Publication Items

Forest Inventory May Provide Trail Guide to Ongoing Policy Crisis [1]

U.S. forests face damage from drought, climate-driven disease and wildfire. To help track the state of our trees, Reporter’s Toolbox explores a massive set of Forest Service databases that details everything from deforestation and dead fuel status to deforestation and species mix. There’s even info on urban forests and grasslands. A closer look at the Forest Inventory and Analysis program.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Health [4]
Forests [5]
Government [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Natural Resources [8]
Science [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Forest Inventory May Provide Trail Guide to Ongoing Policy Crisis [1]
“Routledge Handbook of Environmental Journalism” [12]

While a “Handbook of Environmental Journalism” might initially sound like a scholarly work on environmental journalism, our BookShelf reviewer finds that the volume reads more like an engaging assembly of accessible accounts on the profession from colleagues across the planet. That makes it a rich resource for working journalists ... and anyone else with a passing interest in environmental issues and how they’re covered.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [13]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [14]
Energy & Fuel [15]
Environmental Health [4]
Environmental Politics [16]
Forests [5]
Health [17]
Journalism & Media [7]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [18]
Waste [19]
Wildlife [20]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [21]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [22]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [23]
International [24]
Africa [25]
South America [26]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about “Routledge Handbook of Environmental Journalism” [12]
Reporting on Poor, Kids Sickened by Industrial Air Pollution [27]

Pittsburgh is known for its history of steel production … and of air pollution. In the new Inside Story, reporter Kristina Marusic talks about capturing the health impacts of air emissions in western Pennsylvania, and shares insights on how dogged environmental justice reporting can make the links between pollution cuts and health impacts. Plus, tips on managing a long reporting project, creating infographics and using video.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [29]
Environmental Health [4]
Health [17]
Journalism & Media [7]
People & Population [30]
Pollution [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [32]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Reporting on Poor, Kids Sickened by Industrial Air Pollution [27]
Lawn Chemicals May Make Fertile Soil for Local Environmental Stories [33]

Lawns can be as much bane as boon for homeowners that care for them throughout the United States. But when their maintenance involves the use of pesticides and fertilizers, they become a much wider concern for community health and the surrounding environment. The latest TipSheet combs through the grass for a better understanding of the problem, and offers ideas and resources for local environmental coverage.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [34]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [35]
Chemicals [36]
Consumer [37]
Environmental Health [4]
Health [17]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [38]
Pollution [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Lawn Chemicals May Make Fertile Soil for Local Environmental Stories [33]
Angling for Stories on Streams Suffering From Climate Change? Try Trout [39]

Telling the local climate change story may mean you’ll have to dip a wading-boot-clad toe into the nearest stream, virtually at least. A decline there of a bellwether species, freshwater trout, could signal climate change-driven changes in critical water temperatures. To help guide your investigation, Reporter’s Toolbox spotlights a government database that taps into a massive network of monitoring stations.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Health [4]
Fish & Fisheries [40]
Journalism & Media [7]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Angling for Stories on Streams Suffering From Climate Change? Try Trout [39]
Flexibility in the Face of the Unexpected [42]

When a Chicago-based freelancer was just about to hit the road to report a three-part story and TV segment on the potential impacts of two proposed copper mines in the Great Lakes basin, there was a little hitch: The COVID-19 pandemic hit. The new FEJ StoryLog has the story of how Lorraine Boissoneault found the flexibility to complete her grant-supported project.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [43]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [15]
Environmental Health [4]
Environmental Politics [16]
Journalism & Media [7]
Natural Resources [8]
People & Population [30]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [44]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Flexibility in the Face of the Unexpected [42]
Replacing the Nation’s Lead Lines Begins With Locating Them [45]

One especially ambitious element of the Biden infrastructure plan would swap out millions of lead pipes. It’s a massive, costly endeavor, but could remove from the country’s water supply a neurotoxin that harms human health, especially of kids and the poor. TipSheet looks at the new plan and offers ideas for reporting the story in your area.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [34]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Health [4]
Environmental Politics [16]
Government [6]
Health [17]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [38]
People & Population [30]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [44]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [32]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Replacing the Nation’s Lead Lines Begins With Locating Them [45]
Quagga Mussels — Worse Than Zebra Mussels and Maybe Headed Your Way [46]

An invasive species of mussel — no, not zebra mussels, but quagga mussels — are wreaking havoc not just in the Great Lakes, but have now spread through the Mississippi and Colorado basins, as far west as Lake Mead. The latest TipSheet runs down the extent of the problem, how quaggas may be even worse than zebra mussels, and ideas for reporting on your local waterways.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [34]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Health [4]
Fish & Fisheries [40]
Water & Oceans [41]
Wildlife [20]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [44]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [21]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [23]
International [24]
Canada [47]
Europe [48]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Quagga Mussels — Worse Than Zebra Mussels and Maybe Headed Your Way [46]
Small-Market Reporter Gives Readers Reason To Care [49]

Reporter Kyle Bagenstose has impressed Society of Environmental Journalists’ awards judges three times in the last four years with his investigative and small-market beat reporting on local and regional issues in Pennsylvania. In our latest Inside Story Q&A, Bagenstose discusses his award-winning work as a beat reporter and his first-place investigative prize for a series on the cleanup of toxic firefighting chemicals from streams and aquifers around military bases.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [36]
Environmental Health [4]
Journalism & Media [7]
Pollution [31]
Waste [19]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [32]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Small-Market Reporter Gives Readers Reason To Care [49]
Public Health Infrastructure Emerges As Critical Environmental Story [50]

A pandemic and a weakened public health framework underscore how essential is the public health reporting function of environmental journalism. The latest TipSheet entry in our ongoing special report, “2021 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment [51],” explores what’s ahead and asks are health agencies too hollowed out to serve? Plus, story ideas and extensive reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [34]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [14]
Economy & Business [52]
Environmental Health [4]
Environmental Politics [16]
Government [6]
Health [17]
Infrastructure [53]
Journalism & Media [7]
People & Population [30]
Planning & Growth [54]
Policy [55]
Science [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [10]
International [24]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Public Health Infrastructure Emerges As Critical Environmental Story [50]

Pages