EJ News
Updates from the Knight Center and Its Alumni
Fall 2005
Knight Center staff attends conference
Students and faculty from the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism attended this year’s Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Austin, Texas.
The four-day conference featured tours about different environmental issues pertaining to the greater Austin area, seminars on reporting environmental stories and networking with professionals working in the field.
Guest speakers included former PBS broadcaster Bill Moyers and nationally syndicated columnist Molly Ivins of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Graduate assistant Yu-Ting Lin was particularly touched by Moyers’ keynote address.
“Moyers’ speech really inspired me as a writer and reporter,” Lin said.
MSU was the recipient of one SEJ award. Erin Toner of Michigan State’s WKAR won third place for Outstanding Radio Reporting in a small market for her coverage of environmental issues in the Great Lakes region.
“The SEJ conference was a great way to meet professional reporters and learn about their daily work,” said Knight Center Graduate Assistant Hannah Northey. “The speakers were inspiring, and I hope to go again next year.”
Going green
Class project spurs recycling program at Spartan Stadium
Spartan Stadium’s latest addition brought with it a new recycling program that seeks to make Michigan State University bigger, better and greener.
In the past, it was standard for a carpet of water bottles, souvenir cups and other refuse to cover MSU’s campus and stadium after tailgate parties and football games. Now, approximately 100 green bins, in which fans can deposit their plastic waste, are stationed in and around the stadium.
The shift in policy may have been the result of Football Footprint, a project tackled by Dave Poulson’s Investigative Environmental Reporting class last fall. The class took an analytical view of the environmental impacts of Spartan football, and its work may be read at http://environmental.jrn.msu.edu/football/.
“I was surprised so many different aspects of football had so many effects. The story was so much more than litter,” Poulson said. “They covered emissions from people’s vehicles that came to the game, the amount of water used, amount of diesel fuel that shuttles use to transport fans and even maintenance of the turf. I was pleasantly surprised at how interested the students were and surprised because it gave a good taste of real-world environmental reporting.”
Students hoped their findings would raise consciousness around campus, and some say they were successful.
“It made the issue much more visible. Those not excited about tackling this issue were forced to confront it,” said Terry Link, director of the Office of Campus Sustainability.
The football stadium’s new recycling bins are a tangible symbol of that confrontation.
“The bulk of what’s recovered [after games] is plastic and is now being recycled instead of driven to landfills,” said Pete Pasterz, manager of MSU’s Recycling and Waste Management. “This reduces the amount of hauling to the landfill. It improves economic and fuel efficiency.”
The Office of Recycling and Waste Management, Grounds Maintenance, MSU Concessions Department and Intercollegiate Athletics are all responsible for realizing this step toward a greener Michigan State.
Link felt the program was one positive step up the ladder to sustainability. He challenged the university to go further and consider other options.
“There’s been no discussion yet about the ‘source’ of the water. Why not have local water bottled?” Link said.
Questions like these need to keep being asked to institute change, he said.
This is the third year Environmental Investigative Reporting (JRN 408) has been available. The class is based primarily on investigative journalism, but revolves around environmental issues. This year, the class is investigating environmental problems associated with the Red Cedar River.
“I get a kick out of seeing something come from the class,” Poulson said. “You know you’re having some type of impact not only on students, but on environmental issues.”
New Knight Center site debuts
Reporters' toolbox, story ideas featured at ej.msu.edu
Want to sample water quality?
Need to crunch emissions data?
Investigating leaky petroleum tanks?
Journalists and journalism students can get help with these tasks and much more at the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism’s new Web site.
The site features a simpler URL — ej.msu.edu —and a growing list of story ideas and tips to help journalists cover the environment.
The reporters’ toolbox explains techniques as diverse as crunching the U.S. Toxics Release Inventory, leveraging Google for better reporting and covering sprawl.
Reporters also will get help writing a Freedom of Information Act request and finding an expert source. And they’ll get the latest environmental news provided by the Knight Center’s own Echo and by links to similar regional news services.
Here, too, you can find job and internship postings, links to environmental data, back issues of EJ Magazine and a description of the center’s archive of award-winning environmental journalism.
