Some participants at the 13th biennial Conference on Communication and Environment toured the Space Weather Prediction Center operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado. Image: Eric Freedman
Faculty and doctoral students affiliated with the Knight Center played an active role as presenters and panelists at the International Environmental Communication Association’s 2015 Conference on Communication and the Environment.
The theme of the June 11-14 gathering at the University of Colorado in Boulder was “Bridging Divides: Spaces of Scholarship and Practice in Environmental Communications.”
As part of an effort to increase the organization’s engagement with environmental journalism teachers and researchers, Knight Center research director Bruno Takahashi organized and moderated a panel called “Bridging Environmental Journalism and Practice, Research and Education: Current State and Mapping Future Directions.”
In addition to Knight Center director Eric Freedman and senior associate director Dave Poulson, it included several University of Colorado-Boulder environmental journalism professors, the president of Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting and a Colorado freelancer.
You can view the discussion here:
Takahashi also presented a research paper, “Natural Resource Management in Times of Crisis: Social Dynamics of Scarce vs. Abundant Resources.”
Manuel Chavez
At the same session, MSU Journalism Associate Professor Manuel Chavez, who is a member of the Knight Center affiliated faculty, and a colleague from Florida International University presented their paper, “Drought Crisis in the U.S. Southwest: Regulatory Frameworks, Uses, Impacts and Vulnerabilities of Disadvantaged Populations.”
Kanni Huang
Media & Information Studies doctoral student Kanni Huang presented another study that she did with Poulson, “Bridging Local and Global — Exploring the Use of Social Media in Climate Change Reporting among Local News Outlets.
Another panel included Poulson and Freedman’s presentation about Great Lakes Echo, the Knight Center’s award-winning regional environmental news service.
In addition, two MSU Department of Communication doctoral students Shannon Cruz, who is a member of the Knight Center’s research collaborative, and Brian Manata, presented a study called “Environmental Concern: A Comprehensive Assessment of Extant Measures.”
It was an assessment of the validity of five different scales of environmental concern.