I’ve enjoyed these past three years of serving on the SEJ board — but that, of course, is not a reason to run for reelection. I’m hoping to continue to build upon what we’ve accomplished over the past three years in opening up SEJ. I am also working closely with the Program Committee on our upcoming Phoenix conference, and hoping to continue: It already seems that we could not have picked a better location to tell the stories of the American, and global, future.
By way of introduction, I’ve been an environmental journalist for more than three decades. My training was at the Center for Investigative Reporting where I learned from expert investigators how to follow a trail to expose environmental abuses. I quickly learned that following those threads of evidence leads to questions of equity and power — who is most frequently exposed to environmental hazards, and who is protected from them. Seeing stories as connected to a larger picture of power and influence contributed to my sustaining interest in environmental journalism.
Beyond Phoenix: I am a former staff member, a former foreign correspondent (Europe and Latin America), current and past freelancer and book author, ("Seeds of Resistance," on the battle to control the world’s climate resilient seeds, is the most recent). While my roots are in writing, I’ve also reported and produced radio and tv documentaries, and am aware of the unique requirements for each. I can appreciate the various and complex ways that lead people to SEJ, and I would aim to continue expanding those avenues of entry. I support the efforts by the Membership Committee to reform the membership criteria for SEJ to ensure maximum representation of communities of journalists who, whatever their background or nationality, would be naturally engaged participants in SEJ.
I am also a part-time teacher, one semester a year at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, which has given me a sensitivity to the challenges that young journalists face in entering a profession undergoing major upheavals. I’ll continue working to try to ease those pressures in whatever way we can.
I have also come to deeply engage with the science underlying environmental journalism. In digging deeper into understanding ecological systems, the stakes have become higher, the why of doing this work more clear. It’s with that spirit that I would also encourage greater collaboration with the world of science journalists and scientists. A term drawn from the natural sciences has always resonated with me: the Trophic Cascade, evoking how elements of an ecosystem are connected to one another. That’s how I think of this work, story by story, unearthing a series of connections. And its how I think of SEJ. People back each other up, there is an overall sense of collaboration and respect. I can see in my colleagues on the Board and in the organization the basis of a resilient ecological system. In other words a long-lasting and resilient organization. I hope you’ll support my continuation on the Board. Thank you.
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