About SEJournal

SEJournal is the digital news magazine of the Society of Environmental Journalists, providing information and insight in a format that’s fast, free, and easy to search and share. Read the latest from SEJournal. To subscribe to the email newsletter, click here.

Each week (at midday on Wednesdays), SEJournal's team of editors brings you an in-depth look at the environment beat through features, special reports and columns including:

TipSheet: story ideas and source guide to the latest hot topics on the beat
Reporter's Toolbox: how-to guide for the world of data journalism
WatchDog: opinion column advocating open information
Backgrounders: getting ahead on emerging developments
BookShelf: environmental book reviews and occasional interviews with authors
EJ Academy: environmental journalism teaching and research techniques
EJ InSight: the cutting edge of visual journalism on the environment
Voices of Environmental Justice: how environmental inequity is woven into the fabric of the environment beat
Features: environmentally related topics in a variety of formats
FEJ StoryLog: reports from grantees of SEJ's Fund for Environmental Journalism
Freelance Files: surviving as an independent journalist
Inside Story: interviews with journalists creating winning work
SEJ News: professional updates and developments from HQ

Learn more about SEJournal with this Letter from the Editor, A. Adam Glenn. You can contact Glenn or other editors with questions, comments, story ideas, articles, news briefs and tips at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Access to the online versions of the SEJournal print editions going from Sept. 1, 2016 back to the Vol. 1, No 1. in Nov. 15, 1990, continues through the archives. You can read individual stories or view full issues in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. To display or print back issues, get the free Adobe Acrobat ® reader.

Advertise in the digital SEJournal! Find advertising information and rates here. (SEJ members: Advertise your recent book in the digital SEJournal — only $50.) ORDER HERE.

Want To Join Our Team?

Want to write? Volunteer contributions to SEJournal come in many forms, but are primarily through the written articles that you see in each week’s issue. Most volunteers contribute pieces to our Features, BookShelf, Freelance Files, EJ Academy and EJ InSight sections. Typical time commitment: 2-4 hours, unpaid. You can contact the editors directly, as listed below, or if you’re not sure which section a contribution would best fit in, contact Editor Adam Glenn at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Want to edit and network? We also regularly seek volunteer editors to help us manage existing or new column sections and other responsibilities. This healthy roster of hard-working volunteer editors (see masthead below) is the “secret sauce” to the SEJournal’s success. These good folks unearth great ideas, identify talented writers and help shepherd the resulting stories to publication, as well as share insights and work through their roles on the Society of Environment Journalists’ Editorial Advisory Board. And they do it largely because of their commitment to helping their fellow journalists and to supporting the SEJ’s mission to “strengthen the quality, reach and viability of journalism that advances public understanding of environmental issues.”

Each volunteer editor helps oversee one of half-a-dozen of the weekly publication’s sections, covering topics such as living the freelance life or the insights gleaned from award-winning journalism. Typical time commitment: Usually 3-6 hours per quarter, unpaid, depending on column frequency. Plus, quarterly check-ins with the editor and editorial advisory board.

CURRENT EDITOR OPENINGS:

Co-Editor, EJ InSight: EJ InSight is a quarterly column exploring the cutting edge of visual journalism on the environment, sharing exemplary work of leading practitioners in photojournalism, videography and data infographics.

If you're interested in more details or in volunteering, contact Editor Adam Glenn at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

SEJournal Online Masthead

Editor and Editorial Director, Publications: A. Adam Glenn
Associate Editor & Features: Frances Backhouse
TipSheet, Toolbox, Backgrounder & WatchDog Opinion Writer/Editor: Joseph A. Davis
BookShelf Editor: Tom Henry
EJ Academy Co-Editors: Bob Wyss, Emilia Askari
EJ Insight Editor: Andrew Cullen
Voices of Environmental Justice Editor: Yessenia Funes
FEJ StoryLog Co-Editors: Carolyn Whetzel, Brandi Addison
Freelance Files Co-Editors: Elyse Hauser, Marianne Messina
Inside Story Co-Editors: Rocky Kistner, Chioma Lewis
Contributing Editors: Melody Kemp, John R. Platt, Jennifer Weeks
Copy Editor and Production Editor: Cindy MacDonald
Social Media Editor: Chioma Lewis

SEJ Editorial Advisory Board

To maintain the strongest possible news standards for SEJournal Online, SEJ has an Editorial Advisory Board made up of SEJournal Online editors, along with representatives of the SEJ membership and board of directors. Editorial Advisory Board Chair is Robert McClure.

