Applications are Now Closed
People often tend to think about climate change on a global scale, but this can hide the fact that these environmental shifts affect our daily lives in countless ways. Your news audiences need to know about the local impacts that directly impact their health and safety, quality of life, and wallets.
As climate change has become a more frequent issue of concern, all newsrooms have had to adjust 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 is designed to address this gap.
From public health risks like poor air quality and excessive heat to deficient infrastructure that wasn’t built to withstand record winds and flooding, climate change is a local story happening in the back yards of all news audiences. Do you have the sources and understanding of science to uncover these stories? Do you know the most effective and inclusive ways to report on the disproportionate effects of climate change on people of color and vulnerable communities?
Metcalf Institute will explore these issues at its 23rd Annual Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists. Metcalf Fellows will gain a solid foundation in the fundamentals of research practice, climate science, and adaptation measures from leading researchers and policymakers.
Metcalf Institute strives to create a diverse group of Fellows; journalists of color are strongly encouraged to apply.
The 23rd 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. The 2021 Workshop will be conducted virtually due to ongoing public health concerns about the coronavirus.
Based on effective methods for remote learning and to accommodate Fellows’ schedules, the workshop will be offered over two weeks beginning on May 24, 2021, during the afternoons of Eastern Standard Time (approximately 1pm-5pm EST):
- Week One: May 24 – 27, 2021
The first week will build Metcalf Fellows’ science translation skills and familiarize the journalists with the building blocks of academic research. Journalists will participate in sessions on data visualization and statistics and probabilities followed by interactive sessions that provide insiders’ perspectives on how to read, interpret and translate scientific publications. This week will also offer strategies for localizing climate change stories, an issue that will be explored more extensively in Week Two. - Week Two: June 7 – 11, 2021
The second week will explore climate change science, impacts, and adaptation measures in greater detail, with a focus on environmental justice. Metcalf Fellows will discuss uncertainties in climate models, the state of science regarding extreme weather, sea level rise, coastal resilience and public health, and what these compounding challenges mean for vulnerable communities. Journalists will apply discussions from Weeks One and Two to create a plan for localizing these issues for their news audiences.
Annual Public Lecture Series
Metcalf fellows are also invited to attend Metcalf Institute’s 24th Annual Public Lecture Series, June 14 – 18, 2021. The series features leaders in climate change science, policy, science communication and journalism discussing a different environmental topic each day. Fellows are strongly encouraged to attend as many of the virtual talks as possible during that week.
As a result of participating in the Annual Science Immersion Workshop, Fellows will:
- Be able to identify important climate change 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.
Thanks to the generosity of private donors and Metcalf Institute’s endowment, the fellowships include full tuition.
Important Note for Journalists Applying from Outside of the U.S.
The Metcalf Annual Workshop focuses on the science and policies underlying globally significant issues from a U.S. perspective. Metcalf Institute receives applications from journalists worldwide but reserves a majority of fellowship seats for U.S.-based journalists.
View Recent Annual Science Immersion Workshops:
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015