Metcalf Institute – 2024 Annual Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists
Overview
Metcalf Institute’s AWJ is for full-time journalists working in any medium who want learn more about research and topics relating to climate change science, impacts, adaptation, and justice. It’s designed to bolster your understanding of the methods, norms, and culture of science, with hands-on activities, field trips, and opportunities to develop relationships with scientific experts and with your other fellows! We welcome journalists of all beats, such as arts & culture, business, technology, policy, and politics, as climate change shapes all of these fields with ever-increasing urgency.
Details
Fellows will dive deep into issues such as the promise and challenge of using clean energy, the Inflation Reduction Act’s opportunities and impact, community and governmental response to the clean energy transition, and more.
As climate change has become a more frequent issue of concern, newsrooms have adjusted by incorporating more coverage of environmental change and its impacts. Unfortunately, many reporters and editors lack the background, sources, and confidence to cover these stories with the depth and nuance they require. Metcalf Institute’s Annual Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists (AWJ) is designed to address this gap, and to be a valuable resource for journalists working in a wide variety of beats. It’s the 26th anniversary of this immersive program, and this year will have a special focus on water issues and climate change. Fellows will dive deep into issues such as water quality, plastics and public health, and ecosystem restoration, all through a social justice lens.
The Annual Workshop is designed to help Fellows gain new insights, sources and resources to aid their reporting, expand peer networks with journalists from around the globe, and produce accurate and contextualized reporting on globally relevant environmental issues. Metcalf Fellows will gain a solid foundation in the fundamentals of research practice, climate science, and adaptation measures from leading researchers and policy makers.
The 2023 Workshop will be conducted in person at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, RI. on June 3-8, with supplementary asynchronous preparation. Applications are due by February 12, 2024 by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
The Fellows also:
- Gain a deeper understanding of how scientists conduct research and handle scientific uncertainty.
- Develop the skills and confidence to interpret and translate the language of scientific journals for news audiences
- Build confidence in their abilities to discern the credibility of scientific sources
- Discover new ways to write about energy and climate change to build audience understanding and engagement
- Cultivate new sources by interacting with leading researchers and policy experts in an informal, off-deadline atmosphere
- Network and developed lasting relationships with journalists from a wide range of media and backgrounds
- Be able to identify important climate change and energy stories that are relevant to their news audiences.
- Understand how academic scientists plan, fund, conduct, and publish their research
- Be better prepared to understand and communicate scientific uncertainties
- Be better prepared to translate scientific findings for news audiences
- Recognize and understand the interactions between climate change, the environment, and society, and how climate change disproportionately affects communities of color and low-income communities.
Opportunity is About
Environment Media, Marketing & PR
Eligibility
Candidates should be from:
Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo: Democratic Republic Congo: Republic Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, North Korea, South Kosovo UN1244 (*not recognized by majority of countries) Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau North Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestinian Authority Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States of America Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe SHOW MORE
Description of Ideal Candidate
Metcalf Institute’s Annual Science Immersion Workshop is for full-time professional journalists who work in any medium or combination of media.
The Annual Workshop fellowship is designed for early- and mid-career journalists looking to start or expand coverage of climate change and/or who want to deepen their understanding of the practice of research and topics relating to climate change science, impacts, mitigation, adaptation, and justice. Applicants should aim to clearly demonstrate these specific needs in their application materials. The Metcalf Annual Workshop is designed to bolster Fellows’ understanding of the methods, norms, and culture of science to improve science-based reporting; therefore applicants do not need a science background. Applications are open to journalists working on general assignment, environment, climate change, health, business, finance, technology, policy, politics, and any other areas where climate change and energy may be reported as intersecting issues.
How are Fellows selected?
Among the criteria considered in the selection of Metcalf Fellows are the applicant’s expressed commitment to accurate, science-based coverage of environmental topics and editorial support for this professional development and possible publication/broadcast of the applicant’s environmental reporting after the fellowship. Editors may also apply. Metcalf Institute’s selection process strives to maximize diversity of each Annual Workshop class with regard to race and ethnicity, gender, ability, sexual orientation, medium, geography, and journalism experience.
Dates
Deadline: February 12, 2024
Program starts: June 03, 2024 Program ends: June 08, 2024
