SEJ Members Toast New Books and Projects on Wide Range of Science, Environment Topics

Media on the Move

By JUDY FAHYS

SEJ members reported a number of new and interesting projects.

Angela Posada-Swafford, co-chair of Miami’s 2011 SEJ conference, published the eighth book in her collection “Los Aventureros de la Ciencia” (The Adventurers of Science). Part of a collection that will eventually include 15 novels for the young-adult market in Spanish and edited by Grupo Planeta in Colombia and Spain, the series is being used by the Costa Rican’s Ministry of Education in a groundbreaking pilot project called CienciaAventura. In it, the books are a tool for teaching both science and literature to children of selected public schools in that Central American nation.

Her next step: finding a way to develop English-language versions of the 200-plus action-and-adventure novels based on real scientists.

Alexa Elliott works at the WPBT PBS station in Miami, where the ocean science series "Changing Seas" is produced. One episode, "Sentinels of the Seas," won in the Film/Radio/TVcategory of the 2011 Communication Awards of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. The episode also won a Suncoast Regional Emmy award last year, as well as a Miami Today Gold Award. You can see it here.

Meanwhile, Harvey Stone received an initial contract to option his environmental thriller novel, Melting Down. Among its films, the production company offering the contract boasts a film that received two Oscars.

And Dick Russell’s ninth book, the first of a two-volume biography on American psychologist James Hillman, will be published Spring 2012 by Helios Press.

Texas-based freelancer Soll Sussman’s look at ecobusiness options for restaurants — "Green Beyond the Menu" was featured in Edible Austin magazine.

Christy George produced a TV documentary for Oregon Public Broadcasting called "Columbia Gorge: the Fight for Paradise," which aired in November. It uses the 25th anniversary of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Act as a way to talk about protection efforts. It's a special one-hour edition of Oregon Field Guide, OPB's award-winning weekly show.

Susan Moran’s request: Don’t count her carbon footprint over the last year. After indulging in an MBL fellowship to Antarctica last November-December, Moran flew to Norway in June to join a group of U.S. and European journalists (Transnational Media, through the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.). They spent most of their time above the Arctic Circle, in Tromso, learning from Arctic researchers at the Norwegian Polar Institute as well as from fisheries industry representatives and government officials — and gave up trying to sleep under the never-setting sun’s glow. When land-locked in Boulder, Colo., she juggles print freelancing and co-hosting a weekly science show called "How On Earth" on KGNU community radio, and contract editing on the side.

Justin Gerdes wrote the "Transportation" chapter in Guide to Sustainia: Exploring the Sustainable Society of Tomorrow, published by Monday Morning, based in Copenhagen, Denmark. He also served as lead editor for the book, which envisions the sustainable economy in 2020.

Tom Henry, an editorial writer and op-ed columnist at The (Toledo) Blade, joined an IJNR Great Lakes advisory board following Peter Annin’s departure for a job at Notre Dame. He also serves on an advisory board for Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, which is using a National Science Foundation grant to better educate Great Lakes journalists about climate change.

Got a new job or sold a new project? Contact Judy Fahys about your latest achievements and shifts in direction. You can reach Judy Fahys, environment reporter at The Salt Lake Tribune, at atfahys@sltrib.com.

* From the quarterly newsletter SEJournal, Winter 2011-12. Each new issue of SEJournal is available to members and subscribers only; find subscription information here or learn how to join SEJ. Past issues are archived for the public here.