Funded Projects from the Fund for Environmental Journalism (FEJ) Summer 2010 Grant Cycle
September 16, 2010 — The Society of Environmental Journalists named nine winners of partial project funding through the Fund for Environmental Journalism. Modest grants supported travel, website development, graphics, photos and video for multimedia, radio, online and book projects submitted by independent journalists and new media ventures in California, New Mexico, Colorado, Florida, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin and British Columbia.
Journalists and projects receiving partial funding from the inaugural round included:
Robert Berwyn and www.summitvoice.org, Frisco, CO, $400 for travel for a multimedia online project on climate change and water pollution in Colorado and Utah
Jim Carrier, Madison, WI, $400 for travel for a multimedia project on hunters and environmental health in Wisconsin, Colorado and Wyoming
FEJ-funded project:
- Three installments about Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) were featured on the science radio series, "Perpetual Notion Machine," on WORT-FM, Madison, WI: March 31, 2011; December 1, 2011; and December 15, 2011. Jim Carrier's guests included Dr. James Kroll, a deer expert from Stephen Austin State, UW-Madison soil scientist Chad Johnson, and Jim Bennett, UW expert on lichens and their potential in fighting the prions that cause CWD.
Dan Collison and Long Haul Productions, Three Oaks, MI, $750 for travel for an audio documentary on invasive fish in Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois
FEJ-funded project:
- "The Journey of the Asian Carp" can be heard here. It aired on Chicago public radio WBEZ-FM on January 14, 2011 and on the public radio program "The Story" on March 30, 2011. The program will also air on public radio in Michigan and is available to public and community radio stations via prx.org.
Laura Frank and I-News: The Rocky Mountain Investigative News Network, Denver, CO, $1,000 for graphics, photos and videos for an investigative multimedia water project in Colorado
Kate Golden and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Madison, WI, $500 for water testing for a multimedia project on water and agriculture in Wisconsin
- This FEJ-funded project, part of Water Watch Wisconsin, was also supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism, a collaborative partner of the FEJ. On December 13, 2013, an in-depth article was published by MarshfieldNewsHerald.com: "Hormonal wells found in state's karst region; dairy farms possible source." The nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (www.WisconsinWatch.org) collaborates with Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Television, other news media and the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Jude Isabella, Victoria, BC, Canada, $900 for travel for a book about intertwined human and salmon life histories in Canada
FEJ-funded project:
- Two excerpts from Jude Isabella's soon-to-be-published "Salmon: A Scientific Memoir," a science writer's look at the relationship between salmon and humans, were filed with The Tyee online magazine. Part one, published on August 23, 2011, addresses the importance of population diversity to the fragile sockeye and the probability that ancient fishers understood that as well. Part two, published on August 24, 2011, looks at the effect of global warming on salmon. A related story was carried in Archaeology Magazine's Sep/Oct 2011 issue about clam gardens, part of the salmon project funded by FEJ.
Eric Mack, Vadito, NM, $1,000 for website development and cost/benefit analysis on energy projects in New Mexico
- FEJ funds were used to build The Highlands Herald, an online source of community news - environmental and otherwise - and as leverage to secure more funds to produce regular reporting on energy issues. Currently, the site is the only truly local source of news and information for a number of remote villages, but it is not yet financially sustainable. A fundraising video was also produced with FEJ funds for use grant applications and online marketplaces like Spot.us and Kickstarter.
Lisa Morehouse, San Francisco, CA, $425 for environmental elements of a radio series on changing rural economies in California
FEJ-funded project:
- Special radio series page featured on the California Report, KQED Public Radio, May 2011
Bruce Ritchie and Florida Environments, Tallahassee, FL, $500 for website development
- The FEJ grant allowed Floridaenvironments.com to establish a relationship with Groves Design to foster learning about web design and presentation and development of the site. Such a relationship otherwise would not have been possible for a small, busy news organization that has focused its limited resources on covering environmental issues in the fourth largest state in the nation. Readers may now access the more than 600 stories that have been written on statewide environmental issues since 2008 for Floridaenvironments.com.
SEJ’s Fund for Environmental Journalism was created in 2009 by the Board of Directors of the Society of Environmental Journalists, and funded by individual donations 2009 - 2010. Please support future FEJ grants by contributing to the Fund online.
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