The students section describes Knight Center offerings like the popular Wilderness Experience and Environmental Writing class. It serves also as a venue for student-produced environmental Web projects, news stories and research papers.
Reporters should keep their eye on the journalists section for news of the latest workshops for professionals.
Want more?
E-mail Knight Center Assistant Director Dave Poulson, poulson@msu.edu, with an idea for a tip or tutorial.
Better yet, create one and receive the byline.
Environmental Journalism Association
kicks off school year
Activities include movie night, guest speakers and photography contest
Fall semester’s Environmental Journalism Association events included a movie night featuring “Erin Brockovich” to examine information gathering on environmental topics and a round-table discussion with Dave Dempsey, an environmental writer and activist.
EJA also accepted entries for its first annual nature photography contest. The winner will be published in the spring edition of EJ Magazine.
Future events may include a nature excursion with photographer Mark Carlson and viewing a series of short films on an Austin, Texas, community combating environmental racism.
The Environmental Journalism Association at Michigan State University is the only student-run organization of its kind in the country.
The association promotes the coverage of environmental issues and the pursuit of specialized reporting on the environment as part of long-term career goals.
Names in the News
ALICIA CLARKE, M.A. 2007, was awarded a $2,000 Rennie Taylor/Alton Blakeslee graduate fellowship by the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing. She is assisting Sue Nichols, MSU’s science writer, in writing about science news developments for MSU’s media communications office.
CAROLYN DAMSTRA, Great Lakes 2005, produced an issue of Michigan History for Kids magazine during the summer of 2005 that featured wildlife and related environmental issues. The issue can be seen at www.michiganhistory
magazine.com. She also produced the illustrations in a new book about life in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, “You Wouldn’t Like it Here,” written by Lon L. Emerick and published by North Country Publishing. She can be reached at damstrac@michigan.gov.
JIM DETJEN, Knight Center Director, spoke to a group of German science writers in September 2005 in Cambridge, Ma., as part of a workshop on American science writing sponsored by the Bertelsmann Foundation. He also lectured at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., in October 2005 and will train Indian environmental writers at a workshop in New Delhi, India, in November 2005. He served as a judge at Columbia University’s Journalism School for the national John Oakes environmental reporting award in October 2005.
ERIC FREEDMAN, an assistant professor in MSU’s Journalism School, is the co-editor with Edward Hoffman of a new book, “John F. Kennedy in His Own Words,” published by Kensington Publishing.
ANDY GUY, a master’s degree student, is the director of the Great Lakes Project for the Michigan Land Use Institute, a non-profit organization based in Beulah, Mich.
KARLYN HAAS, M.A. 1999, is the Tri-County Communications Manager for the Yavapai College Office of Public Information in Prescott, Ariz. She can be reached at 928-776-2288 and karlyn_haas@yc.edu. She and her husband, Brian, recently bicycled around Tuscany and Umbria, Italy.
MATT HELMS, B.A. journalism, writes the Driving Today column for The Detroit Free Press. He can be reached at driving@freepress.com or 313-222-1450.
BOB IVRY, (English) B.A. 1983, is a general assignment reporter for The Record in Hackensack, N.J., who says he covers environmental issues when he finds something interesting. Recently, he published a four-part series about the Passaic River, which he says was half bucolic and half disgusting, after kayaking its entire 77-mile length.
CHRIS JACKETt, B.A. 2006, is a writer for both the Big Green and EJ magazines. He transferred to MSU from Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Mich., where he served as the sports editor and managing editor of the student newspaper. He is working on specializations in both public relations and health ethics with the goal of working for Sports Illustrated.
RACHANEE (THERAKULSATHIT) KITTEL, B.S. 2001, is the coordinator for Greater Lansing Area Clean Cities, a nonprofit organization that promotes the use of alternative fuels. She can be reached a glacc@hotmail.com and 517-230-9299.
AMY LEE, B.A. 1999, is reporting about the environment and other issues for The Detroit News.
Yu-Ting Lin, M.A. 2006, interned at the Voice of America in Washington, D.C., during the summer of 2005. She is a graduate assistant at the Knight Center and was a co-winner of the Nick Kerbawy research scholarship in April 2005. She and her fiancé, Dean, are planning to marry in East Lansing, Mich., in December 2005.
