Annie Ropeik, Aug. 10, 2022
Contact: aropeik@gmail.com / 907-441-1419 / www.aropeik.com / @aropeik
I'm a freelance environmental journalist in Portland, Maine. I spent the first decade of my career as a local public radio reporter and host in Alaska, Delaware, Indiana and New Hampshire, with work airing on a range of NPR programs, the BBC, CBC and several podcasts. I now split my time between writing about energy and climate issues in Northern New England and working as assistant director of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, a grant-funded newsroom partnership with Report for America, SEJ and the University of Missouri.
I want to join SEJ's board to help cultivate a new generation of environmental journalists — one that embraces collaboration between newsrooms and experiments across platforms to tell impactful, intersectional stories about the climate crisis, environmental justice and more. I would focus my time with SEJ on making this approach a reality for more reporters and outlets by building out training and networking resources, and would advocate for younger and independent journalists and those with local and nonprofit news backgrounds. I feel lucky to have a peer-led organization like SEJ providing solidarity and support on this uniquely challenging beat, and it would be a privilege to give more of my time and skills to that work.
I've been an SEJ member since 2020, when I received a Fund for Environmental Journalism rapid response grant to launch New Hampshire Public Radio's newsroom-wide climate change reporting project early in the pandemic. A year later, I received the first honorable mention in the SEJ awards' small-market beat reporting category for my work on that desk. I now work for an SEJ partner in the Ag & Water Desk, where I’m gaining experience in nonprofit administration and event planning, and I'm excited to attend my first SEJ conference in Boise next year.
I've always been a nerd for nature, science and the way humans relate to them, ever since I was a kid marsh-mucking at Audubon camp on the Chesapeake Bay in my home state of Maryland. It's a dream to get to tell environmental stories for a living, but I'm just as passionate about helping others learn to do the same. I've spent years mentoring early-career reporters and being a helper to newsrooms who only need a little push to do something new and exciting, and it would be an honor to do more of this through the lens of SEJ. I want this organization and our craft to thrive and be sustainable in a changing media landscape and on a warming planet. I hope to join SEJ's board to contribute to making that happen, and I would be grateful for your support.
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