A week of environmental journalism



A week of environmental journalism

amid Appalachia’s ridges, valleys and mountains

Monday, Oct. 12-15:

Knight Environmental Journalism Boot Camp

INCLUDING

Wednesday, Oct. 15:

Covering Climate Change and our Energy

Future in Rural America*

(register separately)

Oct. 15 - Sunday, Oct. 19:

Society of Environmental Journalists

18th Annual Conference

Hosted by Virginia Tech at the Hotel Roanoke

*Co-sponsors: Institute for Rural Journalism & Community Issues,

Yale Project on Climate Change\Yale Forum on Climate Change & Media

The Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues is proud to offer rural journalists, especially those in coal country and the rest of Appalachia, the opportunity to participate in a tremendous series of environmental journalism workshops.

The focus of our effort is “Covering Climate Change and Our Energy Future in Rural America,” a seminar that will be the pivot point of a week of environmental journalism in the area in and around Roanoke, Va. Preceding the seminar, at the same location, will be the annual Environmental Journalism Boot Camp of Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism. The seminar will be followed by the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual conference, the pre-eminent national gathering for environmental journalism.

These events require separate application or registration. The Boot Camp is accepting applications until July 28. For the Climate Change and Our Energy Future seminar, we offer a fellowship that will cover the $60 fee, which includes an SEJ membership, and will accept applications until August 15.

|Sunday, Oct. 12 – Wednesday, Oct. 15 |

|Knight Environmental Journalism Boot Camp |

Want a leg up on covering the world's most important beat? Need to sharpen skills for interviewing scientists, analyzing data, understanding environmental policy, writing about complex environmental issues? Reporters new to covering the environment and veterans looking to sharpen skills can get basic training in this boot camp, presented by Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism.

Twenty-two print, broadcast, online or freelance journalists will be chosen in a competitive process. Boot campers pay a $195 fee, which will include a membership (or renewal) in the Society of Environmental Journalists, attendance and meals at the Climate Change and Energy Future Seminar on Wednesday, Oct. 15, and attendance at the SEJ Annual Conference Thursday through Sunday, and lodging for the week. Boot campers will be responsible for their own transportation to and from Roanoke, and for meals during the SEJ conference. U.S. journalists of color can compete for full fellowships that also cover transportation.

Knight Center instructors, scientists, journalists and others will discuss computer-assisted reporting, interviewing, investigative techniques, ethics, current environmental issues.

Reporters new to covering the environment are strongly urged to apply. Veteran reporters are also considered. Applications should be postmarked before July 28. Winners will be notified by Aug, 11.

For more information, contact Knight Center Associate Director David Poulson at poulson@msu.edu or 517-432-5417.

Download an application form here. Interested journalists of color applicants should use this form instead of the regular form.

To apply for a fellowship to the Wednesday seminar only, see the next page.

Wednesday, Oct. 15

Covering Climate Change and

Our Energy Future in Rural America

The past, present, and future of coal in Appalachia and the southeastern United States — and therefore much of our energy future — will come into sharp focus at this one-day seminar.

From the scientific perspective on global climate change to the satellite perspective on changing land patterns; from the ins, outs, and maybes of carbon capture and sequestration to the science, economics — and wrenching emotional aspects — of mountaintop-removal strip mining; from internationally recognized energy experts to a panel of expert journalists steeped in mining these stories, this will be an immersion into coal, climate and the interdependent future of both, sponsored by SEJ, the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, Virginia Tech and the Yale Project on Climate Change\Yale Forum on Climate Change and The Media.

Registered reporters will head home with practical insights and expert news sources on issues that play right to the heart of their hometown audiences. Hear from leading regional and local reporters bringing collective decades of newsroom experience in covering and uncovering some of journalism's most compelling stories on energy, coal, and climate change.

All sessions will be at the Hotel Roanoke. Breakfast and lunch are included. Pre-registration and a $60 fee are required. The Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues will offer up to 20 fellowships that will cover the fee and a membership in SEJ, which is required for attendance. Applications will be accepted until Aug. 15. If you also want to attend the Knight Environmental Journalism Boot Camp, you should apply there first, because its deadline is July 28. Winners of its fellowships will be notified by Aug. 11, giving time for a follow-up application for the Wednesday seminar only.

Click here for an application form for the Wednesday seminar.

PROGRAM (Shenandoah Room)

8:00 - 8:30 a.m.: Continental Breakfast and Registration

8:30 - 9:00: Program Overview and Introductions

Bud Ward, Editor, Yale Forum on Climate Change & The Media

9:00 - 9:35: The Climate Challenge: Setting the Context for Considering our Energy Future Options - Jacob Sewall, Assistant Professor of Geosciences, Virginia Tech

9:35 - 10:15: What on Earth? Observed Changes in Land Features in North America and Eastern U.S. as Shown by Satellite Images - Kirsten de Beurs, Asst. Prof. of Geography, Virginia Tech

10:15 - 10:30: Refreshment Break

10:30 – Noon: Mountaintop Removal in Context

Moderator: Ken Ward Jr., Reporter, The Charleston Gazette

Speakers: Gene Kitts, Senior Vice President, Mining Services, International Coal Group; Joe Lovett, Executive Director, Appalachian Center for the Economy & the Environment; Ben Stout, Associate Professor of Biology, Wheeling Jesuit University

Noon - 12:45 p.m: Lunch and Informal Discussion

12:45 - 1:25: Winning the Oil Endgame: Principles of, and Progress Toward, an Oil-Free America -- Amory Lovins, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute

1:25 - 2:05: Carbon Sequestration Potential Options -- Jim Dooley, Senior Scientist, Joint Global Change Research Institute

2:05 - 2:45: Future Energy -- David Roper, Professor Emeritus of Physics, Virginia Tech

2:45 - 3:00: Refreshment Break

3:00 - 3:40: Winning the Coal Endgame: The Megawatt and Micropower Revolutions -- Amory Lovins (see 12:45-1:25 session)

3:40 - 4:45: Reporters and Editors Roundtable -- James Bruggers, Environmental Reporter, The (Louisville) Courier-Journal; Robert J. Byers, City Editor, The Charleston Gazette

4:45 – 5:00: Concluding Remarks and Adjournment

Society of Environmental Journalists Annual Conference

5:00 – 8:00 p.m.: Opening Reception, Roanoke Ballroom

Guests: Govs. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)

8:00 – 9:30: SEJ Awards for Reporting on the Environment

9:30 – 11:00: Welcome to Virginia films and slideshow

SEJ Conference continues until Sunday. For info, click here.

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