Publication Items

Houston Plays Host to First On-Site SEJ Conference Since 2019 [1]

Environmental journalists from around the country and beyond will gather in Houston later this month for the Society of Environmental Journalists’ 31st annual conference. Widely known as the energy capital of the world, this highly diverse city is an ideal place to drill down on the causes and consequences of climate change and other environmental issues of the day.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Air [4]
Biodiversity [5]
Chemicals [6]
Climate Change [7]
Disasters [8]
Diversity [9]
Economy & Business [10]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Fish & Fisheries [15]
Food [16]
Forests [17]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Infrastructure [20]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
People & Population [23]
Planning & Growth [24]
Policy [25]
Pollution [26]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [27]
Science [28]
Technology [29]
Transportation [30]
Waste [31]
Water & Oceans [32]
Wildlife [33]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [35]
International [36]
Mexico [37]
Central America & the Caribbean [38]
Europe [39]
South America [40]
Visibility:
Public [41]
- Read more about Houston Plays Host to First On-Site SEJ Conference Since 2019 [1]
EPA's Unfinished Agenda [42]

Transparency and scientific integrity are good for public health and the environment, not to mention PR and politics. Yet WatchDog Opinion argues they’ve not been fully embraced by the Biden EPA. There are reasons for hope, however, in the form of a cataloging of violations and in an EPA-specific policy. Why it all matters for how environmental journalists do their jobs.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [43]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [14]
Government [18]
Journalism & Media [21]
Policy [25]
Science [28]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
Visibility:
Public [41]
- Read more about EPA's Unfinished Agenda [42]
Hydrogen Rainbow May Dazzle, But Journalists Should Eye It Warily [44]

The hype on hydrogen — and it’s various “hues” or forms — suggests environmental reporters should clearly understand how this energy source is produced, as well as the politics and industry PR behind its claims to be clean and climate-friendly. Our latest Issue Backgrounder provides the basics of hydrogen science, while cautioning about the industry’s “color game.”

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [45]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [7]
Consumer [46]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Politics [14]
Journalism & Media [21]
Science [28]
Transportation [30]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
International [36]
Visibility:
Public [41]
- Read more about Hydrogen Rainbow May Dazzle, But Journalists Should Eye It Warily [44]
The Call of the Conch — How Seashells Tell Nature’s Story [47]

Cynthia Barnett’s deeply researched and engagingly written new book, “The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans,” brilliantly weaves together mollusk anecdotes, ocean science and human history as it takes a deep dive into the nature of seashells and the story of their connection to us. Read Tom Henry’s review in the new BookShelf.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [48]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [5]
Science [28]
Water & Oceans [32]
Wildlife [33]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [49]
International [36]
Asia [50]
Central America & the Caribbean [38]
Visibility:
Public [41]
- Read more about The Call of the Conch — How Seashells Tell Nature’s Story [47]
Covering Climate Change in the Forgotten Places: A Moroccan Journalist’s View [51]

Environmental journalist Khalid Bencherif struggled to bring the emergent effects of climate change to the attention of local audiences facing many other pressing problems. So he told a powerful story grounded in personal experience, traveling to his childhood home in Morocco’s Tafilalet region, where deepening drought is hitting the oases hard and driving many villagers from their homes.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [52]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [7]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Government [18]
Journalism & Media [21]
Natural Resources [53]
People & Population [23]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [27]
Science [28]
Technology [29]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
Africa [54]
Middle East [55]
Visibility:
Public [41]
- Read more about Covering Climate Change in the Forgotten Places: A Moroccan Journalist’s View [51]
Grantee Suits Up To Ask If Honeybees Harm Native Species [56]

When Colorado-based freelance journalist Jennifer Oldham suited up in protective gear to investigate if commercial honeybee hives on public lands impact native bee populations, as well as to meet with federal scientists and visit a bee study site, it was a Fund for Environmental Journalism grant that helped her do it. Oldham shares her experience and advice in the latest FEJ StoryLog.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [57]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [58]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Studies [59]
Journalism & Media [21]
Natural Resources [53]
Science [28]
Wildlife [33]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [60]
Visibility:
Public [41]
- Read more about Grantee Suits Up To Ask If Honeybees Harm Native Species [56]
‘Wild Souls’ Explores Paradox of Managing Species To Save Them [61]

What does wildness mean when humans interfere with the lives of wild animals in order to protect them? A new volume, “Wild Souls,” explores that dilemma, whether arising through captive breeding programs to reintroduce the California condor and the gray wolf, by allowing hybridization or through the use of gene-editing tools. A review from BookShelf contributor Jenny Weeks.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [48]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [5]
Environmental Politics [14]
Science [28]
Wildlife [33]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
California [62]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [60]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [35]
International [36]
Mexico [37]
Visibility:
Public [41]
- Read more about ‘Wild Souls’ Explores Paradox of Managing Species To Save Them [61]
When Reporting on Toxic Hotspots, Go Deeper With Cancer Registries [63]

As awareness grows about how pollution can cause certain cancers, it’s smart to look beyond cancer risk and also explore available information about actual cancer cases. Reporter’s Toolbox explains how extensive data collected regularly in state-level cancer “registries” can take your coverage on the pollution-public health connection to another level. Plus, avoiding pitfalls in reporting possible clusters.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [64]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [4]
Chemicals [6]
Disasters [8]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Environmental Studies [59]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
People & Population [23]
Pollution [26]
Science [28]
Waste [31]
Water & Oceans [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [65]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [49]
Visibility:
Public [41]
- Read more about When Reporting on Toxic Hotspots, Go Deeper With Cancer Registries [63]
Science Integrity Is About More Than Getting EPA Interviews [66]

Freedom of access to government scientists is just one narrow facet in a worsening crisis in scientific integrity at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The new WatchDog Opinion argues that whether it’s about self-interested industry lobbying over climate change or the regulation of chemicals, there’s an assault on science itself — and the news media has a role to play.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [43]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [6]
Climate Change [7]
Economy & Business [10]
Environmental Politics [14]
Government [18]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Policy [25]
Science [28]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
Visibility:
Public [41]
- Read more about Science Integrity Is About More Than Getting EPA Interviews [66]
U.N. Summit Lays the Table for Environmental Reporting on Food Systems [67]

After an 18-month buildup, a one-day U.N. Food Systems Summit earlier this fall generated hundreds of commitments to end global hunger and a dizzying array of alliances dedicated to the cause. Despite controversies surrounding the summit, this groundbreaking event highlighted opportunities for reporting on food and food systems. Award-winning agriculture journalist Chris Clayton shares his insights.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [52]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Agriculture [58]
Biodiversity [5]
Chemicals [6]
Climate Change [7]
Consumer [46]
Disasters [8]
Economy & Business [10]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Food [16]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Natural Resources [53]
People & Population [23]
Planning & Growth [24]
Policy [25]
Pollution [26]
Science [28]
Technology [29]
Waste [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [34]
California [62]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [68]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [35]
International [36]
Canada [69]
Africa [54]
Europe [39]
Middle East [55]
South America [40]
Visibility:
Public [41]
- Read more about U.N. Summit Lays the Table for Environmental Reporting on Food Systems [67]

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