The Metcalf Institute is delighted to announce its 25th Annual Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists.
Though they may think about climate change on a global scale, environmental shifts are happening locally, and they affect their daily lives in countless ways. News audiences need to know about the local impacts that directly impact their health and safety, quality of life, and wallets. The 2023 Annual Workshop will explore the natural, social, and engineering research guiding an equitable transition to clean energy. Fellows will dive deep into issues such as the promise and challenge of using clean energy, the Inflation Reduction Act’s opportunities and impact, community and governmental response to the clean energy transition, and more.
As climate change has become a more frequent issue of concern, newsrooms have adjusted 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, and to be a valuable resource for journalists working in a wide variety of beats. They welcome applicants who specialize in areas such as business, finance, technology, policy, politics, etc, as climate change shapes all of these fields with ever-increasing urgency.
Purpose
- The 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. Metcalf Fellows will gain a solid foundation in the fundamentals of research practice, climate science, and adaptation measures from leading researchers and policy makers.
Benefits
- The Fellows also:
- Gain a deeper understanding of how scientists conduct research and handle scientific uncertainty.
- Develop the skills and confidence to interpret and translate the language of scientific journals for news audiences
- Build confidence in their abilities to discern the credibility of scientific sources
- Discover new ways to write about energy and climate change to build audience understanding and engagement
- Cultivate new sources by interacting with leading researchers and policy experts in an informal, off-deadline atmosphere
- Network and developed lasting relationships with journalists from a wide range of media and backgrounds
- As a result of participating in the Annual Science Immersion Workshop, Fellows will:
- Be able to identify important climate change and energy 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.
Eligibility Criteria
- Metcalf Institute’s Annual Science Immersion Workshop is for full-time professional journalists who work in any medium or combination of media.
- The Annual Workshop fellowship is designed for early- and mid-career journalists looking to start or expand coverage of climate change and/or who want to deepen their understanding of the practice of research and topics relating to climate change science, impacts, adaptation, and justice.
- Applicants should aim to clearly demonstrate these specific needs in their application materials. The Metcalf Annual Workshop is designed to bolster Fellows’ understanding of the methods, norms, and culture of science to improve science-based reporting; therefore applicants do not need a science background.
- Applications are open to journalists working on general assignment, environment, climate change, health, business, finance, technology, policy, politics, and any other areas where climate change and energy may be reported as intersecting issues.
- Among the criteria considered in the selection of Metcalf Fellows are the applicant’s expressed commitment to accurate, science-based coverage of environmental topics and editorial support for this professional development and possible publication/broadcast of the applicant’s environmental reporting after the fellowship.
- Editors may also apply. Metcalf Institute’s selection process strives to maximize diversity of each Annual Workshop class with regard to race and ethnicity, gender, medium, geography, and journalism experience.
- Metcalf Institute strives to create a diverse Fellowship cohort; journalists of color are strongly encouraged to apply.
For more information, visit Metcalf Institute.