MATT MENDENHALL, Great Lakes 2005, wrote about the Ivory-billed woodpecker’s larger cousin, the Imperial Woodpecker, for the December 2005 issue of Birder’s World. The article can be found at www.birdersworld.com.
BARB MILLER, Knight Center secretary, has been promoted from secretary II to administrative assistant I.
MELANIE MILONAS, B.S. 2001, is now the assistant editor of Sarasota Downtown & Beyond, a glossy oversized magazine in Sarasota, Fla. In 2006, she and her boyfriend plan to move to Charleston, S.C. Melanie can be reached at melmilonas@comcast.net.
Debbie Munson, M.A. 2005, is the natural resources and outdoors reporter for the Pinedale Roundup newspaper in Pinedale, Wyo. Among the issues she reports about are receding glaciers, oil and gas well development, habitat destruction and the growing population in this scenic area of the West. She and her fiancé, Justin Badini, traveled to Alaska last summer, where she caught a 45-pound halibut. The couple is planning a September 2006 wedding. Debbie can be reached at P.O. Box 277, Pinedale, WY 82941; 307-367-8549; and debbie_munson@yahoo.com.
Amy Nevala, M.A 1997, is an editor for Oceanus magazine, a publication of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Mass. She has written about scientific research expeditions involving Woods Hole scientists, most recently in spring 2005, when she accompanied an expedition to the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Hannah Northey, M.A. 2007, received a first- and second-place award for feature writing from the Michigan Associated Press for articles printed in the Voice, a student publication of Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor, Mich. She also is working part time at the Lansing State Journal, where she writes about police news and other topics.
Dave Poulson, assistant director of the Knight Center, lectured on communicating environmental science at the Great Lakes Restoration conference in Grand Rapids, Mich., in September 2005.
JesSica VanderKolk, B.S. 2004, is now writing for the Altoona Mirror, a 30,000 circulation daily in Pennsylvania. She and her husband Jake live at 411 Waupelani Drive, Apt. A244, State College, PA 16801. She also may be reached at jessvanderkolk@gmail.com.
Aileo Weinmann, M.A. 2005, produced a variety of segments on environmental issues for Anchorage Public Radio in Anchorage, Ala., last summer. He and his fiancé, Heather, moved to Washington , D.C., in September. Their new contact information is 521 E. Alexandria Ave., Alexandria, Va. 22301; 703-548-2987; and aileo@yahoo.com.
Karessa Weir, B.A. 1995, works as the editor of Echo, a daily online summary of Michigan environmental news, which is produced by the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism with a grant from the Michigan Environmental Council. She is also working as the adviser for the student newspaper at Spring Arbor University, near Jackson, Mich. She and her husband are expecting their second child in February 2006. She can be reached at keweir@comcast.net.
ELAINE WOLFF, B.S. 1999, is working for the Office of Weapons of Mass Destruction within the federal Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate. Her office analyzes terror threat scenarios. She recently was dispatched to New Orleans to assist with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. She can be reached at elaine.wolff@dhs.gov.
Elizabeth Wooley, B.S. 1999, was named “best reporter” by the Illinois Associated Press. She is the main anchor and health reporter for WICD-TV in Champaign, Ill. She also was a finalist in the “best hard news” category of the Illinois Broadcaster Association’s Silver Dome Awards for an investigative piece about a local wrestling coach’s training tactics. Her investigation led to disciplinary action against the coach.
Randy Yeip, M.A. 2002, has joined the design staff of the Wall Street Journal in New York City as a news graphic artist. His beat covers national and international news, as well as the “hot topic” item in the paper’s recently launched weekend edition. He was previously a graphic artist and designer at The Patriot-News in Harrrisburg, Pa. He can be reached at rayeip@comcast.net.
Geri Alumit Zeldes, an assistant professor in the MSU Journalism School, has launched a Radio Student Bureau that produces a weekly newscast aired on Impact Radio (89 FM). The new program is supported with a grant from the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism. One of the newscast’s six student journalists covers environmental and health issues.