Category Archives: Research

        
 
 
 
 

Study finds major holes in coverage of environmental issues in Central Asia

Eric Freedman

Eric Freedman

News media provide little in-depth coverage of transborder environmental issues in formerly Soviet Central Asia, a new study by Knight Center director Eric Freedman found.

Most news organizations in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan inadequately cover such issues as water scarcity and allocation, climate change, toxic waste and energy in the Ferghana Valley, an agriculturally highly productive and densely populated region.

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Call for abstracts for research on risk and decision making

The Environmental Science and Policy Program at Michigan State University is soliciting abstracts from undergraduate and graduate students for the program’s 2014 Research Symposium, Environmental Risk and Decision Making.
The symposium is slated for October 10th at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center. Knight Center Research Director Bruno Takahashi is on the symposium’s faculty advisory board and doctoral student Shannon Cruz is on the organizing committee.
This year’s theme connects environmental risk and decision making. Organizers propose to connect ideas and researchers from across campus in awareness and action toward identifying hazards and the most appropriate response to these hazards. A holistic approach toward sustainability requires multiple perspectives, and this program foster this interdisciplinary sharing. This symposium will explore research alongside policy makers, among public stakeholders, and across disciplines to better unite future leaders in addressing the state of the environment.
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Knight Center faculty and students present at International Communication Association

Faculty and graduate students affiliated with the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism are presenting research at the upcoming International Communication Association conference in Seattle, May 22-26, 2014.
These presentations focus on environmental journalism or environmental communication:

  • Besley, J., Oh, H., Khan, M. L(Ph.D student), Chen, L. (2014). Does Being a Jerk Work: Testing the Impact  of Aggressive Communication in the Context of Health and Environmental Risk
  • Takahashi, B., Edwards, G. (Brown University), Roberts, T. (Brown University), Duan, R. (Master student) (2014). Exploring the Use of Online Collaborative Platforms for Climate Change Policy and Public Engagement
  • Takahashi, B., Huang, K. (Ph.D student), Fico, F., Poulson, D. (2014). Climate Change in Great Lakes Region Newspapers: A Study of the Use of Expert Sources
  • Takahashi, B., Pinto, J. (Florida International University), Vigon, M. (Florida International University), Chavez, M. (2014). El Ambiente y Las Noticias: Understanding U.S. Spanish Language Newsrooms’ Coverage of Environmental Issues

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Journalist reports how to get the most from a science research field trip

Liu Jian

Liu Jian

By Liu Jian

Field visits are an exciting and invaluable part of doing science journalism, as they allow you to gather stories, get a feel of how scientists work and increase your scientific knowledge. As a young reporter, I was lucky to be sent to Kenya to join a research team’s field trip and report on joint China-Kenya research on biodiversity for two weeks in April 2013.
My field trip was part of the Biodiversity Conservation Studies in East African Flora project, which was launched in 2010 by the Wuhan Botanical Garden (WBG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. From April 1 to 14, I traveled with 10 Chinese and Kenyan researchers to sites including Mount Kenya National Park, Aberdare National Park and the Maasai Mara National Reserve.
How can journalists get the most out of such trips? I’d love to share some tips for scientific field visits.
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