Category Archives: Alumni

       
 

Knight Center affiliate explores Rachel Carson’s impact on popular culture of environmentalism

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Perry Parks

Perry Parks

During his studies in journalism and science communication, Perry Parks, a Knight Center affiliate and doctoral candidate in the School of Journalism, noticed recurring references to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in academic literature, environmental reporting texts and popular mass media. Parks was intrigued both that the 1962 book on pesticides was still so prominent in the culture and that nearly every reference credited Silent Spring in some way with launching the modern environmental movement.

Parks decided to investigate Silent Spring’s role in environmentalism and the causes of its staying power. So he read previous research on the book and conducted a historical and cultural analysis of every reference to the term “silent spring” in the New York Times and the Washington Post over 50 years. That turned out to be more than 1,000 news stories, editorials, letters to the editor, calendar listings and other items. Continue reading →

Alums snare top prize for film on endangered sea turtles

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By Steven Maier
Michigan State alums and sibling filmmakers Laura and Rob Sams have won Best Engaging Youth Film at the Jackson Hole Film Festival for the second time in their careers
Their short children’s film, “My Haggan Dream,” follows a girl as she learns about the life cycle of the endangered sea turtles of Saipan, the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands in the West Pacific.

My Hagan Dream

My Hagan Dream


“I think we were a bit surprised we won this year because we were up against some really good films,” Laura said.
Laura was there at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming that night to receive the award. She announced the victory with a text to her brother, who had stayed at home in Portland, Oregon, to care for his wife, who would give birth to their second son the next day.
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Alaskan alum visits Knight Center, Canadian Studies Center

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By Steven Maier

Students attend lunch talk with Margie Bauman

Students attend lunch talk with Margie Bauman


The Knight Center has again hosted Margie Bauman, the Alaska bureau chief for the Fishermen’s News, environmental and fisheries reporter for the Cordova Times on Prince William Sound, Alaska, and an alum of Michigan States School of Journalism.
Bauman joined Knight Center staff and students of the Journalism School for lunch, talked about covering Alaska-British Columbia environmental issues to a class on international journalism taught by Knight Center director Eric Freedman and spoke at an evening session hosted by MSU’s Canadian Studies Center. Continue reading →

Knight Center team hits the Society of Environmental Journalists conference

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A delegation of Knight Center faculty and students participated in the 2017 annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists in Pittsburgh.

Knight Center director Eric Freedman and sernior associate director Dave Poulson participate in a panel

Knight Center director Eric Freedman and sernior associate director Dave Poulson participate in a panel Photo credit: Mary Hoff


Knight Center director Eric Freedman and senior associate director Dave Poulson participate
in a panel, “How to Go from Prof(essional) to Prof(essor),” about making a successful transition from full-time professional journalist to full time college teaching.
Such a transition and the change in workplace cultures can be difficult, but colleges offer little guidance or mentoring for new faculty arriving from the profession. Freedman, Poulson and fellow panelists Randy Loftis of the University of North Texas, Kate Sheppard of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Sara Shipley Hiles of the University of Missouri drew on their own experiences to offer guidance and suggest best practices.
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