Brandi D. Addison, FEJ StoryLog Co-Editor

Brandi D. Addison is the regional agriculture and natural resources reporter for the USA TODAY Network's West Texas region, regularly contributing to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Amarillo Globe News, Abilene Reporter-News and San Angelo Standard Times. She previously wrote for The Dallas Morning News and has additional bylines in Austin American-Statesman, San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News and Midland Reporter-Telegram, where she began her post-graduate journalism career. She graduated with her bachelor's in journalism from Texas Tech University with a minor in environmental science and, in May, will obtain her Master of Science degree in professional writing from New York University, where she specializes in science and environmental writing and received the writing impact award for her graduating class. Addison is also a journalism instructor at Texas Tech and co-advisor of the College of Media and Communications student newspaper. Email Addison at sejournaleditor@sej.org

Emilia Askari, EJ Academy Co-Editor

Emilia Askari teaches environmental journalism at the University of Michigan, and recently completed a Ph.D. in educational technology. She was a founding member of the Society of Environmental Journalists, serving as the organization’s second president. A former reporter for the Detroit Free Press, the Miami Herald and the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Askari has won many journalism prizes and fellowships. She co-chaired two SEJ annual conferences, including the 2018 conference in Flint, Michigan. Askari previously served as SEJournal Inside Story co-editor from 2020 to 2022. Email Askari at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Frances Backhouse, Associate Editor & Features

Frances Backhouse is an award-winning author and freelance environmental journalist based in Victoria, British Columbia. Her byline has appeared in a wide range of Canadian and American publications, she was a contributing editor for British Columbia Magazine and she has produced an hour-long radio documentary. Frances is also the author of six nonfiction books for adults and one for children, and is currently working on two more kids’ books about wildlife. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Alberta and a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from the University of Victoria. She taught creative nonfiction and journalism in the University of Victoria Department of Writing for six years. Email Backhouse at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Andrew Cullen, EJ InSight Co-Editor

Andrew Cullen is an independent photojournalist and a 2022-2023 Ted Scripps Fellow for Environmental Journalism at CU Boulder. His work examines the complicated relationships between the environment and individual and communal identities. His interest in the environment developed as a Peace Corps volunteer and then as a freelance journalist in Mongolia. He later lived in North Dakota, covering the state’s oil ﬁelds and protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. He has served as a newspaper reporter in Maine and as a photo editor at High Country News. Currently based in Los Angeles, Cullen works on projects around the Western U.S. He has photographed for The New York Times, NPR, CNN, Reuters and many others. Email Cullen at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Joe Davis, TipSheet/Toolbox/Backgrounder/WatchDog Opinion Writer/Editor

Joseph A. Davis is a freelance writer/editor in Washington, D.C. who has been writing about the environment since 1976. Davis was senior writer with the Environmental Health Center until 2002, where he was acting editor of EHC's Environment Writer as well as principal author of EHC's reporter's guide on the science of global climate change. Between 1982 and 1989, he covered energy, environment and natural resources for Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C. Davis earned his B.A. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in American Literature from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has experience in database reporting and has taught Web publishing. Email Davis at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Yessenia Funes, Writer, Environmental Justice Column

Yessenia Funes is an environmental journalist who has covered the justice beat for nearly a decade. She's written for publications like Atmos, Vogue, The Guardian, Earther, HuffPost and more. Her approach to storytelling amplifies the voices of those on the frontline of our present-day ecological crises. Her reporting has taken her to remote Indigenous communities in Nicaragua, the hostile desert of the American Southwest and post-Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico. Contact Funes at SEJournaleditor@SEJ.org.

A. Adam Glenn, Editor and Editorial Director, Publications

A. Adam Glenn is an award-winning journalist, media consultant and journalism educator. A former senior producer at ABCNews.com, and one-time executive editor of Greenwire and bureau chief for a group of environmental and health & safety newsletters in Washington, D.C., Glenn's environmental projects have included New York and Boulder, Colorado-focused climate news sites and a reporter's guide to climate adaptation. Among his consulting clients have been news publishers, journalism think tanks, and nonprofit and charitable organizations. Glenn has taught journalism at City University of New York, New York University and Columbia University, where he also recently concluded a stint as writer/editor at the Knight First Amendment Institute. He currently serves as deputy editor at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, working primarily with its U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He has won numerous fellowships and grants, most recently a public policy fellowship at the Washington, D.C.-based Wilson Center think tank. Glenn holds a Master of Arts degree in international (environmental) policy from the Fletcher School of International Law and Diplomacy, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Boston University. He is a Brooklyn native and lives in the Lower Hudson Valley with his college-aged daughter and his middle-aged dog. Contact Glenn at SEJournaleditor@SEJ.org.

Elyse Hauser, Freelance Files Co-Editor

Elyse Hauser is a writer from the Pacific Northwest. As an emerging environmental journalist and essayist, she focuses on marine and aquatic ecosystems, especially the deep sea and protecting the unknown. She began writing professionally shortly after graduating from the Evergreen State College in 2011, where she studied philosophy and history. In 2015, she obtained her MA in Writing Studies from Saint Joseph’s University. After that, Hauser spent a few years as a content marketing writer, before deciding that marketing was not for her. She received her MFA in creative nonfiction in 2023 from the University of New Orleans, where she won the 2023 Carol Gelderman Nonfiction Thesis Award. In New Orleans, she also rediscovered her passion for writing about the environment — a product of growing up in rural areas outside Seattle where the forest meets the sea. She's previously written about society, culture and products for publications including Electric Literature and Racked. Now, she writes about deep sea mining at notesfromthedeep.substack.com. Email Hauser at elysehauser@outlook.com.

