The Society of Environmental Journalists is pleased to announce the winners of the Outstanding Beat Reporting category (large and small markets) of the 2023 SEJ Awards for Reporting on the Environment .

FIRST PLACE, SMALL

"Maryland's Environmental Challenges" by Scott Dance for The Baltimore Sun



JUDGES' COMMENTS:

• "Scott Dance's stories exemplify regional beat reporting, and we commend his sharp eye for how climate change and environmental neglect have exacerbated inequities between Black and white communities. Through a mix of hard news and explanatory reporting, coupled with data analysis and on-the-ground narratives, Dance shined light on a remarkable range of issues weighing on the greater Baltimore area."

Scott Dance spent a decade at The Baltimore Sun, his hometown newspaper. He reported on environmental issues for the bulk of his time there, tracking the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its flora and fauna, as well as urban ecological issues and Baltimore's legacy of environmental racism. He also covered the historic New Horizons flyby of Pluto, the arrival of Superstorm Sandy and topics ranging from astronomy to geology to health. Dance was a 2021 Abrams Nieman Fellow in Local Investigative Journalism at Harvard University. In September 2022, he joined The Washington Post's climate desk in a role covering extreme weather news and the intersections between weather, climate, society and the environment.

Tune in on Thursday as Scott takes over

@SEJorg on Twitter/X for this week's #SEJSpotlight!



FIRST PLACE, LARGE

"Forever Chemicals" by Michael Hawthorne for Chicago Tribune



JUDGES' COMMENTS:

• "Of all the excellent entries received in the large beat reporting category this year, this one is outstanding for the herculean effort undertaken by reporter Michael Hawthorne to investigate the health and environmental effects of unregulated PFAS and for the impact of his reporting. Not only did his work prompt discussion and response, including introduction of legislation to ban PFAS pollution nationwide, but Hawthorne created an online tool to allow readers to determine if there was PFAS in their water supplies. For more than a year, he reviewed thousands of court documents, government records and scientific studies. His well-told stories reflect a deep knowledge about a complex subject and a commitment to inform readers about the failure of the government to protect them. This is a shining example of the finest kind of journalism."

Michael Hawthorne is a Pulitzer-finalist investigative reporter who focuses on environment and public health issues for the Chicago Tribune. He has written extensively about the health of the Great Lakes and Chicago River, the dangers of toxic chemicals in household products and the lingering hazards of brain-damaging lead in homes and drinking water. Michael grew up on a farm in central Illinois, raising pigs to help pay for college. He covered state government and the environment for newspapers in Florida, Illinois and Ohio before joining the Tribune in 2004.

Follow along on Friday as Michael takes over

@SEJorg on Twitter/X for this week's #SEJSpotlight!

SECOND PLACE, SMALL

"Aaron Cantú's Beat Reporting" by Aaron Cantú for Capital & Main

JUDGES' COMMENTS:

• "Aaron Cantú zeroed in on failing regulation in California, as well as on the oil and gas industry's outsized lobbying of the state legislature. His incisive range of reporting connected science with politics — all while giving voice to the residents most affected by nearby refineries. Cantú's empathy runs deep in his hard-hitting body of work, especially in the way he centers Spanish-speaking communities."

SECOND PLACE, LARGE

"Environmental Challenges and Changes in West Africa" by Ashoka Mukpo for Mongabay

JUDGES' COMMENTS:

• "Whether it's painting a picture of how life is getting harder for fishers on the coast of Sierra Leone 'where the fish have become scarcer...and rickety boats are having to go farther out to sea,' or explaining the painful and continuing fallout of colonialism at a rubber plantation in Liberia and the effects of deforestation on chimpanzees, reporter Ashoka Mukpo goes to great lengths to convey the way life is unfolding in this region of the world. His stories are diverse, gut-wrenching and informative. With Mukpo as your guide, you are on a journey to understand environmental, economic and historical complexities that are rarely well covered and with so much insight and heart."

THIRD PLACE, SMALL

"Rights of Nature Beat Reporting" by Katie Surma for Inside Climate News

JUDGES' COMMENTS:

• "Katie Surma's provocative entry, focusing on 'rights of nature,' delivers a globe-spanning survey of new laws, U.N. declarations and ongoing policy discussions centered on concepts that ecosystems, endangered species and Indigenous communities have inherent rights to critical habitat protections. From nuanced coverage of conference presentations marking the 50th anniversary of the U.N.'s Stockholm Declaration to her first-person reporting on a 1,000-mile Amazon River trip by a Brazilian judge, lawyers and activists, surveying village concerns, Surma challenges readers to broaden their view of environmental activism through emblematic examples."

THIRD PLACE, LARGE

"Jon Mitchell Investigates: The Environmental Impact of US Military Operations in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan" by Jon Mitchell, with Abe Takashi, Chinen Kiyoharu and Gibu Katsuki, for Okinawa Times

JUDGES' COMMENTS:

• "Jon Mitchell's articles on the United States military's contamination of the island of Okinawa document a sad history and continuing issues. The military had released little to none of the information on the damages to the island's environment or its people. His reporting brought investigations by local and national authorities. The U.S. has 31 military bases on the island. Jon spent months getting through the military's secrecy. He uncovered, among many problems, the military's contamination of drinking water, PFAS and radioactive contamination at a helicopter crash on a civilian farm, and failure to tell school officials and parents about soils contaminated by high levels of carcinogenic chemicals. Using charts, photos, an animated timeline in addition to his writing, Jon shows again how journalism best helps the public it serves."

