Publication Items

Why I Write About Extinction [1]

Reporting on species who are gone forever can be disheartening, but don’t let that stop you. After more than two decades on the extinction beat, John R. Platt has learned this work can also be deeply rewarding. He explains why he’s stuck with it and why other journalists should consider joining him in telling the stories of vanishing animals and plants.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Biodiversity [4]
Chemicals [5]
Climate Change [6]
Environmental Studies [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Pollution [9]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [10]
Science [11]
Wildlife [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
International [14]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Why I Write About Extinction [1]
NASA Earthdata Offers a New Look at What Satellites See Down Here [16]

The capacity to visualize Earth’s ecosystems in detail is an invaluable aid to reporting on the environment. That’s now being bolstered with an ongoing upgrade to NASA’s Earthdata program, fueled by its ranks of satellites. Reporter’s Toolbox says the refurbishment offers treasures for journalists ranging from oceans, groundwater and land surfaces to the biosphere and atmosphere.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [17]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [4]
Climate Change [6]
Environmental Health [18]
Journalism & Media [8]
Natural Resources [19]
Science [11]
Technology [20]
Water & Oceans [21]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
International [14]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about NASA Earthdata Offers a New Look at What Satellites See Down Here [16]
Insect Decline Poses Foundational Ecological Hazards [22]

Bugs may get a bad rap, but a serious possible global decline in their populations is making clearer what may be lost for ecosystems and human societies. Issue Backgrounder peers beneath the detritus to find what insects do, how we try to kill them and how they survive, and why it’s so hard to pin down the data around their shifting numbers.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [23]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [4]
Chemicals [5]
Environmental Health [18]
Natural Resources [19]
Pollution [9]
Science [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
International [14]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Insect Decline Poses Foundational Ecological Hazards [22]
The Joy of Rewilding [24]

Rewilding is a global movement to restore natural processes and boost biodiversity. It’s also the name of an online magazine launched by journalists Kat Tancock and Domini Clark. Their goal? To expose more people to the concept and inspire action through positive storytelling. Co-founder Tancock on the magazine’s editorial vision, opportunities for freelancers to contribute and what rewilding means to her.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Agriculture [25]
Biodiversity [4]
Climate Change [6]
Environmental Health [18]
Journalism & Media [8]
Science [11]
Wildlife [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [26]
International [14]
Canada [27]
Mexico [28]
Europe [29]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about The Joy of Rewilding [24]
Spring Is Coming. How Silent Will It Be? [30]

Bird populations remain in steep decline, mostly due to human activity. But as the latest TipSheet reports, reporting on the disappearance of our avian residents can lead journalists to some bread-and-butter environmental stories: whether about local ecosystems, climate change, chemicals, land disturbance and more. Read on for more, including nearly a dozen-and-a-half story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [31]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [4]
Chemicals [5]
Climate Change [6]
Environmental Health [18]
Environmental Studies [7]
Health [32]
Wildlife [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
International [14]
Canada [27]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Spring Is Coming. How Silent Will It Be? [30]
Even in This Toxic River — A Salmon Story [33]

Seattle’s heavily polluted Duwamish River is no place to catch fish — except for salmon, which pass quickly through these troubled waters on their way from the sea to their freshwater spawning grounds. With fishing pole in hand, environmental journalist Alex Brown joins jostling crowds of industrial-zone anglers and catches a firsthand view of a spectacle that is both anomalous and awe-inspiring.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [4]
Chemicals [5]
Environmental Health [18]
Fish & Fisheries [34]
Food [35]
Pollution [9]
Water & Oceans [21]
Wildlife [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Northwest (OR WA) [36]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Even in This Toxic River — A Salmon Story [33]
Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026 [37]

Explore our 10th annual Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy, as we scour the beat to identify 15 top stories to put on your radar for 2026. Our updated format for the special report provides a quick read and a broad scope — with insights on climate change and environmental justice, bird and insect declines, data centers and deep sea mining, deregulation and PFAS and much more. Get started here [37].

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [38]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Agriculture [25]
Air [39]
Biodiversity [4]
Chemicals [5]
Climate Change [6]
Disasters [40]
Economy & Business [41]
Energy & Fuel [42]
Environmental Health [18]
Environmental Justice [43]
Environmental Politics [44]
Environmental Studies [7]
Fish & Fisheries [34]
Forests [45]
Government [46]
Health [32]
Infrastructure [47]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [48]
Military [49]
Natural Resources [19]
Policy [50]
Pollution [9]
Science [11]
Technology [20]
Waste [51]
Water & Oceans [21]
Wildlife [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Alaska and Hawaii [52]
California [53]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [26]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [54]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [55]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [56]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [57]
Northwest (OR WA) [36]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [58]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [59]
International [14]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026 [37]
From Words to Frames — Writer Learns To Wield Power of Visual Storytelling [60]

When writer Gulnaz Khan saw how global warming drove both natural loss and spiritual breaks for surrounding human communities, it started her on a PBS documentary series exploring sacred sites around the world threatened by climate change. But she also undertook another odyssey, one from writer to visual storyteller. What she learned on her journey from text to screen, in the new EJ InSight column.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ InSight [61]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [25]
Biodiversity [4]
Climate Change [6]
Environmental Health [18]
Environmental Justice [43]
Food [35]
Forests [45]
Government [46]
Health [32]
Journalism & Media [8]
Natural Resources [19]
People & Population [62]
Pollution [9]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [10]
Science [11]
Waste [51]
Water & Oceans [21]
Wildlife [12]
Region:
International [14]
Africa [63]
Asia [64]
South America [65]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about From Words to Frames — Writer Learns To Wield Power of Visual Storytelling [60]
Queer Ecology — A Powerful Lens for Reporting on Environmental Injustice [66]

Queer ecology is an evolving field that challenges traditional assumptions in science and explores LGBTQ+ experiences in an ecological context. It’s easy to catch your audience’s attention with stories about transitioning clownfish or same-sex albatross parenting. But as contributor Isaias Hernandez explains, queer ecology also offers journalists an important perspective for covering a range of environmental issues, from climate risk to pollution exposure, and reimagining environmental narratives.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Agriculture [25]
Air [39]
Biodiversity [4]
Climate Change [6]
Disasters [40]
Diversity [67]
Environmental Health [18]
Environmental Justice [43]
Environmental Politics [44]
Environmental Studies [7]
Health [32]
Journalism & Media [8]
People & Population [62]
Planning & Growth [68]
Science [11]
Wildlife [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
International [14]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Queer Ecology — A Powerful Lens for Reporting on Environmental Injustice [66]
Tapping Into COP30 To Cover Indigenous Issues [69]

COP30 negotiators from around the world gather next week in Belém, Brazil, at the mouth of the Amazon River. Our Voices of Environmental Justice columnist Yessenia Funes says it’s a vital opportunity to engage with the Indigenous peoples who help protect the vast rainforest region — even for environmental reporters not there in person. Here’s how to tell their stories.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [70]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [25]
Biodiversity [4]
Climate Change [6]
Economy & Business [41]
Energy & Fuel [42]
Environmental Health [18]
Environmental Justice [43]
Environmental Politics [44]
Forests [45]
Government [46]
Journalism & Media [8]
Natural Resources [19]
People & Population [62]
Planning & Growth [68]
Policy [50]
Pollution [9]
Water & Oceans [21]
Region:
International [14]
South America [65]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Tapping Into COP30 To Cover Indigenous Issues [69]

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