Publication Items

Reporting From the Blue — An Ocean of Opportunities [1]

As a veteran of reporting on the marine environment, David Helvarg is encouraged by recent improvements in the quality of ocean journalism, but sees a pressing need for more hands on deck. Offering inspiration from his own career, he notes that the world’s rapidly changing oceans hold an abundance of stories and urges others to dive in and explore them.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Biodiversity [4]
Climate Change [5]
Disasters [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Fish & Fisheries [8]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
Natural Resources [11]
Science [12]
Technology [13]
Water & Oceans [14]
Wildlife [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [17]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [18]
International [19]
Canada [20]
Antarctica & Arctic [21]
Asia [22]
Australia & Oceania [23]
Central America & the Caribbean [24]
Middle East [25]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about Reporting From the Blue — An Ocean of Opportunities [1]
Is Your Local Wildlife Refuge a Refuge No More? [27]

There’s a long history of hunting and fishing in the federal refuge and hatchery system. But the Trump administration has now thrown the doors wide, opening millions of acres in hundreds of locales across much of the country. TipSheet examines what’s missing in this dramatic policy shift, and offers insights and resources for reporting on the impact on the nearest refuge to you.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [4]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Politics [29]
Fish & Fisheries [8]
Forests [30]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
Natural Resources [11]
Policy [31]
Wildlife [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about Is Your Local Wildlife Refuge a Refuge No More? [27]
Behind the Crime Rings Trafficking Sand [32]

An investigative journalism pair shone a light on an important but rarely reported subject with huge environmental consequences: the illegal trafficking of massive quantities of natural sand from African countries. Read an interview with Inside Story about their award-winning reporting and learn what surprised them most and how they overcame the story’s unique challenges.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [33]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [34]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Justice [35]
Natural Resources [11]
Region:
International [19]
Africa [36]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about Behind the Crime Rings Trafficking Sand [32]
Grazing Data Unlocks Public Land Stories [37]

The Interior Department keeps an extensive database of thousands of permits it issues to use federal lands for grazing livestock. And as the latest Reporter’s Toolbox notes, that data can readily be used as an investigative tool to look for one thing the government would rather the public not see — a penchant for permit partiality.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [38]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [39]
Economy & Business [34]
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
Natural Resources [11]
Policy [31]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [40]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [18]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about Grazing Data Unlocks Public Land Stories [37]
Unpacking Puerto Rico’s Water Crisis [41]

Puerto Rico is suffering from months of water rationing. But for journalists to fully cover this many-layered water story requires a real understanding of how the U.S. territory's politics and history have brought it to this crossroads, argues columnist Yessenia Funes. That, plus a capacity to listen to affected communities, report on solutions and consider partnerships with local journalists.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Justice [35]
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [9]
Health [43]
Infrastructure [44]
Journalism & Media [10]
Natural Resources [11]
People & Population [45]
Policy [31]
Water & Oceans [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about Unpacking Puerto Rico’s Water Crisis [41]
Oysters, Boisterous or Scarce, Fuel Local Environment Stories [46]

The world may be your oyster, but if you’re an environmental journalist, the oyster may also be your story. The latest TipSheet points out (amid numerous tasty serving tips) that oysters say a great deal about the health of local waters … and of the humans who consume the mollusk. Get a dozen-plus oyster story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [4]
Environmental Health [7]
Fish & Fisheries [8]
Food [47]
Health [43]
Journalism & Media [10]
Natural Resources [11]
Pollution [48]
Water & Oceans [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
California [49]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [50]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [51]
Northwest (OR WA) [52]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [17]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about Oysters, Boisterous or Scarce, Fuel Local Environment Stories [46]
Gas Prices Still Fuel Local Environmental Stories [53]

The spike in prices at the pump in recent months, thanks largely to the U.S.’s war with Iran, offers energy and environment reporters numerous local reporting angles, writes the latest TipSheet. A quick perspective and backstory, then more than a dozen story ideas to pursue, smart questions to ask and useful reporting resources to tap.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Consumer [54]
Energy & Fuel [55]
Environmental Politics [29]
Journalism & Media [10]
Natural Resources [11]
Policy [31]
Transportation [56]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about Gas Prices Still Fuel Local Environmental Stories [53]
Great Lakes Steelmaking at a Crossroads [57]

The Great Lakes region is a top steel producer, but its coal-fired steel mills are also a major source of planet-warming emissions and health-harming pollution. Climate advocates, community members and workers have been pushing to clean up these facilities for decades. Now, foreign funding offers new hope for revitalizing and decarbonizing the region’s steel industry. Canary Media’s Maria Gallucci explains.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Air [58]
Climate Change [5]
Economy & Business [34]
Energy & Fuel [55]
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [9]
Health [43]
Natural Resources [11]
Pollution [48]
Technology [13]
Water & Oceans [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [59]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [17]
International [19]
Asia [22]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about Great Lakes Steelmaking at a Crossroads [57]
Catch-22 on the Baltic — Twilight of Poland’s Coastal Fisherman [60]

Small-scale fisheries on the wane in an obscure region of the world, and a unique ethnic group trapped between being a tourist attraction and surviving a failing industry. Read how award-winning Polish journalist Tadeusz Michrowski turned this small, unsexy story into something bigger, a complex and nuanced portrait of a community of individuals in transition.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [33]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [29]
Fish & Fisheries [8]
Journalism & Media [10]
Natural Resources [11]
People & Population [45]
Water & Oceans [14]
Region:
International [19]
Europe [61]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about Catch-22 on the Baltic — Twilight of Poland’s Coastal Fisherman [60]
Kelp — The Understory, Underwater [62]

Massive kelp groves, little-noticed despite their proximity to populated coastlines or their importance to ecosystems and to us humans, face numerous pressures and a drastic decline. In “Forest of the Sea,” author David Helvarg dives into the subject, literally, to help reveal this unique undersea world. BookShelf contributing editor Jennifer Weeks has a review.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [63]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [4]
Climate Change [5]
Environmental Health [7]
Fish & Fisheries [8]
Natural Resources [11]
Pollution [48]
Water & Oceans [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
International [19]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about Kelp — The Understory, Underwater [62]

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