Publication Items

Are We Ready for the Next Pandemic? [1]

If you’ve been pondering what recent Cyclospora, Legionella and Ebola outbreaks tell us about the state of preparedness for future pandemics, Backgrounder has some sobering insights. A reminder of the uneven response to COVID-19 and a look forward at how current Trump administration policy has weakened public health structures and likely left us unready for what’s ahead.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Government [4]
Health [5]
People & Population [6]
Policy [7]
Science [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Are We Ready for the Next Pandemic? [1]
Climate Data Site Spiked, Resurrected by Ex-NOAA Employees [12]

An effort by the Trump administration to tank a highly useful data source on climate change trends has met impressive resistance — in the form of a group of fired NOAA staffers who have rebuilt the climate.gov website stripped by the federal government. And as the latest Toolbox notes, it’s a great resource. Reacquaint yourself with it.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [13]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [14]
Climate Change [15]
Environmental Politics [16]
Environmental Studies [17]
Government [4]
Science [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Climate Data Site Spiked, Resurrected by Ex-NOAA Employees [12]
A Super (Probably ‘Duper’) El Niño Is Coming. Watch Out! [18]

The news has been full of warnings about a larger-than-normal El Niño, the periodic weather pattern that portends drastic fluctuations in everything from temperatures and precipitation to ocean currents and hurricanes. The latest Issue Backgrounder takes a step back to help explain exactly how this phenomenon works and what its impacts may be, while offering a parting thought on smart coverage.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [19]
Climate Change [15]
Environmental Studies [17]
Fish & Fisheries [20]
Food [21]
Journalism & Media [22]
Science [8]
Water & Oceans [23]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about A Super (Probably ‘Duper’) El Niño Is Coming. Watch Out! [18]
How Attribution Science Can Help Reporters on the Heat Beat [24]

With 2026 shaping up to be an exceptional El Niño year, expect lots of record-breaking heat waves and other extreme weather. But climate change will also contribute. Explaining the role of both is essential to complete coverage. Journalist Ethan Brown shares tips and resources for using climate attribution science as a powerful reporting tool. Plus, five questions to ask while covering the next extreme climate event.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [15]
Disasters [3]
Environmental Politics [16]
Environmental Studies [17]
Journalism & Media [22]
Policy [7]
Science [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about How Attribution Science Can Help Reporters on the Heat Beat [24]
Hazard Duty — Government Data Portals Help Report Extreme Weather [26]

When it comes to tracking weather phenomena from heat waves and tornadoes to wildfire smoke or storm surge, environmental journalists could hardly do better than the vast array of data from the National Weather Service, writes the latest Reporter’s Toolbox. A tour of data maps and viewers, forecasts and weather insights from the large scale to the local.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [13]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [15]
Disasters [3]
Journalism & Media [22]
Science [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Hazard Duty — Government Data Portals Help Report Extreme Weather [26]
Graphic Content — Journalistic Lessons From Crossing Genres [27]

Today’s teens are growing up in a world of conspicuous climate change, often directly affected by its consequences. Despite their youth, some are at the forefront of the fight against this threat. Freelance journalist and author Meera Subramanian — co-creator of a new nonfiction graphic novel about young climate campaigners — on teens as sources, activism as a topic and the pleasures of collaboration. See a sample of the book [28].

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [14]
Biodiversity [29]
Climate Change [15]
Disasters [3]
Diversity [30]
Environmental Health [31]
Environmental Justice [32]
Environmental Politics [16]
Environmental Studies [17]
Health [5]
Journalism & Media [22]
Pollution [33]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [34]
Science [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [35]
International [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Graphic Content — Journalistic Lessons From Crossing Genres [27]
Scouring the Skies for Methane Data [36]

Emissions of the global warming gas methane are widely tracked through satellite sensors, despite some unexpected bumps in the data-gathering effort. But a big challenge is how to interpret and use the resulting insights in your coverage. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox points out several important methane datasets and offers useful insights into how to turn them into stories.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [13]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [15]
Environmental Health [31]
Environmental Studies [17]
Journalism & Media [22]
Science [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Scouring the Skies for Methane Data [36]
In Subzero Temperatures, Protecting a Tiger in the Snow [37]

The population of Siberian tigers, the second-largest subspecies in the world, took a turn for the worse after the fall of the Soviet Union. But an international team of biologists in remote Russia has been working to try to save the big cats. “Tigers Between Empires” traces that effort, in a new BookShelf review from contributing editor Jennifer Weeks.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [38]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [29]
Science [8]
Wildlife [39]
Region:
International [10]
Asia [40]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about In Subzero Temperatures, Protecting a Tiger in the Snow [37]
#SEJ2026 Live — Coverage of Conference Tours [41]

SEJournal is providing full coverage of all eight of the day-long tours from the annual Society of Environmental Journalists’ conference, April 15-18, in Chicago. In Part 2, contributors Meg Duff [42], Nathaniel Eisen [43], Nhung Nguyen [44] and Marlowe Starling [45] provide detailed reports from tours focused on the transitioning steel industry, microgrids, climate-friendly crop practices and evolving Midwestern agricultural systems.

Also check out the first round of tour coverage and read all the great work [41] from our team of early-career freelance journalists, part of SEJournal’s live #SEJ2026 Live conference reporting.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [46]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [14]
Agriculture [19]
Air [47]
Biodiversity [29]
Chemicals [48]
Climate Change [15]
Consumer [49]
Economy & Business [50]
Energy & Fuel [51]
Environmental Health [31]
Environmental Justice [32]
Environmental Politics [16]
Environmental Studies [17]
Food [21]
Forests [52]
Government [4]
Health [5]
Infrastructure [53]
Journalism & Media [22]
Laws & Regulations [54]
Natural Resources [55]
People & Population [6]
Planning & Growth [56]
Policy [7]
Pollution [33]
Science [8]
Technology [57]
Transportation [58]
Waste [59]
Water & Oceans [23]
Wildlife [39]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [60]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about #SEJ2026 Live — Coverage of Conference Tours [41]
War and Pizza — #SEJ2026 in Chicago [61]

Nearly as rejuvenating as attending the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual gathering is perusing the après-conference spoof by contributing quipster David Helvarg. While it seemed he was mostly there unabashedly preselling his forthcoming book, he somehow found time to send up SEJ’s earnest sessions, lambast its blown-up tours and rib its beat dinners. Read his Chicago roast.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [46]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [19]
Air [47]
Chemicals [48]
Climate Change [15]
Economy & Business [50]
Energy & Fuel [51]
Environmental Health [31]
Environmental Justice [32]
Environmental Politics [16]
Fish & Fisheries [20]
Government [4]
Health [5]
Journalism & Media [22]
Natural Resources [55]
Policy [7]
Pollution [33]
Science [8]
Waste [59]
Water & Oceans [23]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [60]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about War and Pizza — #SEJ2026 in Chicago [61]

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