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Environmental photographer visits MSU

Virginia placement from "Next Stop Atlantic" exhibit by Stephen Mallon

Virginia placement from “Next Stop Atlantic” exhibit by Stephen Mallon


By Kate Habrel
Subway cars and the Atlantic Ocean are two things not typically paired. But they are exactly what photographer Stephen Mallon brings together in his solo exhibition “Next Stop Atlantic.”
The exhibition features photos of subway cars being tossed into the waters of the Atlantic, where they will become barrier reef habitats for aquatic life. It opened at the MSU Museum on Feb. 20 and will run through September.
Mallon often works at the intersection between environment and industry. He’s photographed everything from the world’s biggest ships to the American recycling industry. In 2009, his series “Brace for Impact: The Salvage of Flight 1549” told the photographic story of Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s emergency landing of a passenger plane in the Hudson River.
Mallon’s work has appeared in National Geographic, the New York Times Magazine, the Wall Street Journal and other publications.
Mallon is at MSU from Feb. 26 through March 3 to speak to photography, journalism and communication students during class visits. On March 1, he will visit the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism for lunch with students.
Mallon will also give a free gallery talk on March 2 at 12:15 p.m. It’s open to the public.
Journalism Professor Howard Bossen is the exhibition curator.

EJ grad students win national awards

Three Michigan State University graduate students in environmental journalism won top awards for the Broadcast Education Association’s Festival of Media Arts. Kate Habrel and Marie Orttenburger were part of the team that won Best of Festival for a multimedia project titled “The New Vinyl.” Cheyna Roth, a recent graduate, won the Award of Excellence with her team for a documentary directed by Professor Geri Alumit Zeldes titled “Hubert, His Story.”
Habrel and Orttenburger’s project explores the renewed interest in vinyl collecting, combining interviews, photos and video that they compiled into a website. “Hubert, His Story” followed Hubert Roberts, a former convict granted parole in 1999, as he reintegrated back into society and grew into a community leader and mentor in Flint, Michigan.
The winners will attend the award ceremony on April 24 in Las Vegas, Nevada, as part of the Broadcast Education Association’s annual convention. Recipients will have their projects screened at the convention and will receive $1,000 from the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation. The winners were selected from over 1,450 separate entries, representing 175 colleges and universities.
“I’m flattered that our hard work was recognized in such a big way,” Habrel said, “and look forward to attending what’s sure to be one of the highlights of my first year of graduate school.”

Echo staffer provides tips for covering sustainable agriculture

Marie Orttenburger

Marie Orttenburger


A visit to the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference provided a new tool for the organization’s toolkit for reporters covering the environment.
Marie Orttenburger wrote up information provided at a conference panel and did additional research for a tipsheet on covering sustainable agriculture for the organization’s online toolbox. Find it here.
Orttenburger is an assistant editor and reporter at Great Lakes Echo – the news service provided by Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism.