Publication Items

Trauma Specialist Offers Ospreys As ‘Gateway Drug’ to Nature [1]

Therapist and artist Pamela Lowell spent several months observing and banding ospreys, but rather than offer the experience up as a scientific account, she turns it into a lighthearted memoir that aims to explore and explain a range of wildlife and environmental issues through art, insight and empathy. BookShelf editor Tom Henry has a review.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Biodiversity [4]
Climate Change [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Studies [7]
Wildlife [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Trauma Specialist Offers Ospreys As ‘Gateway Drug’ to Nature [1]
SEJ Is Here for You, Navigating What’s Ahead [12]

Meet SEJ’s newly elected board president, Halle Parker, an environment reporter for New Orleans Public Radio. In her inaugural President’s Report, Halle shares 2025 plans to raise SEJ leader voices to better protect our members and advocate for our industry — plus details on new, virtual office hours, a major funding milestone and how you can help support and shape SEJ’s future.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ Presidents Report [13]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about SEJ Is Here for You, Navigating What’s Ahead [12]
Beat Reporter Spotlights Costs of California's Environmental Reckoning [14]

The fossil fuel industry’s outsized climate policy role in the U.S.’s most populous state is the core of award-winning coverage from investigative journalist Aaron Cantú for nonprofit newsroom Capital & Main. In the new Inside Story Q&A, Cantú shares some of what challenged him in his reporting, what surprised him most and a lesson learned.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [5]
Economy & Business [16]
Energy & Fuel [17]
Environmental Justice [18]
Environmental Politics [19]
Government [20]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Natural Resources [23]
Policy [24]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
California [25]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Beat Reporter Spotlights Costs of California's Environmental Reckoning [14]
To Give a Goldfish Agency — The Joys (and Perils) of Writing on Nonhuman Life [26]

Stories focused on nonhuman animals are a quintessential part of environmental journalism. But how writers approach these stories is evolving, in step with changing views about animal consciousness and agency. Science journalist and author Karen Pinchin explores this trend and talks about anthropomorphism, anthropodenialism, metaphors, language, writing from the perspective of animal protagonists and more.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [27]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [4]
Journalism & Media [21]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [28]
Science [29]
Water & Oceans [30]
Wildlife [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [31]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about To Give a Goldfish Agency — The Joys (and Perils) of Writing on Nonhuman Life [26]
Climate Action Looks First To Go Under New Administration [32]

President-elect Donald Trump has promised to pull the United States out of the Paris climate treaty and to maximize U.S. fossil fuel production. And as the transition to his incoming administration unfolds, he has named a cabinet replete with climate action skeptics. But will all that stop the transition to cleaner power? The latest EJ TransitionWatch has an assessment.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ TransitionWatch [33]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [34]
Climate Change [5]
Consumer [35]
Energy & Fuel [17]
Environmental Politics [19]
Government [20]
Infrastructure [36]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Policy [24]
Pollution [37]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [31]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Climate Action Looks First To Go Under New Administration [32]
Will Trump 2.0 ‘Come After’ Journalists? [38]

If the idea of an FBI director targeting journalists seems oh so last century, then Donald Trump’s prospective pick for the post has news for you. And that isn’t even the all of it. As WatchDog Opinion writes, the incoming administration bodes a litany of woes for free speech advocates, starting with the misuse of the law to try to silence a critical press. What should be done?

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [39]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [20]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Will Trump 2.0 ‘Come After’ Journalists? [38]
Trump’s Public Health Agency Picks, Looking Peaked? [40]

Public health is an environmental story (think links between infectious disease and climate change, for example). So Trump administration nominees to head leading U.S. public health agencies — including vaccine skeptics, COVID-19 contrarians and physicians with little public health experience — are a story for environmental journalists to watch closely. The latest EJ TransitionWatch helps with a rundown of five top picks. Plus, the latest health headlines [41] from EJ Today.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ TransitionWatch [33]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [5]
Environmental Politics [19]
Government [20]
Health [41]
People & Population [42]
Policy [24]
Science [29]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Trump’s Public Health Agency Picks, Looking Peaked? [40]
Reporting on Illegal Wildlife Trade – Story Ideas, Safety Tips and More [43]

Illicit trade in wild animals and plants is a billion-dollar global business that threatens biodiversity and human health. Endless reporting opportunities range from exposing corruption and criminal networks to debunking claims about products derived from endangered species. Journalist Rene Ebersole shares insights from her 20 years on the trail of wildlife smugglers, poachers and other environmental lawbreakers — and introduces a new nonprofit dedicated to this beat.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [27]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [4]
Consumer [35]
Economy & Business [16]
Fish & Fisheries [44]
Government [20]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Wildlife [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
California [25]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [45]
International [31]
Mexico [46]
Africa [47]
Central America & the Caribbean [48]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Reporting on Illegal Wildlife Trade – Story Ideas, Safety Tips and More [43]
EPA Science Integrity Threatened by House Republicans [49]

The closest thing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has to a press policy is actually its scientific integrity policy. But as WatchDog Opinion writer Joseph Davis writes in the latest EJ TransitionWatch, the EPA’s scientific integrity policy is under direct attack by a powerful congressman. What’s behind the attack? And could the EPA’s science be under assault next?

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ TransitionWatch [33]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [50]
Economy & Business [16]
Environmental Politics [19]
Environmental Studies [7]
Government [20]
Health [41]
Journalism & Media [21]
Policy [24]
Science [29]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about EPA Science Integrity Threatened by House Republicans [49]
The Resilient Sea Turtle, Beset by Threats [51]

Sea turtles are in decline across the globe, victims of coastal development, algal blooms and, perhaps cruelest of all, plastic pollution. Marine biologist Christine Figgener, in a new book part memoir and part field guide, recounts the less than glamorous but rewarding work to spare them extinction, from arduous field work to viral video epiphanies. BookShelf editor Tom Henry reviews “My Life With Sea Turtles.”

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [4]
Climate Change [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Environmental Studies [7]
Fish & Fisheries [44]
Pollution [37]
Science [29]
Water & Oceans [30]
Wildlife [8]
Region:
International [31]
Central America & the Caribbean [48]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about The Resilient Sea Turtle, Beset by Threats [51]

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