DEADLINE: IJNR Energy Country Institute — NM and CO

The Energy Country Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources
An Intensive Experience of Learning and Professional Development
Designed by Journalists for Reporters, Editors and News Producers

 
Evening of November 4 through evening of November 12, 2011, in the Four Corners Region of New Mexico and Colorado

Expedition themes will include:
 

• Renewable and "Green" Sources of Energy: The Opportunities and the Obstacles
• Meeting Energy Needs: Markets, Fuels, Technologies and Politics
• Fossil-Fuels Production in Ecologically Sensitive Places
• Energy Perspectives from Indian Country
•  National, Regional, State and Local Perspectives on Energy Policies
• Energy Self-Reliance: Smaller-Scale Solar and Wind Projects
• The View from 8,000 Feet: Climate’s Relationships to Energy and Water

 
IJNR, the Institutes for Journalism & Natural Resources, is inviting applications for its Energy Country Institute, an opportunity to learn about the people, landscapes and natural resources of the Four Corners region. Santa Fe will serve as the hub city for this journey through parts of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.

Stops en route: Solar and agriculture sites in the San Luis Valley; the Southern Ute Reservation; Valles Caldera National Preserve; the energy-rich San Juan Basin, and a utility-scale geothermal project at an American Indian pueblo. Journalists will share a meal as guests in a pueblo home and may visit a Navajo family whose remote home recently acquired electricity by installing a wind turbine and a solar panel.

The Energy Country Institute will be an expedition-style training program for 14 competitively selected reporters, editors and producers (perhaps including one or two graduate students). The Institute will give journalists a rare opportunity to gain perspectives by exploring complicated issues related to renewable energy, growth, development, water and climate. Energy Country journalists will meet with community, tribal and state leaders, resource-company managers, conservationists, scientists, engineers, and policy-shapers—as well as local people who derive a living directly from natural resources.

IJNR’s field programs, designed by journalists for journalists, concentrate on context and insight in exploring newsworthy issues. Leading the Energy Country program will be IJNR president Frank Edward Allen, a former bureau chief and environment editor for The Wall Street Journal.

IJNR Fellowship Awards cover all field expenses, including meals, lodging, chartered bus and excursion fees. Modest stipends are available to help a few participants cover travel to and from Santa Fe. IJNR encourages newsrooms to cover salaries while participants are "on assignment" during the program, so that journalists are not charged vacation days, comp time or furlough days to attend. Funding for IJNR comes from more than 30 organizations (foundations, public agencies, businesses and conservation-advocacy groups) and individuals representing a broad, balanced spectrum of viewpoints. Funders of the Energy Country program include the Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the Brainerd Foundation, the Giles and Elise Mead Foundation and the Whitman Institute.

How To Apply

Submit electronically a statement of interest (no more than two pages), a resume of educational background and work experiences, a reference letter or supervisor's endorsement, and four work samples to Contact@IJNR.org.

Application Deadline: Thursday, September 30, 2011