All featured work was produced between 2008 and 2009 as a Master’s in Specialized Journalism student at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Obscured Vision
(May 11, 2009)
In 2004 George W. Bush’s presidential administration proposed the “Vision for Space Exploration,” an ambitious plan to return Americans to the moon before sending an expedition to Mars. How did journalists cover this decision and the context in which it occurred?
Dealing with the Green New Deal
(April 16, 2009)
From late 2008 to early 2009 environmental journalists, business reporters, science writers and political correspondents alike faced a daunting challenge over how to cover the evolution of a movement that another year earlier may have seemed an issue on the fringe of the fringe. Despite excitement for a “Green New Deal” not all journalists went far enough to examine how significantly these plans would contribute to improving the environment.
Contextualizing Waxman’s Reversal on the Subway to the Sea
(March 5, 2009)
Before Congressman Henry Waxman became one of Washington’s highest powered environmental advocates, the Los Angeles Democrat spent two decades staunchly opposing federal support for a cross-town subway in the metropolis. Were journalists able to properly place his 2004 turnabout and the re-emergence of plans for the line?
Conscilience reviewed
(Nov. 11, 2008)
Informal reflections upon reading E.O. Wilson’s Conscilience while developing a specialization in environmental and science writing.
Competition and the specialized journalist’s autonomy
(Aug. 25, 2008)
A discussion of specialized journalist’s independence amid a rapidly changing media landscape.
Taking Science out of the Margins
(Aug. 18, 2008)
For journalism to succeed in the 21st century, professional journalists must shake off the idea that events and personalities exist in a vacuum. The profession must cover environmental issues specifically, and science generally, with the same seriousness, passion, curiosity and standards generally afforded to coverage of political campaigns, government institutions, economic exchanges, social dynamics and international relations.
An Unstable Discussion — the complexities of climate change impacts on human security
(May 7, 2009)
Like most discussions of the intersection of climate change science and its implications for society, the relationship between political security and climate change is complicated. This paper focuses on an evolving understanding of the way climatological factors alternately affect, contribute to and degrade the stability of specific societies.
Environment and Conflict – a murky picture
(April 27, 2009)
Examining the impact to the natural environment from the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, difficulties in assessing these impacts, and challenges for determining culpability for these impacts.
“Pay as you throw” and municipal solid waste reductions
(Dec. 4, 2008)
The typical Americaan produces 4.6 pounds of waste each day. Tremendous amounts of greenhouse gases emissions result from transportation of this waste to landfills, by processing waste, and from transporting and using goods before they are disposed of. Armed with this information, urban sustainability advocates interested in limiting cities’ contribution to climate change may be interested in encouraging so-called “Pay-as-you-throw” waste management policies.
Slugging toward sustainability
(Nov. 6, 2008)
Can cities adopt informally-developed traffic management strategies without limiting their ability to lower carbon emissions? Do they need to, or are community-based efforts and changes to social behaviors enough to sustain carbon reductions? This paper explores the topic of casual carpooling, also known as slugging or flexible carpooling, and whether or not the practice can perceptibly alter emissions levels in cities.
