Category Archives: Students

 
Journalism and non-journalism students at Michigan State University explore how to better report environmental issues to the public at the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism.
 

Environmental journalism courses can help students meet the School of Journalism’s elective requirements. They can also be used as part of an environmental theme to complete the school’s concentration requirement by combining them with environment-related courses outside the journalism program. See your academic adviser or contact the Knight Center.
 
Non-journalism students interested in environmental issues are encouraged to contact instructors to discuss waiver of pre-requisites. Often a journalism environmental course may meet communication course requirements of other departments.
 

 
Undergraduates are also encouraged to join the student Environmental Journalism Association and write for Great Lakes Echo to gain resume-building experience and clips.
 
Undergraduate students are eligible for several awards and scholarships in environmental journalism.
 
They are encouraged to augment their study with environment classes and programs elsewhere at MSU such as the Residential Initiative on the Study of the Environment.
 
 

PESTICIDE EXPOSURE – Dangerous pesticides remain in use despite expert concerns, investigations show

This is the 2nd in a series of feature stories on environmental topics by Knight Center students who attended the 2025 Society of Environmental Journalists conference.

By Ruth Thornton

Ruth Thornton

The widespread use of several potent pesticides remains a problem in several countries, according to investigative reporters.

Their research shows that the often-cozy relationship between government officials who issue permits and the industry endangers not only the environment but also human lives.

The reporters discussed their reporting on a panel at this year’s Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual conference at Arizona State University.

Panel members were Liza Gross, a reporter with Inside Climate News, Sanket Jain, an independent journalist, Talli Nauman, a contributing editor at Buffalo’s Fire, and Carla Ruas, a freelance journalist. The panel was moderated by Mark Schapiro, an investigative journalist and lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

Toxic fumigant pesticide use in California

The “toxic fumigant 1,3-D should probably not be on the market, because it’s been known to be a carcinogen for years,” Gross said.

The fumigant 1,3-D, short for 1,3-Dichloropropene, is a pesticide also known under its tradename Telone. It is applied to farm soils to control nematodes, a type of worm that can harm crops, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. It was first registered in the 1950s.

SEJ Pesticide Panel

Gross said she originally focused on that chemical when an advocacy group in California was upset that regulators in the state proposed standards that would have exposed residents near application sites to about 14 times the safe amount.

“When I started looking into 1,3-D’s regulatory history, I found some troubling things that were going on at the federal level,” Gross said.

“It was pretty clear, without that much digging, that I could test the idea that there was regulatory capture going on there,” she said. Continue reading

PREGNANCY & CLIMATE

Climate change makes pregnancy more dangerous, impacts reproductive health, journalists say

This is the 1st in a series of feature stories on environmental topics by Knight Center students who attended the 2025 Society of Environmental Journalists conference.

By Clara Lincolnhol

Clara Lincolnhol

There is no such thing as an “uncomplicated pregnancy” now for most women, thanks to climate change, said journalists at the 2025 Society of Environmental Journalists Conference.

Pregnant women use more oxygen and water than non-pregnant ones, making them more sensitive to changes in their environments.

They also have a harder time regulating their body temperature, said Jesssica Kutz, a reporter for The 19th.

Climate change directly affects pregnant women through warming temperatures and worsening air quality, making pregnancy more difficult and dangerous, she said.

It can also impact accessibility to, and the effectiveness of, contraceptives. For example, many Americans order birth control pills by mail, but if temperatures climb too high while the pills are in an enclosed space, like a mailbox, they become ineffective, Kutz said.

Climate change-induced natural disasters limit accessibility to reproductive health care by making it physically impossible at times to receive care. That can be through closures, damage to health centers, impassable roads and power outages that render certain medications unviable, she said. Continue reading

LATINEX REPORTING 

How to report on an underserved community and their sensitive information

This is the 3rd in a series of articles about reporting skills by Knight Center students who attended the 2025 Society of Environmental Journalists conference.

By Isabella Figueroa Nogueira

Isabella Figueroa Nogueira

With the new Trump administration, reporting on Latinx communities has been more difficult than ever to keep undocumented people and their information safe.

SEnvironmental journalists discussed that situation at the 2025 Society of Environmental conference in Arizona.

The panel was called “When There Is No Data Available: How to Report Environmental Stories on Latinx Communities in a Hostile Administration?”

The panelists talked about the many ways reporters can collect the data needed to report while protecting marginalized communities.

Monica Samayoa, a climate reporter at Oregon Public Broadcasting, talked about walking in neighborhoods and knocking on doors with someone the community knows and trusts, like a lawmaker or a community leader. Talking to people face-to-face can make them feel comfortable sharing their sensitive information.

MSU SEJ LATINEX PANEL

Door-to-door knocking can be effective in some places, but not in Puerto Rico, according to Luis J. Méndez González, a climate change investigative reporter at Centro de Periodismo Investigativo.

People will kick you out of their homes if you knock on their door and try to get information out of them, he said.

“I call them. I’ll talk to them about the issue and, if they feel comfortable, then I will go to their homes or maybe I will meet them in a church or in a business,” said Méndez González. Continue reading

Environmental journalism goes hi-tech

This is the 2nd in a series of articles about reporting skills by Knight Center students who attended the 2025 Society of Environmental Journalists conference.

By Julia Belden

Julia Benden

Global trade databases. Air quality sensors. Artificial intelligence.

Harnessing new technologies is easier than ever, and some can help environmental journalists hold power to account, according to a panel of experts at the 2025 Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) Conference in Tempe, Arizona.

Many of the resources shared by the experts are free or low-cost, making them ideal for freelancers or under resourced newsrooms.

“Follow the money”

Jelter Meers, the research editor at the Pulitzer Center, presented a roadmap for investigating institutions and their environmental impacts. First, he said, “follow the money.”

Journalists can find information on company ownership, financiers and funders through company registries, stock markets, international databases and more.

Often, this information can be found on free-to-access online databases, Meers said. SEC.gov, OCCRP Aleph and OpenCorporates are good places to start.

Journalists affiliated with well-resourced newsrooms and universities can take advantage of paid databases like LexisNexis and Sayari.

The flow of money isn’t the only thing worth tracking, Meers said. Following a company’s supply chains might also yield critical information for investigations.

In addition to these websites, Meers recommended additional free databases such as the United Nations’s COMTRADE for tracking down supply chain data.

Finally, journalists can get creative with satellite and geospatial data, layering datasets on top of one another to “create a dialogue between them,” Meers said.

By combining satellite imagery from sources like NASA Worldview with geospatial data from websites like Protected Planet, journalists can get a dynamic bird’s-eye view of environmental impacts and create compelling visuals for their audience. Continue reading