Columbia University’s
program in
Earth & Environmental Science Journalism
Kim Kastens
(kastens@ldeo.columbia.edu)
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
of Columbia University
Presentation to
SommerUSAademie 2005 Wissenschaftsjournalismus
6 September 2005
Columbia University’s
program in
Earth & Environmental Science Journalism
(1) Dual masters degree program for Columbia
students
(2) Environmental journalists of color project, in
collaboration with Society of Environmental
Journalists
Columbia E&ESJ Masters Program
Goal:
…. to train journalists who have both the
scientific background and the communications
skills to inform the public about discoveries,
processes, insights, and controversies about the
Earth and environment, in a manner that is
simultaneously interesting and accurate.
(Clue: articulate what you are trying to accomplish.)
Columbia E&ESJ Masters Program
Co-sponsored by:
• Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
• The Department of Earth & Environmental
Sciences
• The Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
(Clue: work with excellent partners.)
Columbia E&ESJ Masters Program
Co-directed by:
• Kim Kastens (Lamont-Doherty Earth
Observatory)
• Marguerite Holloway (Graduate
School of Journalism)
(Clue: tap multiple expertises)
Columbia E&ESJ Masters Program
Prerequisites: undergraduate background in science and
demonstrated writing ability
Course of study:
• 2 semesters of coursework in Earth & environmental science
anchored by “Case Studies in E&ESJ”
• science masters research project
• 2 semesters of coursework and practical training in journalism
• journalism masters project
Result:
• MA in Earth & Environmental Sciences
plus MS in Journalism
(Clue: Be tough. Set high standards)
Columbia E&ESJ Masters Program
What we look for in applicants:
• Writing ability, via J-school writing test.
• Basic science prerequisites, one college year with grade of
B or better in 4 out of 5 of:
- Geosciences, Biological Sciences
- Math, Physics, Chemistry
• Commitment to communicating across interface between
science and society.
- worked at nature center, national park, science teacher
- undergraduate double major: science and language
- student journalism
• Avoid science wannabes
• Interesting interview; they ask us questions
(Clue: Put a lot of energy into admissions process. )
Columbia E&ESJ Masters Program
Case Studies in Earth & Environmental Science Journalism
• read articles written for a technical audience about an issue,
discovery or controversy
• read articles written for a popular audience on the same topic
• interview a scientist who worked on the topic
• from this primary material, construct understanding of journalistic
strategies and devices
• 2004-2005: Sumatran tsunami, Teaching Creationism in public
schools, Coral bleaching, Arsenic in groundwater of Bangladesh,
Marine mammals & sonars, California energy crisis, etc.
Columbia E&ESJ Masters Program
What is a science research project doing in
a journalism education program, anyway?
Columbia E&ESJ Masters Program
Some of the learning objectives for the E&ESJ science
research project:
• Students will experience the process of finding a research question which is (a)
unanswered, but (b) answerable.
• Students will master skills or techniques of a subdiscipline of earth or
environmental science, thus gaining an appreciation of research as a craft.
• Students will generate original data about the Earth or Environment, thus gaining
some understanding of the ambiguities and complexities inherent in real data.
• Students will generate logically-defensible interpretations from their data, and thus
strengthen their ability to build a chain of logic from observation to interpretation,
and from cause to effect.
• Students will experience the state of mind that comes with total immersion in
research, and thus come to recognize science as a creative endeavor.
• Students will become a member of an active research group, and will feel the
human dynamics of such a group.
• Students will gain confidence in their ability to hold their own in the community
of scientists.
Columbia E&ESJ Masters Program
2002 E&ESJ Research Projects
Student
Research Project
Research Advisors
Victoria
Kauffmann
Resistance to mit igation of natural
disasters
Art Lerner-Lam, David
Krantz (psychology)
Ken Kostel
Development of a low-cost tool for
assessing in situ arsenic content of
ground water during drilling of tube
wells in Bangladesh
Lex VanGeen, Sidney
Hemming, George
Flynn (Chemis try)
John
Romano
Recovery of burned areas in th e pine Gordon Jacoby, Kevin
barrens of New Jersey as recorded
Griffith
by dendrochronology
Laura
Wright
Use of remote sensing to detect
paleo- drainage systems at an
archeological site in Egypt
Jeff Weissel, Peter
DeMenocal
Ke Xu
The effect of elevated atmospheric
CO2 on the mitochondria density of
C3 and C4 plants
Kevin Griffith , O.
