Category Archives: Writing

Dismissed Relics: Real Felipe Fortress  

The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism recently taught an online environmental journalism to a group of university students in Peru. This is one of the stories produced during that effort. The program was funded by the U.S. Embassy in Lima.

By Micaela Sotillo  

Peru is a country with monuments of great historical value, and for every street or avenue you walk, there will be something to tell about it.  

The huacas, temples and fortresses are located inside and outside the cities, giving an effect of mysticism to the neighborhoods. 

In the Callao region, known for being the largest seaport since the viceroyalty, there is the Real Felipe Fortress. It is the most fascinating attraction of the port of Callao.  

Built in the 18th century, the Real Felipe defended Lima from pirate attacks, and the strong walls continued to protect the city even after independence in the 19th century. 

This wonderful monument is the pride of many citizens of the region. 

However, a few weeks ago, many citizens registered complaints about the poor condition and maintenance outside the installations. Between plastic bags and organic waste, the foundations are deteriorating, and what seemed like a place admired by many is now a concern for history lovers.  Continue reading

Piles of garbage clutter Villa El Salvador  

The Knight Center for Environmental Journalism recently taught an online environmental journalism to a group of university students in Peru. This is one of the stories produced during that effort. The program was funded by the U.S. Embassy in Lima.

By Valeria Romero Espinoza  

The corners of streets and avenues in the district of Villa El Salvador have become a garbage dump that creates an unpleasant landscape for passers-by who pass through these places daily.  

The piles of garbage are an ongoing problem because the system for the collection and transportation of domestic and public waste is deficient and disorganized. 

There is no proper solid waste management by the local government.  

People leave their garbage bags and all types of waste at certain points on public roads, such as sidewalks, parks, avenues and central berms, many of these around markets, hospitals and schools, which leads to the accumulation of large amounts of garbage.  

Garbage bags on Av. Micaela Bastidas.

Neighbors say this problem has several roots.   Continue reading

Knight Center director visits Uzbekistan

Health reporting workshop

During a two-week visit to Uzbekistan, Knight Center director Eric Freedman lectured at two universities, spoke about how to report on health issues and health research at a workshop for professional journalists and met with leaders of media development and environmental organizations.

The trip was part of a U.S. State Department-funded, capacity-building project that partners the MSU School of Journalism’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism with the Journalism & Mass Communications University of Uzbekistan in Tashkent, the country’s capital. Three JMCU representatives visited MSU earlier in the fall.

With university Rector Sherzodkhon Kudrathodja

Freedman met with JMCU administrators and instructors, participated in a master’s-level health, science and environmental reporting course and facilitated workshops for faculty, graduate students and working media professionals.

In addition, he lectured to faculty and graduate students at the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers on how scientists can more effectively explain their research to the public. He also visited Akfa University, the country’s first private university.

Meeting with doctoral students

His activities included meetings with the NGO Modern Journalism Development Center, the NGO Internews which supports independent media, the State Environmental Committee, the NGO Green Central Asia and Cultural Affairs and Public Affairs officers at the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, which provided the grant. He gave interviews to several news channels, including the environmental nonprofit Ekolog.uz.

Institute of the Sun research facility

He joined graduate students on a field visit to the Centre of Hydro Meteorological Service, which conducts testing for temperature, precipitation and air and soil pollution quality and monitors climate change. He accompanied several faculty members to tour the Institute of Physics and Technology (Institute of the Sun) and the Sukok Reserve, an undeveloped national park area. The institute was a top-secret research facility during Soviet times, calls itself the “world’s largest solar oven” and now develops new materials for industrial, agricultural and scientific uses.

At Sukov Reserve

Freedman’s visit included an “it’s-a-small-world” moment when he and Dilnora Azimova, the project’s JMCU consultant and an MSU alum, attended a “Shubert by Candlelight” piano concert at the State Conservatory. They didn’t know that two other MSU alumni would be at the concert: the internally acclaimed pianist and music producer Sergei Kvitko, who lives in Lansing, and nuclear physicist Alisher Sanetullaev, a university professor in Tashkent. He and Azimova had never met either of them and were unaware of Kvitko’s MSU connection before the concert.

Introducing the inaugural SciComm Identities Project Fellowship cohort!

The University of Rhode Island’s Metcalf Institute, Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, and the URI Science and Story Lab are excited to introduce the first cohort of SciComm Identities Project Fellows. Out of a competitive applicant pool, thirteen Fellows were selected to participate in this innovative science communication fellowship for pre-tenure faculty of color. The 2023 Fellowship will focus on the intersections of climate change and energy, and Fellows study issues that range from data-driven sustainable transportation to institutional barriers of energy poverty. Fellows come from diverse ethnic backgrounds ranging from Indigenous North African to Cuban, and show a strong history of personal commitment to science communication and inclusivity of underrepresented communities. Many are first-generation Americans and the first to attend college in their family.

All of the Fellows have shown a specific emphasis on improving engagement and science communication with either Black/African American, Asian, or Latinx communities, with a common theme being education and outreach to K-12 students of color. “I believe the SCIP fellowship will help me facilitate a more inclusive program of research,” says Dr. Dominic Bednar, a new Fellow and Assistant Professor at Arizona State University. “I’m interested in being a part of the future of peer-reviewed science communication products beyond academic articles that may actually reach stakeholders in the community and policy makers.” Check out the rest of the Fellows here!