It has been another amazing year here at IJNR, from a blowing sandstorm on North Carolina's Outer Banks to a working frack pad in western Pennsylvania and the down-but-not-out banks of the recovering Detroit River. Three distinct but equally impressive groups of Fellows have been turned loose to make IJNR look better than anything we could ever do on our own.

We're already gearing up for a promising 2015, when we'll return to the Western landscape to look at sage-grouse conservation, dive (figuratively this time) into Lake Superior, then go back to the Chesapeake Bay, a place IJNR last visited in 2002. Make sure you check our website in the coming weeks for specific dates and topics as these programs come together.

Melissa, Adam, Carrie, Mike and I are as committed as ever to providing meaningful, revelatory journalism programs next year and beyond, and we appreciate everything you do - through word and deed - to support our efforts.

Please have a safe and happy holiday season. We're looking forward to another great year, and hope you are too. 

Get out there!

The IJNR crew takes a break on the lake during the annual staff meeting in August. L-R Mike Scott, Carrie Hinterthuer, Adam Hinterthuer, Melissa Mylchreest, and Dave Spratt.

This year we were thrilled to be able to bring 48 journalists out into the field on three separate Institutes. Please read about them below, or check out the Post-Institute synopses on our website.

NORTH CAROLINA INSTITUTE

The first week of March, eighteen journalists braved ice storms and nor' easters to get an up close look at environment, resource, and agricultural issues in eastern North Carolina.

Our group toured the Ward Transformer Superfund site, where the disposal of PCB-laden soils sparked the beginning of the environmental justice movement. We sent samples of our own couch cushions to a Duke toxicology lab and discussed the results with the world's leading experts on flame-retardant chemicals. We talked about hog farms and water quality with high-ranking state officials, environmental non-profits and the mother, father and son behind the naturally raised hogs at Nooherooka Farms. We shared a meal with commercial fishermen and state fisheries regulators as we discussed the diminishing catch. And we braved North Carolina's Outer Banks during the strong winds of a nor' easter, exploring sea-level rise and coastal development as we learned that, while scientists, regulators and city planners all agree the seas are rising, the real debate is over how (and when) to respond.

Journalists participating in the 2014 North Carolina Institute were:

Katie Burke, associate editor, American Scientist

John Carey, freelance journalist, Scientific American

Christina Cooke, freelance journalist/photographer, The Atlantic

Emery Dalesio, business writer, The Associated Press

Ambar Espinoza, environmental reporter, Rhode Island Public Radio

Sammy Fretwell, environment writer, The State

Elizabeth Harball, reporter, ClimateWire

David Huppert, producer, UNC-TV

Catherine "Cate" Kozak, freelance journalist, Island Free Press

Susan Ladd, senior reporter, News & Record

Randy Loftis, environmental writer, The Dallas Morning News

Linda Marsa, contributing editor, Discover

Sarah McCammon, bureau chief, Georgia Public Broadcasting

Eric Mennel, reporter/producer, North Carolina Public Radio

Sara Peach, freelance journalist, Yale Forum on Climate Change

Bruce Siceloff, transportation reporter, The News & Observer

Trista Talton, freelance journalist, Coastal Review Online

Sarah Zielinski, freelance journalist, Science News.

SHALE COUNTRY INSTITUTE

On June 24th, eighteen journalists from across the country gathered in Pittsburgh, PA to kick off IJNR's 2014 Shale Country Institute, a four-day trip exploring the current boom in domestic oil and gas production via "unconventional drilling" or "fracking." The group included twenty-year-olds in their first job, veteran journalists with decades of experience, and even a mid-career winner of the Pulitzer Prize. They wrote for outlets ranging from West Texas Public Radio to the Wall Street Journal. Combined, these outlets serve a global audience of more than 15 million people.

The trip began with a dinner discussion with the deputy director of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's office of oil and gas management, and the deputy state director of The Nature Conservancy. After that "big picture" overview of America's new energy movement, the group traveled through northwestern Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, meeting with hydrogeologists, petroleum engineers, concerned citizens, and elected officials. We toured industrial sites like a working well pad and a gigantic fracination plant. We also visited the places dealing with the impacts from these operations, seeing the Allegheny National Forest and visiting eastern Ohio farms. As always, access to both the people and places involved in this issue was crucial to providing our journalists with the context and information needed to pursue these stories.