Roger Anderson
Columbia E&ESJ Masters Program
Columbia Graduate School of Journalism component
 Environmental
Reporting
 Advanced Reporting & Writing (RWI)
 Skills of the Journalist
 Masters' Project
 Critical issues in journalism
 Journalism, the law and society
 Science Reporting and Writing
 Media Workshop
 Master's Project
 Journalism Elective
Columbia E&ESJ Masters Program
Where do the graduates work?
– Science-oriented publications
• Scientific American, Geotimes, Discover
– Environment-oriented publications
• On Earth, Audubon
– Mainstream Media
• Houston Chronicle, New York Times, Wall Street
Journal, Albuquerque Journal, Albany Times-Union
– freelance
– out of journalism
• environmental consulting
Columbia E&ESJ Masters Program
Exemplary work: “In Harm’s Way” by Dina Cappiello,
1999 E&ESJ graduate, in Houston Chronicle, 2005
Columbia E&ESJ Masters Program
Environmental
advocacy
Law,
policy
Environmental
Reporting
Science
General
reporting
Columbia E&ESJ Masters Program
UC Santa Cruz
PhD or MD
mid-career
(MBL, Metcalfe)
journalism
Columbia E&ESJ
work
[science]
Undergraduate
[non-science]
Columbia E&ESJ Masters Program
What I have learned about the overlapping values of
scientists and journalists:
• curiosity
• skepticism
• ability to self-educate without a teacher
• comfortable out of mainstream of society
• search for truth
E&ESJ GeoDiversity Project
Goals:
• To increase the quality, accuracy and visibility of
environmental journalism in media reaching people of
color.
• To increase knowledge of, and interest in, the Earth and
environment among minorities underrepresented in the
Geoscience workforce.*
______
* Funded by National Science Foundation, Opportunities for the
Enhancement of Diversity in the Geosciences program (2001-2005)
E&ESJ GeoDiversity Project
Hurricane Katrina victims were disproportionately African-American.
• because AfricanAmericans in New Orleans
are more likely to live in
poverty, and lack cars
• because AfricanAmericans were less wellinformed about natural
hazards and environmental
risks???
Hurricane Katrina victims, NY Times website
E&ESJ GeoDiversity Project
Did the warnings in
the press miss them?
If so, what could
journalists, journalism
organizations, or
media organizations
do?
E&ESJ GeoDiversity Project
• Collaboration between Columbia/E&ESJ and:
• Society
of Environmental Journalists
• National Association of Black Journalists
• Native American Journalists Association
• National Hispanic Journalists Association
E&ESJ GeoDiversity Project
• Fellowships for minority
journalists to attend SEJ
meetings
• Co-organized sessions and
field trips on environmental
topics at NABJ, NAJA, and
NAHJ meetings
• Environmental category in
journalism awards programs of
minority journalism
organizations
Brenda Box of WTOP-AM radio, Washington DC, ran
a conference mini-tour on the Bayou Savage National
Wildlife Refuge at the 2003 SEJ New Orleans
conference.
E&ESJ GeoDiversity Project
E&ESJ GeoDiversity Project
But maybe not as knowledgeable:
In a survey of 808 undergraduates
enrolled in an introductory
environmental literacy course, Battles
(2003) found
African-Americans are as
concerned about environmental
issues as European-Americans
(Mohai, 2003).
• 38% of African-American/Blacks vs
• 51% of Caucasians/Whites
agreed with the statement “in general,
I had a good understanding of
environmental issues before I took
this course,”
E&ESJ GeoDiversity Project
SEJ Minority Fellows tell us:
• Editors consider the environment a “suburban” or “white”
beat and don’t tend to assign journalists of color to cover
environmental stories.
• Editors think minority readers/viewers aren’t interested in
environmental topics.
• They work on tight deadlines without the time for
investigations that environmental stories require.
• They write for publications with small staffs, environment
beat is rare, science beat unknown.
“Miami’s Hispanic community…live in an information desert with
respect to the environmental problems that affect their
neighborhoods” (Swafford, 1996).
For further information:
Earth & Environmental Science Journalism program:
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/eesj/
Diversity in Environmental Journalism program:
http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/edu/eesj/sejweb/