UF Environmental Justice Media Intensive

Spring 2021
Call for Applications

PIEC 27 save the date — Attendance to the 27th Annual Public Interest Environmental Conference is free to attend, but advance registration is required. Click the photo to learn more and register.

The University of Florida Thompson Earth Systems Institute, housed at the Florida Museum of Natural History, invites applications for the inaugural UF Environmental Justice Media Intensive, a crash course for UF students looking to gain experience reporting on the intersection of environmental challenges and social justice issues.

The course will be centered around the UF Law School’s 27th Annual Public Interest Environmental Conference (Feb. 12-13, 2021) with this year’s theme being “Equitable Transitions.”

Participating students will attend this conference and work in pairs to write a story and produce a complementary multimedia package on a particular topic. Before the conference, students will attend a 2.5-hour pre-conference workshop on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. to meet their editors, learn reporting tips & tricks and set a plan for pre-reporting and research. Topics that will be covered at the conference include:

Environmental Justice & Energy Distribution

Environmental Justice & Natural Disasters
Environmental Justice & Food Equity
Environmental Justice & Water Resources
Environmental Justice & Land Use

Throughout the course, students will be mentored by a superb team of journalists and editors:

Hannah Brown, co-founder and director, The Marjorie
Imani Jackson, first year Ph.D. student studying cultural heritage communications, legal scholar and freelance journalist
Lyndsey Gilpin, editor-in-chief, Southerly Magazine

All final content will be hosted on the TESI website but will be published under a creative commons license and free to use elsewhere.

Participating students will complete the course with a published story and multimedia package (this could include infographics, social media assets, video or photos), a one-year student membership to the Society of Environmental Journalists and a certificate showing their participation.

Course Timeline:

February 5 from 9 to 11:30 a.m.: Students attend the pre-conference workshop and meet with editors. (2.5 hours)
February 12-13: Students attend the PIEC conference and use Slack to communicate with editors during the conference.
Week of February 15: Students attend a story budget meeting to discuss and solidify story ideas and steps forward. (1 hour)
February 26: Student pairs submit first drafts to editors & the administrative team.

March 5: Editors and administrative team send edits and comments back to students.
March 11: Student pairs submit final drafts to editors.
March 17: Editors send final draft & multimedia package to the administrative team.

Eligibility:

UF juniors, seniors and graduate students are eligible to apply. Preference will be given to those with experience or a demonstrated interest in journalism or a communications-related field. Those in environmental fields with writing experience are also welcome to apply.

How to apply:

Applications will be submitted via Qualtrics. To complete the application, you will need the following:

A CV or resume, to be uploaded as a PDF.
Two writing samples (unpublished is ok) to be uploaded as a PDF.

Please have all these items gathered before you begin your application, as you will not be able to save your progress. Questions? Contact earthsystems@floridamuseum.ufl.edu.

Submit your application via Qualtrics at the following link: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cvhj8ycaIfSEHVX

Deadline:

We are accepting applications on a rolling basis and will make our selection of six students by January 22, 2020.