A whistleblower speaking at a recent Society of Environmental Journalists conference wore a hat that said “personal capacity” to make sure those in the room would not link his/her statements to any agency and that he/she would remain anonymous.

What do you do when an employee comes forward, exposing their company for wrongdoing?

Environmental journalists discussed how to handle that situation at a recent Society of Environmental Journalist Conference in Philadelphia.

Sharon Lerner, a reporter for ProPublica, used a whistleblower to expose the Environmental Protection Agency for corrupt work practices and safety problems when assessing chemicals.

They had to figure out how to tell the story without endangering the careers of her sources, said Lerner, who led a panel on working with whistleblowers.

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Karen Coates, left, speaks to SEJ conference attendees about the environmental impacts of war along with Carolyn Beeler, center, and Susan Phillips, right.

Fields pockmarked by bombs, forests torn up by trenches and littered with landmines, cities around the Kakhovka dam in Ukraine flooded and then left with a water shortage as the reservoir dries up.

These scenes in Ukraine and Gaza are a few examples of how war leaves long lasting damage to the environment.

Journalists, climate scientists, environmental advocacy groups and researchers examined war’s environmental consequences at a recent Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Philadelphia.

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Shane Godshall speaks to a group of journalists about his work doing habitat restoration on Money Island. Image: Christa Young

New Jersey’s Delaware Bayshore isn’t called the road less traveled without reason.

Persistent rainfall, exacerbated by global warming, has increased the wetlands in this area of Cumberland County.

Journalists, scientists, and conservationists are uncovering data showing that remote rural communities like Money Island will be flooded soon if politicians and state officials don’t act fast.

Roughly three dozen attendees of the recent Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference in Philadelphia traveled to Money Island, the smallest and most remote rural hamlet in the county. It was the first stop on a daylong traverse of a 70-mile stretch of untouched Delaware Bayshore coastline in southeast New Jersey.

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By Vladislava Sukhanovskaya

Editor’s note: This is one in a series of stories coming out of a recent meeting of the Society of Environmental Journalists in Philadelphia.

“Place both feet on the ground and take a moment to breathe,” said Malaika Hart Gilpin, executive director of One Art Community Center. “Give ourselves a moment to feel a connection with Mama Earth.”

Chairs and floor slightly vibrate in response. After a short meditation, the reporters attending a recent Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Philadelphia open their eyes. They are ready to listen about how to cover food systems.

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