One good example of this was a morning spent canoeing the upper Cuyahoga River, which flows into Lake Erie. The upper Cuyahoga watershed is also home to a growing number of injection wells, which store used fracking fluid far underground. After our canoe trip, we settled in to talk about what threats injection wells might pose for water quality with the director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resource's division of oil and gas, an environmental scientist from Youngstown State University, a representative from American Petroleum Inc., and a concerned citizen-activist.  Through programming like this, we enabled journalists to see the issues first-hand and talk with the people involved, bringing topics like energy efficiency, water quality, human health, waste disposal, and quality of life concerns to the forefront of the discussion.

Journalists of the 2014 Shale Country Institute:

Pat Bywater, Executive Editor, The Meadville (PA) Tribune

Stephen Cunningham, Energy Editor, Bloomberg News

Mary Esch, Staff Writer/Editor, The Associated Press

John Finnerty, State Reporter, Community Newspapers Inc. (PA)

Peter Green, Freelance Reporter/Contributor, Wall Street Journal

Kalea Hall, Reporter, The Vindicator (OH)

Kathi Kowalski, Freelance Journalist/Author, Midwest Energy News

Martin Lamonica, Independent Journalist, MIT Technology Review, Scientific American

Joe Mahoney, Reporter, The Daily Star

Stephanie Ogburn, Reporter, KUNC North Colorado Public Radio

Steve Orr, Staff Writer, Democrat and Chronicle (NY)

Joanna Richards, Reporter/Producer, WCPN/Ideastream (OH)

Lonnie Shekhtman, Freelance Business Correspondent, The Boston Globe

Lisa Song, Reporter, InsideClimate News

Miranda Spencer, Freelance Journalist/Editor, The Daily Climate, Shale Reporter.com

Lana Straub, Freelance Journalist/Producer, KXWT, West Texas Public Radio

David Unger, Staff Writer, The Christian Science Monitor

Patricia Villone, News Anchor/Senior Reporter, CTV News (MD)

DETROIT RIVER INSTITUTE

Based out of a downtown Detroit hotel, the Detroit River Institute introduced fourteen journalists from the Midwest and East Coast to topics of environmental justice, industrial pollution, river ecology, water quality and urban food production and distribution. Our group 

consisted of reporters working for outlets like The (Toledo) Blade, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, Newsweek and the New York Times as well as other local and national publications. Altogether, these outlets consist of more than 13 million readers, listeners and viewers.

The three full days of the Institute were organized around three main topic areas: environmental justice, encompassing Detroit's industrial pollution legacy and human health; the Detroit River, exploring river restoration efforts, nutrient pollution and water quality issues; and urban agriculture, including the production and distribution of local sources of food and attempts to create a regional food economy. On the first day, our group visited southwest Detroit, where heavy industry - steel mills, coal-burning power plants and a recently expanded oil refinery - sit hard against thinning neighborhoods whose remaining residents suffer from a wide array of health problems. Journalists met with residents, health-care professionals and researchers to discuss the combined effects of pollution and poverty. On the second day, the focus turned toward the Detroit River itself, where we visited a revamped urban nature preserve on Belle Isle, witnessed the juxtaposition of heavy industry and a recovering ecosystem from the bow of the Detroit Riverkeeper's boat, and visited a protected wetland that serves a critical role in the health of Lake Erie. On day three, our group visited Detroit's Eastern Market and took a guided bicycle tour of the city's urban farms, where the city's considerable vacant land and a scarcity of fresh food have intersected in innovative ways.