FIRST HONORABLE MENTION, SMALL

"Jerry Redfern's Beat Reporting" by Jerry Redfern for Capital & Main

JUDGES' COMMENTS:

• "Jerry Redfern impressed us, both with the detail and clarity of his writing about science and his fearless commitment to exposing how polluters are rarely made to face consequences from fouling the environment while they rake in profits. He's not afraid to face the chimeras floated by fossil fuel producers, like hydrogen power and 'natural' gas, and explain why they may worsen, rather than help reduce, climate change. And we appreciated that his editors allowed him to quote real and powerful words spoken by the people he talked with. When one source decries having to explain environmental justice to the EPA, we understand why 'it’s fucking pathetic.'"

FIRST HONORABLE MENTION, LARGE

"Catrin Einhorn's Beat Reporting" by Catrin Einhorn for The New York Times

JUDGES' COMMENTS:

• "A reporter writing on the existential crises of biodiversity loss is doubly challenged. First, to be heard above the roar of reporting on more visible climate impacts, and second to illuminate a process that is quite literally connected to everything. Catrin Einhorn's reporting reminds the reader about the vital threat to all life posed by biodiversity loss, while also following individual stories that are exemplary in their creative approaches to slowing or halting its destruction.
• "Einhorn's stories about the impacts on insects, forests and food systems also help readers understand the complex ways policy and economic disparities have been drivers of biodiversity loss as much as climate change. She does so with wit and an assured voice that keeps the story moving without leaving out detail."

SECOND HONORABLE MENTION, SMALL

"Climate + Disease" by Zoya Teirstein for Grist

JUDGES' COMMENTS:

• "Grist journalist Zoya Teirstein's package of multimedia-enhanced stories linking wide-ranging disease outbreaks with climate change is timely and important. Top-notch reporting throughout, enlivened by video of working dogs, sniffing out potentially disease-laden mink and otter droppings; invasive species threatening reservation land in Montana; the shocking decline of the Salton Sea, once a favored getaway for Hollywood stars, now home to Latino farm workers and tribal members suffering from dust-born ailments. Vivid, innovative storytelling!"

SECOND HONORABLE MENTION, LARGE

"Drier and Drier: Covering California's Third Year of Drought" by Hayley Smith for Los Angeles Times

JUDGES' COMMENTS:

• "Hayley Smith wrote on California's drought, but what makes her stories exceptional is that they capture the drought's impact on the entire West.
• "With in-depth reporting she showed damage to fish, trees, people, and drought's unequal effects on the rich and poor. Shining a light on celebrities' excess water use while regular citizens were under strict conservation measures changed the celeb's actions. Likewise, her article showing that the low-income were most affected got the State Water Board to move.
• "Hayley brought her readers along to compare today's drought with past ones to show how different this one is and how that may change the culture. She let her readers look at monumental problems and did it with an even hand."

THIRD HONORABLE MENTION, SMALL

"Pennsylvania Climate Solutions" by Rachel McDevitt for WITF/StateImpact Pennsylvania

JUDGES' COMMENTS:

• "Rachel McDevitt's solutions-oriented approach demonstrates the power of listening to your audience — and finding stories with them, not for them. Her piece on driving an electric vehicle in Pennsylvania was shaped by questions she had collected from listeners and readers. Another story gathered lessons on flood resilience from one small town trying to find a way forward. McDevitt's knack for storytelling also makes climate change issues more accessible — and more engaging — for those who might otherwise look away."

THIRD HONORABLE MENTION, LARGE

"Crypto's Climate Reckoning" by Justine Calma for The Verge

JUDGES' COMMENTS:

• "Despite a plethora of explainers, cryptocurrency is not widely understood, and even among converts crypto's role as an environmental actor is even less intelligible. Despite the use of resource extraction term such as crypto 'mining,' the processes by which cryptocurrency is brought into the market remain highly abstract.
• "Into this miasma comes Justine Calma, writing in The Verge, an online publication at the crossroads of technology and culture. In a series of articles about cryptocurrency's environmental effects, Calma ably explains crypto mining's real-world energy use and carbon emissions and federal efforts to track and regulate those emissions, amid high-profile industry instability and the flame out of currency exchange FTX."

The SEJ Awards for Reporting on the Environment is the world's largest and most comprehensive environmental journalism competition. This year, 589 entries in 10 categories were judged by independent volunteer panels of journalists and professors. Thank you, judges and screeners!

SAVE THE DATE! We will be announcing the winners of each category weekly, leading up to the live announcement of the Nina Mason Pulliam Award and $10,000 grand prize on November 16 from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. ET at the George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium in Washington, D.C. at our annual Journalists' Guide to Environment and Energy. Register to attend in person or virtually.

Congratulations, winners! Stay tuned and follow #SEJAwards for the winners: next up, Outstanding Feature Reporting.