Knight Center director Eric Freedman and senior associate director Dave Poulson will be at the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference this week hosted by the University of Oklahoma.
The conference, which attracts hundreds of environmental journalists, environmental communicators, scientists and government experts, focuses on the theme of “Weather, Water Energy: News in Every Neighborhood.” It includes workshops on graphics and video training, panel discussions and field tours on such topics as Superfund cleanups, food research, the impact of drought and climate change, drilling and fracking, water rights and relationships between Native American tribes and land and water issues.
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Category Archives: David Poulson
Tipping toward better science communication
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6UROOe4RrU&feature=youtu.be
By David Poulson
Michigan State University alum Sunshine Menezes speaks here about the tipping points of turning scientists into great communicators and journalists into skillful science interpreters.
She is the executive director of the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography.
This video integrates her talk and power point presentation at the 2015 “Fate of the Earth” conference put on by MSU’s Environmental Science and Policy Program in East Lansing, Michigan.
Science, Seuss and the Elements of Style
By David Poulson
Most of my communications work with scientists and other researchers involves convincing them to write shorter, less jargon-filled sentences.
The payoff is improved public understanding that can build a constituency for what they do.
But now there is evidence of another payoff – one that is more direct, measurable and involves the coin of their realm: academic citations.
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Dawn of the wolf patrol: How I got the story
Holly Drankhan hiking in the Swiss alps.
Editor’s note: Michigan State University student Holly Drankhan recently landed an interview with a convicted arsonist and bombmaker for the Knight Center’s Great Lakes Echo.
Rod Coronado in 1992 burned down an MSU laboratory, destroying 32 years of animal research.
Subsequently the animal rights activist spent two years on the lam before serving a 57-month prison sentence. He told Drankhan that he now is a law-abiding advocate for Great Lakes wolves.
Drankhan, 22, of Clarkston, Michigan, took an environmental reporting class at the Knight Center before graduating with a degree in zoology last June. She continued to freelance for Great Lakes Echo through the summer and will enter the university’s College of Veterinary Medicine this fall.
The Knight Center asked her how she developed the story about the controversial activist. Here’s the scoop: Continue reading