More than two dozen student reporters and editors from The Arizona Republic will provide coverage of the 34th annual Society of Environmental Journalists conference at Arizona State University from April 23-26. The team will report numerous sessions, workshops, plenaries and tours, with SEJournal carrying special reports in its April 30 and May 7 issues. More on this year’s student newsroom [1] and the conference [2] itself. Stay tuned!

With wildfires becoming more extreme in every way, reporters covering them face new challenges along with familiar hazards. A pair of experienced wildfire journalists and others on the front lines offer advice on dealing with access restrictions, on-the-ground dangers, toxic exposure risks and traumatized survivors — as climate change speeds up the news cycle and misinformation muddies the reporting landscape.

Even as U.S. government agencies rush to wipe climate change information (or even the mention of the word climate) from their websites, others are racing to reconstruct lost data elsewhere. Case in point is a rescued database on climate risks preserved by The Guardian. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox has more on the preserved database and how best to use it.

Next week, hundreds of environmental journalists are expected to gather in Arizona for #SEJ2025, the Society of Environmental Journalists’ expansive annual conference. Co-chair Kendal Blust has highlights of the four-day event, plus how the challenges facing the Southwest are those of communities across the United States, and why now is a critical time for journalists to come together. Read her rundown [50] and register now [51], before the April 16 midnight deadline.