [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [16]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about A Town Derailed, a Trust Obtained [1]
From Words to Frames — Writer Learns To Wield Power of Visual Storytelling [18]

When writer Gulnaz Khan saw how global warming drove both natural loss and spiritual breaks for surrounding human communities, it started her on a PBS documentary series exploring sacred sites around the world threatened by climate change. But she also undertook another odyssey, one from writer to visual storyteller. What she learned on her journey from text to screen, in the new EJ InSight column.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ InSight [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [20]
Biodiversity [21]
Climate Change [22]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [7]
Food [23]
Forests [24]
Government [25]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Natural Resources [26]
People & Population [10]
Pollution [11]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [27]
Science [12]
Waste [28]
Water & Oceans [14]
Wildlife [29]
Region:
International [30]
Africa [31]
Asia [32]
South America [33]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about From Words to Frames — Writer Learns To Wield Power of Visual Storytelling [18]
Queer Ecology — A Powerful Lens for Reporting on Environmental Injustice [34]

Queer ecology is an evolving field that challenges traditional assumptions in science and explores LGBTQ+ experiences in an ecological context. It’s easy to catch your audience’s attention with stories about transitioning clownfish or same-sex albatross parenting. But as contributor Isaias Hernandez explains, queer ecology also offers journalists an important perspective for covering a range of environmental issues, from climate risk to pollution exposure, and reimagining environmental narratives.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [36]
Agriculture [20]
Air [3]
Biodiversity [21]
Climate Change [22]
Disasters [5]
Diversity [37]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [7]
Environmental Politics [38]
Environmental Studies [39]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [10]
Planning & Growth [40]
Science [12]
Wildlife [29]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
International [30]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Queer Ecology — A Powerful Lens for Reporting on Environmental Injustice [34]
Tapping Into COP30 To Cover Indigenous Issues [41]

COP30 negotiators from around the world gather next week in Belém, Brazil, at the mouth of the Amazon River. Our Voices of Environmental Justice columnist Yessenia Funes says it’s a vital opportunity to engage with the Indigenous peoples who help protect the vast rainforest region — even for environmental reporters not there in person. Here’s how to tell their stories.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [20]
Biodiversity [21]
Climate Change [22]
Economy & Business [43]
Energy & Fuel [44]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [7]
Environmental Politics [38]
Forests [24]
Government [25]
Journalism & Media [9]
Natural Resources [26]
People & Population [10]
Planning & Growth [40]
Policy [45]
Pollution [11]
Water & Oceans [14]
Region:
International [30]
South America [33]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Tapping Into COP30 To Cover Indigenous Issues [41]
Targets on Their Backs … and Ours? Reporting on Immigrant Farmworkers [46]

For years, state-sponsored programs have helped California farmworkers get much-needed access to clean water. But many immigrants now shun these services, afraid of exposure to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. As Circle of Blue intern Anahita Banerjee dug into this story, she discovered that their fear extended to speaking with journalists — and that ICE activities threatened her own safety.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [36]
Agriculture [20]
Environmental Justice [7]
Environmental Politics [38]
Food [23]
Government [25]
Health [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [47]
People & Population [10]
Water & Oceans [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [48]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Targets on Their Backs … and Ours? Reporting on Immigrant Farmworkers [46]
Climate Solutions, for Some, May Not Be [49]

A small Louisiana community, home to the descendants of formerly enslaved Black people, continues to fight for its freedom many decades later, this time from a potentially polluting technology. FEJ StoryLog contributor Yessenia Funes recounts her journey to this Cancer Alley community, where a grant from the Fund for Environmental Journalism helped her tell the story of residents challenging a multibillion-dollar carbon capture plant.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [50]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [36]
Air [3]
Chemicals [4]
Climate Change [22]
Economy & Business [43]
Energy & Fuel [44]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [7]
Environmental Politics [38]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [10]
Planning & Growth [40]
Policy [45]
Pollution [11]
Science [12]
Technology [51]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [52]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Climate Solutions, for Some, May Not Be [49]
Sunshine State Weirdness, With a Solid Dose of Environment [53]

The story behind the story that captures the “real” Florida is the essence of a new volume from veteran journalist and author Craig Pittman. BookShelf editor Tom Henry writes that “Welcome to Florida: True Tales from America’s Most Interesting State” not only taps into the state’s rich vein of the weird but offers a hefty dose of environmental topics, from climate change to manatees.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [54]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [22]
Environmental Politics [38]
People & Population [10]
Pollution [11]
Water & Oceans [14]
Wildlife [29]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [52]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Sunshine State Weirdness, With a Solid Dose of Environment [53]
Walkability Index Helps Journalists Highlight Planning Issues [55]

Many local government decisions come down to a key factor: walkability. And that’s not just a question of transportation infrastructure. As the latest Reporter’s Toolbox notes, walkability is also an environmental consideration. To turn that simple truth into stories about the built environment, here’s a high-quality, mappable walkability index. How to use the database smartly, plus questions to ask that will get your reporting started.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [56]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [22]
Environmental Politics [38]
Government [25]
Infrastructure [57]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [10]
Planning & Growth [40]
Policy [45]
Transportation [13]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Walkability Index Helps Journalists Highlight Planning Issues [55]
Saving Big Cats From Humans [58]

As expanded development on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula encroaches on prime wildlife habitat, big cats find it harder to avoid people, and many wind up dead. In this Inside Story Q&A, Liza Gross of Inside Climate News describes how she and photographer/editor Michael Kodas worked with a local cougar protection team to track a family of big cats to their den and through the area.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [21]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Studies [39]
Forests [24]
Journalism & Media [9]
People & Population [10]
Science [12]
Wildlife [29]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Northwest (OR WA) [59]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about Saving Big Cats From Humans [58]
‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [60]

The Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” is anything but, especially in its unraveling of efforts to weave environmental and climate justice into American society, argues the new Voices of Environmental Justice. In her latest column, writer Yessenia Funes calls on journalists to report its ramifications not just for the planet but for the most vulnerable people living on it. Here are key stories to start with.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [36]
Air [3]
Chemicals [4]
Climate Change [22]
Energy & Fuel [44]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Justice [7]
Environmental Politics [38]
Government [25]
Health [8]
Infrastructure [57]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [47]
People & Population [10]
Policy [45]
Pollution [11]
Waste [28]
Water & Oceans [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Alaska and Hawaii [61]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [52]
Visibility:
Public [17]
- Read more about ‘People Will Die’ — Stories Behind Trump Budget Bill [60]

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