Tom Henry, BookShelf Editor

Tom Henry is a member of Central Michigan University's Journalism Hall of Fame, a 2015 inductee. He began his journalism career more than 40 years ago, and has focused on Great Lakes environmental-energy issues for most of his 28-plus years at The (Toledo) Blade. Among his awards have been the Great Lakes Leadership Award for excellence in communications from the Great Lakes Protection Fund, the Jack Vallentyne Award from the International Association for Great Lakes Research, an excellence in environmental writing award from Wayne State University's Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, a Great Lakes communication award from the Healing Our Waters coalition and twice the Vermont Law School fellowship for environmental journalists. Henry is a former Society of Environmental Journalists board member. Email Henry at thenry@theblade.com.

Rocky Kistner, Inside Story Co-Editor

Rocky Kistner is an independent environmental journalist based near Washington, D.C. Over the past four decades, he has produced environmental stories as a producer/reporter for The Center for Investigative Reporting, ABC News, PBS Frontline, Marketplace public radio and NRDC’s onEarth, as well as freelancing for other outlets. He publishes stories on his website www.TheRockyFiles.org and on Twitter @therockyfiles. Email Kistner at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Chioma Lewis, Inside Story Co-Editor

Chioma Lewis is a freelance journalist whose reporting on the environment has covered a wide range of issues, such as climate change, endangered species and sustainability. She is also passionate about environmental justice and health issues, not to mention about the intersection of lighthouses and the environment. Lewis has a Master of Arts degree in journalism, concentrating in the environment, science and health, from Michigan State University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from San Jose State University. She is originally from California and currently lives in Lansing, Michigan. Lewis, an SEJ member since 2021, served as a diversity fellow for the 2022 SEJ conference in Houston, Texas. She is also a member of The Uproot Project, a network for journalists of color who cover environmental issues. Email her at chiomallewis@gmail.com or connect on Instagram and Twitter @chiomalewisnews.

Marianne Messina, Freelance Files Co-Editor

Marianne Messina is a freelance, solutions-oriented journalist covering conservation and sustainability. A 2022 Kiplinger Climate Journalism Fellow, Messina has written stories on everything from seafood traceability to methane monitoring by satellite. She's written for many outlets focusing on sustainable problems, including Mongabay and Civil Eats, and currently writes for Sierra Magazine while contemplating a book. Email Messina at mhdekm@gmail.com.

Carolyn Whetzel, FEJ StoryLog Editor

Carolyn Whetzel is an independent journalist. As a 26-year staff correspondent for Bloomberg BNA (previously The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.), she covered local, state and federal environment and energy issues in California. Whetzel is a long-time SEJ member who served on its board of directors for 14 years, including two stints as president. She co-chaired two SEJ annual conferences. Email Whetzel at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Bob Wyss, EJ Academy Co-Editor

Bob Wyss is a professor emeritus of journalism from the University of Connecticut, an author of three books and a former newspaper reporter and editor. Wyss taught courses in environmental journalism and other classes from 2002 to 2017 at UConn. During that time he wrote three books, “Covering the Environment,” the first textbook devoted to environmental journalism, “The Man Who Built the Sierra Club” and “Brimfield Rush.” He currently has a contract for his fourth book, “King Coal,” with the University of California Press. Prior to coming to Connecticut, Wyss worked for the Providence Journal in Providence, RI. He currently resides in Seattle. Email Wyss at bobwyss@gmail.com.

John R. Platt, Contributing Editor (Features)

John R. Platt is the editor of The Revelator and an award-winning environmental journalist focused on the extinction crisis. Email Platt at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Melody Kemp, Contributing Editor (BookShelf)

Melody Kemp is a freelancer who has lived in and written from Asia for more than 30 years. Email Kemp at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Jennifer Weeks, Contributing Editor (BookShelf)

Jennifer Weeks is senior environment and energy editor at The Conversation U.S. and a former SEJ board member. Email Weeks at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Robert McClure, Chair, Editorial Advisory Board

Robert McClure is a co-founder of InvestigateWest, a nonprofit newsroom in Seattle with a focus on the environment, public health and government accountability, and a track record of change-making journalism. He served as a reporter, executive director and executive editor between 2009 and 2021. A veteran newspaper reporter, McClure was a co-finalist for a Pulitzer Prize and winner of the John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism. He also was the recipient of the Knight Science Journalism Fellowship and the Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellowship, which allowed him to undertake extensive studies at MIT, Harvard and the University of Michigan. A Florida native, McClure started his career at United Press International in Miami. Email McClure at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

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