MSU Highlighted at 2007 SEJ Conference
Contact: Anisa Abid, News Writer for Environmental Science and Policy Program: (517) 432-3823 or abidanis@msu.edu
January 02, 2008
The Society of Environmental Journalists held its 17th annual conference at Stanford University this September. Over 900 journalists, educators, students, and representatives of non-governmental organizations convened from all over the country to network and attend sessions on various environmental issues, making it the largest turnout ever.
Jim Detjen, director of the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, and former founding president of the SEJ, attended the conference with 10 of the environmental journalism program's faculty and students. MSU had the largest presence amongst any university, Detjen said, "and it has been [that way] for a long time."
The five-day conference began with an award ceremony for outstanding environmental journalism in broadcast, print and online journalism. Two MSU students, Carol Navarro and Mairin MacDonald, received third place in the category Outstanding Student Reporting for their story in EJ magazine, 'Who Owns the Water?' (Spring 2006 issue). The story exposed the environmental problems associated with bottled water consumption and what it means for the Great Lakes.
The following day, attendees toured nine environmentally significant places in the region. Detjen said the location of the conference was great. "We were right in the heart of the Silicon Valley, where there were a lot of things to draw from that could be related to the conference," he explained. Tour focuses included green architecture, estuary problems caused by sprawl, avian death associated with wind power, sustainable logging and wine making, and Bay Area wetland restoration.
The conference had sessions on subjects ranging from trade and environmental degradation, to how to report on the environment in a politically conservative market. Detjen commented that each year there is more emphasis on climate change, and this year was no exception. "The lively debates covering the skeptics of climate change has largely disappeared throughout the years," he said, and instead, the focus now is on covering the direct evidence of climate change.
Second year Environmental Journalism student Summi Gambhir attended the conference and remarked on the usefulness of the conference in preparing her for her future career. "It was a good chance for me to meet with potential employers...and it gave me a broader perspective of environmental journalism," she said.
The high energy discussions throughout the conference provided participants with new issues to chew on, and some motivation to keep plugging away at their work in environmental journalism. Next year's conference will be held at Virginia Tech from October 15-19.
For further details on the conference agenda and blogs from attendees, visit: http://www.sej.org/