Journalists of the 2014 Detroit River Institute:

Jim Bloch, Contributing Writer, The Voice Newspapers

Mary Ann Colihan, Freelance Writer/Producer, Business London (Ont.) Magazine

Steve Furay, Special Contributor, The Michigan Citizen

Weenta Girmay, Freelance Reporter, The Allegheny Front, Michigan Radio

Tom Henry, Environment Writer, Columnist, Blogger, The (Toledo) Blade

Tim Lougheed, Freelance Writer/Editor, Environmental Health Perspectives

James McCarty, Staff Reporter, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer

Alexa Mills, Correspondent, The Boston Globe

Peter Moskowitz, Freelance Journalist, Al Jazeera, The Guardian

Hannah Northey, Energy Reporter, E&E Publishing

Elizabeth Royte, Freelance Writer/Editor, The New York Times, National Geographic

Zo� Schlanger, Reporter, Newsweek

Kristina Smith, Reporter/Editor, Port Clinton News Herald, The News-Messenger

Hi, fellow Fellows, 

I noticed something while watching "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" on TV the other night. If you're familiar with the stop-motion cartoon then you know all about the Island of Misfit Toys, where defective and poorly made playthings go to live out their existence in a frozen wasteland ruled by a talking lion.

What I realized is that we are all a lot like those misfits. Instead of choosing some shiny career as a rocking horse or a tricycle, we journalists took the harder path of being a squirt gun that shoots jelly or a train with square wheels, all trapped on an island with little hope of exploring the world on our measly incomes.

Stick with me here.

Near the end of the movie Santa's sleigh swoops in and takes all the misfit toys around the world as gifts for good little girls and boys. A scooter for Jimmy, a dolly for Sue, et al.

That sleigh, my friends, is the IJNR bus. 

It rescues us from the little island we feel stuck on sometimes and shows us a bigger world of potential stories just waiting to be written and recorded. Coincidentally, those of you who knew Frank Allen before he retired would agree he shares a likeness with Santa but that's getting away from things.

I'm writing my fellow misfits today with the news that IJNR turns 20 next year. To celebrate, they'd like to raise $20,000 by year's end to fund an institute and help keep the lights on in Adam's office. Dave has the eyesight of a cat I'm told so he's ok working in the dark.

We are among the 800+ alum that have rode the bus for free. FREE. And I believe Adam would work in the dark if it meant there'd be enough gas in the bus and beer in the cooler for one more person to come. Even so, Mike still needs electricity to charge his laptop, smartphone and 9 backup phones.

Unfortunately "FREE" is never free and that's where I come in to ask you to give.

I think back on the trip I shared in 2013 with my fellow Mining Country Fellows: We traveled 600 feet underground. We surfed through rice beds on a gorgeous day. We drank coffee at heaven on earth. We saw a map of Michigan get flipped upside down to illustrate Indiana. We called for wolves and it worked.

And we made a few misfit friends along the way too.

If you thought any part of your IJNR trip was valuable to you as a reporter or a human being, consider giving back. The good folks of IJNR deserve our help.

Need more prodding? Here's the pitch directly from Dave, Adam, Melissa, Carrie and Mike.

If you're ready to give now, here's the link to do that.

Thanks for listening. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you.

See you on the bus!

-Chris

Wind River Range, Wyoming. Photo Adam Hinterthuer.

April 2015

Currently, the decision regarding whether or not to list the greater sage grouse as an endangered species has been put on hold by an act of Congress. But this doesn't mean the polemic debate over this species is resolved - far from it. This greater sage grouse is a bellwether for ecological integrity in the West, and offers a catalyst to discuss some of the most important issues facing the region.

Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to:

• Energy exploration and development, including wind and fossil fuels
• Collaborative and voluntary conservation efforts on ranchland
• Impacts of wildfire suppression on habitat
• Water issues, including drought
• How does the Endangered Species Act work, how does a species get listed, and what are the ramifications?

Photo courtesy EPA

Lake Superior Institute - 

June 2015

Inhospitably cold and deep, the world's second-largest freshwater lake has long been immune to many of the problems that have plagued the lower Great Lakes. But Superior is now acting as the "canary in the coal mine" for climate change, reflecting impacts that will in turn become apparent in the other Great Lakes; it is currently the fastest-warming lake in the world.

Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to:

• Warming water, shifting fish populations, and the future of fisheries
• The health and role of coastal wetlands
• The influx of invasive species, including fish, invertebrates, and plants
• Lake ice and evaporation, and what they mean
• Water quality and human health
• Extreme rain events: Municipal infrastructure, stormwater, flooding, sedimentation, flooding

Courtesy of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science,  from Flickr's  Creative Commons

Our Chesapeake Bay Institute will be a five-day learning expedition in Maryland and Virginia. This trip will highlight water issues as a main focus, and will utilize them as a jumping-off point to discuss broader issues within the region.

Topics to be covered include, but are not limited to:

• Overview of the Chesapeake Bay Program
• Nutrient loading: Industrial agriculture, wetlands, and buffer restoration, including a visit to the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
• Public health: Chemical contaminants, stormwater, and environmental justice,
• Bay ecosystems
• Air pollution and its impacts on water quality
• Natural gas development in the Chesapeake watershed
• Bay commerce: Port of Baltimore, industrial history, and dredging
• Sea Level Rise: Shore ecosystems and shoreline development

Isabelle Groc (Great Waters 2006, Puget Sound 2009) was named a Fellow at the Explorers Club, which promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air, and space by supporting research and education in the physical, natural and biological sciences.

Cally Carswell was awarded a 2014 Science in Society Journalism Award by the National Association of Science Writers in the science reporting for a local or regional market category, for her High Country News story "The Tree Coroners." (Which also won an SEJ award, below).

Marci Krivonen was awarded the Colorado Broadcaster's Association's best news coverage of a single event for her coverage of the Red Canyon Fire.

Lindsey Shingeck-Smith at Michigan Radio won Young Journalist of the Year from the Detroit Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. 

Craig Welch and his colleague Steve Ringman won the Hillman Prize for Web Journalism for feature in The Seattle Times,"Sea Change: The Pacific's Perilous Turn."

Sena Christian was awarded a Ted Scripps Fellowship in Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Natalie Jablonski with WXPR won the Wisconin Broadcaster's Association's Best Features category for small markets for her feature The Ocean Epic of Walter Wendt.

 Eve Byron says, "Hey guys, my story on the great trout wars up on Flathead took a first in outdoor reporting in the Montana Newspaper Association 2013 contest - and I didn't even submit it!  Thank you IJNR, it wouldn't have happened without you guys!" 

 Tom Henry and Osha Gray Davidson were both awarded media fellowships this past summer at Vermont Law School, the nation's top-rated school for environmental law. Tom was also the 2014 recipient of the International Association of Great Lakes Research's annual Jack R. Vallentyne Award. 

Ed Jahn and his colleagues at Oregon Public Broadcasting won an Emmy (Best Topical Documentary) and both Regional and National Edward R. Murrow Awards for their Glacier Caves documentary. 

IJNR's Frank Allen Field Reporting Awards:

Laura Paskus, Freelance Journalist, (Santa Fe Reporter, KUNM, Al Jazeera America)

Topic: Diminishing water supplies threaten endangered fish recovery



 

Robert McClure Co-founder & Executive Director, InvestigateWest

Topic: The environmental and economic costs of floodplain development in the Pacific Northwest



 

Ben Goldfarb, Editorial Intern, High Country News
Geoff Giller, Editorial Intern,Scientific American
Topic: The far-reaching implications of Yellowstone's invasive fish


 

Emma Marris, Freelance journalist,(Nature, Discover, New York Times)

Topic: Using interactions between humans and wolves to explore the concept of wildness in the 21st century.



  

Sammy Fretwell, Environment Reporter, The State (SC)

Topic: Western gold mining communities, local reaction and environmental impacts.


