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Reporter's Toolbox

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Reporter's Toolbox is a regular column focused on the world of data journalism, with an emphasis on data tools, techniques and database resources that journalists can use to improve their environmental reporting.

For questions and comments, or to suggest future Reporter's Toolboxes, email Toolbox Editor Joseph A. Davis at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Journalists can receive Reporter's Toolbox free by subscribing to the SEJournal Online, the digital news magazine of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Subscribe to the e-newsletter here.

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June 9, 2021

  • Forest Service Offers Mapping Database on Potential Wildfire Hazards

    With a particularly dangerous wildfire season ahead, environmental journalists can better cover the heightened risk with a specialized U.S. Forest Service database. It predicts fire risk using a range of frequently updated variables like amount and condition of fuel, drought and topography, then maps it in high resolution with overlays of human structures and populations. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox has more on the database, and details how to make smart use of it.

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May 26, 2021

  • Forest Inventory May Provide Trail Guide to Ongoing Policy Crisis

    U.S. forests face damage from drought, climate-driven disease and wildfire. To help track the state of our trees, Reporter’s Toolbox explores a massive set of Forest Service databases that details everything from deforestation and dead fuel status to deforestation and species mix. There’s even info on urban forests and grasslands. A closer look at the Forest Inventory and Analysis program.

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May 12, 2021

  • Storm Surge Maps Help Envision Potential Hurricane Flood Catastrophes

    Dangerous storm surge that often follows hurricanes can be the focus of life-saving journalism. Reporter’s Toolbox helps environmental journalists get ahead of storm surge with a key resource — a powerful government database and related maps showing surge hazards. Together with real-time advisories and a better understanding of what causes storm surge, Toolbox helps you better cover this danger.

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April 28, 2021

  • Angling for Stories on Streams Suffering From Climate Change? Try Trout

    Telling the local climate change story may mean you’ll have to dip a wading-boot-clad toe into the nearest stream, virtually at least. A decline there of a bellwether species, freshwater trout, could signal climate change-driven changes in critical water temperatures. To help guide your investigation, Reporter’s Toolbox spotlights a government database that taps into a massive network of monitoring stations. 

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April 14, 2021

  • Cruising EPA’s CompTox Chemicals Dashboard

    A massive database of databases maintained by EPA tracks more than 800,000 chemicals. And while CompTox is highly technical, it’s the source for important developments that environmental journalists need to know about, among them exploring whole classes of toxic chemicals, and understanding how big data and AI is transforming their regulation. Plus, alternate sources of chemical data for your reporting needs.

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March 10, 2021

  • CAMEO Software Can Help Journalists Cover Chemical Disasters

    When a local hazmat emergency erupts, will you be ready to safely cover it? A well-proven government software suite with a series of power tools will help, and the latest Reporter’s Toolbox guides you through it so you can get ahead of the emergency. Read on to get familiar with CAMEO.

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February 24, 2021

  • Grid Data Can Guide Reporting on Power Disasters

    The power and water fiasco that followed a deep freeze in Texas was a predictable debacle and, thus, a warning signal to journalists covering disasters and climate-driven weather extremes. To help, the latest Reporter’s Toolbox provides a rundown of data sources about power grids, from local, regional and national entities, and recommends you start tracking the numbers and be prepared.

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February 10, 2021

  • Seeding Climate Stories in the Backyard Garden

    Spring may be weeks away, but gardeners are already browsing the seed catalogs, and that makes it a good time for environmental journalists to apprise them of how climate change will affect their backyard patches. Reporter’s Toolbox talks “hardiness zones” and explains why one of the usual repositories of government information may fall short. That plus, story sources to, well, cultivate.

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November 18, 2020

  • New Mapping Software Offers Unique View of Western Wildlife Migration

    Large migratory species have been traveling across the North American continent for thousands of years. But the land has been dramatically affected, altering how these big game move about. A new data mapping site for scientists can now help environmental journalists track Western wildlife herds and their health as well. The latest from Reporter’s Toolbox.

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November 4, 2020

  • Tracking Respiratory Health Risks From Wildfire Smoke

    Respiratory risks are high on the public health agenda these days amid the COVID-19 pandemic. So when Reporter’s Toolbox noticed some exemplary reporting on how West Coast wildfires were polluting the air, it took a look under the hood to see how other environmental journalists might use the same data sets for localized stories.

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SEJournal Online is the digital news magazine of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Learn more about SEJournal Online, including submission, subscription and advertising information.