Environmental Journalists Conference Features Current, Former Grantees

The Society of Environmental Journalists is hosting its 32nd Annual Conference April 19-23 at Boise State University in Idaho.

Founded in 1990, SEJ "provides educational opportunities and vital support to journalists of all media who face the challenging responsibility of environmental issues." This year, more than 10 current and former Pulitzer Center grantees are joining hundreds of award-winning journalists, editors, producers, academics, and activists in Boise. The featured event below, "In a Changing Climate, Boom and Bust in the Bering Sea Fisheries," is made possible by the Pulitzer Center.

In a Changing Climate, Boom and Bust in Bering Sea Fisheries

In the aftermath of an intense marine heat wave, the Bristol Bay sockeye runs returned last year from the Bering Sea in record numbers. Meanwhile, some salmon runs have struggled and snow crab populations crashed, triggering the first-ever cancellation of the winter harvest season. Journalist and grantee Hal Bernton, who reported last year from the Bering Sea in a Seattle Times partnership with the Anchorage Daily News and the Pulitzer Center, is set to  moderate a panel that explores the links between the warming and the changing fisheries.

Date: April 21, 2023

Time: 2:15pm MDT

Location: Boise State University, Bishop Barnwell Room, 1700 W. University Drive

Moderator: Hal Bernton, 2022 Pulitzer Center grantee, environment and energy journalist

Virtual Speakers

Serena Fitka (Yup’ik), executive director, Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association

Jamie Goen, executive director, Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers

Daniel Schindler, professor, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and Department of Biology, University of Washington

Other Center-affiliated SEJ Participants

Sonia Shah, 2020 grantee, science journalist, and prize-winning author, will be part of the panel "Climate Displacement, Migration and White Nationalism—Rising Seas."

Halle Parker, 2021 grantee and environment reporter at The Advocate and The Times-Picayune, will be part of the panel "Navigating Newsrooms: A Guide For Early-Career Environmental Journalists."

Eliza Barclay, 2020 International RJF grantee and editor for Vox.com's health, science, energy, and environment coverage, will take part in the panel "Clean Energy Next Gen."

Lisa Palmer, 2017 grantee, visiting professor at George Washington University, and environmental writer, will be part of the panel "Weaving the Personal Into the Global and Political: Environmental Stories Close to the Bone."

Tony Briscoe, 2021 grantee and environmental reporter at the Chicago Tribune, and John Upton, 2020 grantee and partnership coordinator at Climate Central, will be part of the panel "Up in Smoke: Covering Wildfire’s Impacts on Air Quality and Climate Change."

Nithin Coca, 2020 International RJF grantee and freelance journalist, will be part of the panel "How To Include Environmental Justice in Climate Stories."

Tegan Wendland, 2020 grantee and coastal reporter at WWNO. Wendland took part in the April 19 workshop "Covering Watersheds As Connected Systems."

Debra Utacia Krol, a 2022 grantee and award-winning Indigenous reporter in Arizona, who moderated the April 19 workshop "Covering Watersheds as Connected Systems."