Institutes for Journalism & Natural Resources

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“Kalamazoo river institute in may, ijnr visited the beautiful and troubled kalamazoo river, site of the first-ever spill of canadian oil sands crude in the u.s. Between the 800,000 barrels of oil dumped into the river and a long history of dealing with pcbs from paper mill waste, the kalamazoo just may be america's most expensive river. The group stayed on the shores of gull lake at michigan state university's kellogg biological station and spent four days exploring all sorts of important and emerging issues. We toured experimental cash-crop fields, got briefed on clean up efforts at the epa's regional command center, and visited politically contentious superfund sites. Journalists hiked rare freshwater sand dunes where the kalamazoo meets lake michigan and an out-of-state billionaire wants to build a condo community. We coaxed both a state senator and high-ranking noaa official to be "captive" interviewees for a leisurely ride in a paddlewheel boat. And, of course, we canoed the kalamazoo. Coverage resulting from the trip appeared in outlets like the detroit free press, michigan public radio, and the tulsa world.”

“Crown of the continent institute in late june, ijnr traveled throughout western montana, traipsing across a veritable patchwork of land ownership and varied management practices to get a firsthand look at how collaboration is making a success story of the crown of the continent - and where collaborative efforts are falling short. The group learned about fire history from a peak alongside the national bison range; watched sparring parties from montana fish and wildlife, the confederated salish and kootenai tribes, and usgs duke it out over lake trout management in flathead lake; and strolled through grizzly habitat learning about the montana legacy project, one of the largest conservation land deals in the nation. Journalists learned about the intersection of traditional knowledge and western science at the native science field center on the blackfeet reservation, and hiked through the badger-two medicine, an area that is sacred to the blackfeet, is a critical conservation corridor, and is currently under consideration for oil and gas exploration. And, the group spent a full day in glacier national park, learning about climate science from the world's leading experts. Participating journalists have since produced stories for outlets such as rolling stone, high country news, aspen public radio, the helena independent record, the bozeman chronicle, boise state public radio, northwest news network, and others.”

“Mining country institute ijnr capped off 2013 by taking a look at a reemerging industry that's seemingly as old as the hills. Mining built the communities in michigan's upper peninsula. Today, new mine proposals have reenergized local officials, who dream of the economic booms of the past and concerned citizens who worried about the environmental impacts. Toward the end of august, journalists from the midwest, west coast and canada made their way to marquette, michigan for a five-day tour of mining country. The group descended into the earth to see what a state-of-the-art nickel mine looks like, then toured a turn-of-the-century "open-pit" iron mine that spanned a mile wide, a mile across and 1,200 feet deep. Journalists got up to speed on an emerging story, the proposed open pit mine in northern wisconsin's penokee hills, visiting a protest camp near the mine site, talking to homeowners concerned about the headwaters of a major river, and touring the sacred wild rice beds that ojibwe tribal members worry would be destroyed by mine waste. Of course, this being an ijnr trip, the group branched out to other subjects, discussing michigan's struggle to set fracking standards in place before the industry booms and going out howling for wolves with state wildlife managers. Stories emanating from the institute have since appeared in publications from outside magazine, to wisconsin public radio to environmental health news.”