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]
Is Climate Disaster Insurance a Worsening Disaster? [32]

The growing disconnect between climate risk and risk insurance for homeowners is leaving millions on the knife-edge of economic disaster. But the latest TipSheet suggests that reality offers environmental journalists an opportunity to navigate the morass, community by community. Get more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources in the latest column.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [5]
Consumer [33]
Disasters [6]
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [34]
People & Population [35]
Planning & Growth [36]
Policy [31]
Water & Oceans [14]
Wildlife [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
California [37]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [17]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about Is Climate Disaster Insurance a Worsening Disaster? [32]
In Subzero Temperatures, Protecting a Tiger in the Snow [38]

The population of Siberian tigers, the second-largest subspecies in the world, took a turn for the worse after the fall of the Soviet Union. But an international team of biologists in remote Russia has been working to try to save the big cats. “Tigers Between Empires” traces that effort, in a new BookShelf review from contributing editor Jennifer Weeks.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [39]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [4]
Science [12]
Wildlife [15]
Region:
International [19]
Asia [22]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about In Subzero Temperatures, Protecting a Tiger in the Snow [38]
#SEJ2026 Live — Coverage of Conference Tours [40]

SEJournal is providing full coverage of all eight of the day-long tours from the annual Society of Environmental Journalists’ conference, April 15-18, in Chicago. In Part 2, contributors Meg Duff [41], Nathaniel Eisen [42], Nhung Nguyen [43] and Marlowe Starling [44] provide detailed reports from tours focused on the transitioning steel industry, microgrids, climate-friendly crop practices and evolving Midwestern agricultural systems.

Also check out the first round of tour coverage and read all the great work [40] from our team of early-career freelance journalists, part of SEJournal’s live #SEJ2026 Live conference reporting.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [45]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [3]
Agriculture [46]
Air [47]
Biodiversity [4]
Chemicals [48]
Climate Change [5]
Consumer [33]
Economy & Business [49]
Energy & Fuel [50]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Justice [51]
Environmental Politics [29]
Environmental Studies [52]
Food [53]
Forests [30]
Government [9]
Health [54]
Infrastructure [55]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [34]
Natural Resources [11]
People & Population [35]
Planning & Growth [36]
Policy [31]
Pollution [56]
Science [12]
Technology [13]
Transportation [57]
Waste [58]
Water & Oceans [14]
Wildlife [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [59]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about #SEJ2026 Live — Coverage of Conference Tours [40]
Why I Write About Extinction [60]

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 [48]
Climate Change [5]
Environmental Studies [52]
Journalism & Media [10]
Pollution [56]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [61]
Science [12]
Wildlife [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
International [19]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about Why I Write About Extinction [60]
Helping Students Learn the Hard Work of Journalism [62]

Two flourishing nonprofit programs teach young writers the basics of journalism and environmental reporting — mentoring and paying students, who publish enterprise and public records stories, personal essays and narrative features. Read more about Florida Student News Watch with CD Davidson-Hiers [62] and Indiana’s climate solutions-focused Youth Environmental Press Team with Jim Poyser [63], in the new EJ Academy.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ Academy [64]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [46]
Climate Change [5]
Government [9]
Water & Oceans [14]
Wildlife [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [59]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [65]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [66]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [17]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [18]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about Helping Students Learn the Hard Work of Journalism [62]
The Joy of Rewilding [67]

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 [46]
Biodiversity [4]
Climate Change [5]
Environmental Health [7]
Journalism & Media [10]
Science [12]
Wildlife [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [59]
International [19]
Canada [20]
Mexico [68]
Europe [69]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about The Joy of Rewilding [67]
Spring Is Coming. How Silent Will It Be? [70]

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 [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [4]
Chemicals [48]
Climate Change [5]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Studies [52]
Health [54]
Wildlife [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
International [19]
Canada [20]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about Spring Is Coming. How Silent Will It Be? [70]
Even in This Toxic River — A Salmon Story [71]

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 [48]
Environmental Health [7]
Fish & Fisheries [8]
Food [53]
Pollution [56]
Water & Oceans [14]
Wildlife [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [16]
Northwest (OR WA) [72]
Visibility:
Public [26]
- Read more about Even in This Toxic River — A Salmon Story [71]

Pages