 

Lindsey Hoshaw Coordinating Producer, KQED QUEST
Topic: Rare sea snail may hold the key to successful cancer vaccines  

Society of Environmental Journalists Awards:

 Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding In-depth Reporting, Large Market, First Place:  

Craig Welch and colleague Steve Ringman for their series "Sea Change: The Pacific's Perilous Turn"

Kevin Carmody Award for Outstanding In-depth Reporting, Small Market, Second Place: 

Cally Carswell for her High Country News story "The Tree Coroners"

Outstanding Beat Reporting, Small Market, Second Place:

Brian Thomas Bienkowski, "Stories of the Great Lake's People, Places and Creatures" for Environmental Health News 

 Outstanding Beat Reporting, Small Market, Third Place:

Brett Walton, "Water in the United States" for Circle of Blue

Society of Professional Journalists Awards:
 

We know that many, many of you won SPJ awards this year - and probably didn't mention it to us! We've gathered the names of those alumni winners we know about here, and apologize to those we've left out:

Ashley Ahearn, Carol Ann Bassett, Cally Carswell, Sarah Keller, Laura Lundquist, Laura Paskus, Jessica Robinson

JOBS 

 Craig Welch says: "After 15 years, a few thousand stories, buckets of deadline stress and a mess of fun, Friday is my last day at The Seattle Times. It's been a wild ride - stories about clam thieves and government fox killers, about salmon-eating birds driven off by Marines, about predators and prey and oceans and mountains, all manner of tragic death, and climate, climate, climate, climate. I'll miss the people immensely. But I'm looking forward to the next adventure. Starting in January I'll be a contributing writer for National Geographic - another dream job." 

Beth Daley says: "After 20+ remarkable years at the Boston Globe, it's my first day at the New England Center for Investigative Reporting at BU with a WGBH affiliation. Same mission, just start-up style."

Martin LaMonica says: "I got a new gig! I'll be energy & environment editor and the deputy editor of The Conversation, a site that publishes articles written by academics and edited by journos like us. Clearly, my days on the IJNR bus (two trips) will help me as I set out on this new adventure."

Hugh McDiarmid says: "Today is my final day after eight years at the Michigan Environmental Council. Monday, I start as public information officer for the International Joint Commission's Great Lakes Office in Windsor, Ontario. The IJC - among many other duties that I've yet to learn -- provides guidance to the US and Canadian governments on boundary issues including Great Lakes water quality and quantity - science, data, analyses and recommendations to the governments that is designed to be free of political interference or constraints."

Amanda Peacher says: "Here's our news: Thomas and I are moving to Bend! I'm going to be Oregon Public Broadcasting's new Central Oregon reporter. I'll be running an entire bureau! (with a staff of one). We move in January. 

Tasha Eichenseher has taken a new job as Senior Editor at Yoga Journal in Boulder, CO.

 Besty Kulman has taken a position as Senior Field Producer for

Al Jazeera America.

Morgan Sherburne has taken a position as a science writer at the University of Florida.

Eve Byron left newspapering after 20 years at the Helena, MT Independent Record and is now working at followthemoney.org.

Eilee Heikenen-Weiss left her job at WBEZ to take a position leading active travel vacations around the world with a company called Backroads.

Kristofor Husted has taken a position as a reporter covering food production at Harvest Public Media in central Missouri.

BABIES

Cassandra Brooks and husband John welcomed

Kayden Adelie in April. Cassandra says, "Kayden Adelie loosely translates to the "Warrior Penguin"as both her dad and I have worked in the Antarctic for a long time! I've attached a photo from October, when we traveled to the CCAMLR meeting in Hobart, Tasmania CCAMLR stands for the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, they are the international body that manages the waters around Antarctica.

Matt Frank and his wife Kiki welcomed Everett Wilbur in August. Matt says of his son's middle name: "Wilbur was my grandfather - a farmer, adventurer, and father of seven girls, whose wild stories of traveling the West planted seeds..."

Matt Jenkins and his wife Juliana welcomed Miles in September. Matt says "Juliana and I have been delighted with his crooked smile; comedic sense of timing; and his love of riding around perched on our shoulders, parrot style." 

 Bridget DeChagas and her husband Daniel welcomed Theodore "Teddy" Matthew in September. Bridget says, "The only pertinent info is that he's adorable and likes to host late night parties in his nursery - BYOB;)"

David Huppert and his wife Sarah (and canine brother Rodney) welcomed Maxwell Andrews in October.  David says, "We're over the moon in love with Maxwell.  Not to mention extremely tired.  Little dude still has his days/nights flipped."

WEDDINGS