Sessions

Climate & Mental Health

Thursday, January 23, 2025 (12:00-1:30pm)

Zoom link: https://uri-edu.zoom.us/j/91717426365?pwd=nX1bcEOlCInxqa8tauhba9EFcCLAZ6.1

In our introductory session, newsrooms will meet each other and begin to explore the role of emotions in climate storytelling. Led by Rebecca Weston, Co-President of the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America and Yessenia Funes, Editor-at-Large of Atmos Magazine, this training will introduce the ways in which climate change can generate stress, burn-out, news avoidance, or the appearance of apathy. Participants will explore how emotions around climate change manifest in our audiences, our sources, and ourselves as journalists, and consider ways to use this emotional understanding as a tool to improve our climate reporting and foster better connections with our readers.

Science Translation: Reading and Reporting on Academic Research

Thursday, January 30, 2025 (12:00-1:30pm)

Zoom link: https://uri-edu.zoom.us/j/91958445307?pwd=qTzUkyjqIXk0mhutROFOZ3OzPkSNnT.1

In this session, journalists and scientists will work together to explore the structure and key components of scientific papers, develop techniques for efficiently understanding their significance, and discuss how to transform complex research into compelling news stories. Participants will spend most of the time in small breakout rooms with 2-4 journalists and one scientist working in the region. After the session, participants should feel comfortable with what to do if academic research comes across their desk and how to best approach a scientist for an interview about their work.

The scientists joining the training are listed below:

Robinson (Wally) Fulweiler is an ecosystems ecologist and biogeochemist at Boston University, whose research is focused on answering fundamental questions about energy flow and biogeochemical cycling of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and silica), carbon, and oxygen in a variety of environments. She is especially interested in how anthropogenic changes affect the ecology and elemental cycling of ecosystems on a variety of scales (i.e., local nutrient loading; regional/global climate change). Current research is centered on the transformations and the ultimate fate of nitrogen in the marine environment and the impact of climate change on benthic-pelagic coupling. Dr. Fulweiler maintains the Coastal Ecology & Biogeochemistry Lab and has a joint appointment with the Department of Biology.

Rainer Lohmann is a Professor of Oceanography at University of Rhode Island, whose main research interests combine marine organic geochemistry and environmental chemistry. On the molecular scale, his research focuses on the transport and fate of recalcitrant organic compounds, such as persistent organic pollutants. Since 2017, Dr. Lohmann has led a Superfund Research Center at URI, one among ~ 20 nationwide. It is a 5-year effort in collaboration with scientists from Harvard University and the Silent Spring Institute. The “STEEP” Center focuses on the Sources, Transport, Exposure and Effects of PFASs – poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances (https://web.uri.edu/steep/). Within STEEP, he leads my own research project into novel detection tools for PFASs. Beyond STEEP, Dr. Lohmann also studies the transport and bioavailability of legacy organic contaminants, such as PCBs or dioxins, either close to home at Superfund sites or in remote regions, often relying on passive sampling.

Alyssa Novak is a coastal ecologist at Boston University engaged in basic and applied research into the structure, function and resilience of coastal systems. She has worked extensively in seagrass ecosystems studying anthropogenic and climate change impacts, stress responses, and carbon sequestration as well as designing and implementing restorations and monitoring programs. Her research also extends into saltmarsh ecosystems where she studies how marsh functionality and long-term resilience will be affected by sea-level rise. Dr. Novak primarily works in the Great Marsh as well as Cape Cod and the Islands of Massachusetts.

Sonia Refulio-Coronado is a PhD candidate at University of Rhode Island in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics with an academic foundation in Biology and a Major in Zoology from Peru. Her research focuses on the influence of water quality on coastal recreation in the Northeast and includes the study the impact of bacteria pollution on beach visitation in Narragansett Bay. Sonia demonstrates a commitment to addressing environmental challenges in her work by incorporating environmental justice considerations. Her multifaceted background and experiences uniquely position her as an Emerging Coastal Leader who fosters collaboration among diverse stakeholders, including government institutions, non-governmental organizations, and scholars.

David Smith is a Professor of Oceanography at University of Rhode Island, whose research focuses on marine microbial ecology. He is interested in several coastal issues including microbial degradation of organic pollutants, microbial water quality, and ballast water treatment.

Erica Walker is the RGSS Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health. Her research focuses on environmental exposure assessments, environmental exposure modeling, community surveying, and community engagement. Dr. Walker leads the Community Noise Lab, which explores the relationship between community noise and health through real-time monitoring, exposure modeling, the NoiseScore smartphone app, community noise surveying, laboratory-based experiments, and community engagement activities. Currently, her work centers on her home state of Mississippi, where she serves as the Principal Investigator of the Mississippi Adolescent Environmental Health Study (MAEHS), a longitudinal study examining the impacts of air, noise, water, soil, and visual pollution on children’s health and well-being. Topics of interest in her research include exposures related to illegal dumping, wood pellet manufacturing, and poor water quality.

Attribution Science: Making the Climate Link

Thursday, February 6, 2025 (12:00-1:30pm)

Zoom link: https://uri-edu.zoom.us/j/95540382715?pwd=I49R6HQp1QHixmaidedebKmKonnSiG.1

As extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, journalists often struggle with how to incorporate climate change into their coverage and may opt to exclude it entirely. Journalists are right to be careful: climate change often influences extreme weather events, but is rarely the sole cause. In this session, participants will learn about attribution science — a tool that can determine the degree to which climate change influenced an event, and sometimes even quickly enough to include in breaking news coverage. Speakers Kristina Dahl, Vice President for Science at Climate Central and Jennifer Brady, Senior Data Analyst and Research Manager at Climate Central will introduce how this new field of science came to be, practical examples for using attribution science in a story, and resources from Climate Central that can help implement attribution science into practice. After this session, participants should feel confident making the climate connection in their extreme weather stories in a way that is scientifically precise and their audiences can trust.

Scientific Uncertainty: What We Know and What We Don't Know

Thursday, February 13, 2025 (12:00-1:30pm)

Zoom link: https://uri-edu.zoom.us/j/91777250132?pwd=XZ3fNn06o8atdDnBeLYWdTCMPaD491.1

Scientific uncertainty is not about doubt — it’s about precision. It reflects the careful process scientists use to quantify what they know and the limits of that knowledge. For journalists, however, uncertainty can be difficult to navigate, leading to challenges in accurately interpreting and communicating research findings. Approaching uncertainty accurately in climate reporting can lead readers to better understand the scientific process and trust the science even more; approaching it incorrectly can leave readers with misconceptions that scientists are unsure about their findings. In this session, Jaime Palter, Associate Professor of Oceanography at University of Rhode Island, and Ambarish Karmalkar, Assistant Professor of Geosciences at University of Rhode Island, will explore how uncertainty is built into the scientific process — from framing questions to analyzing data — and why it strengthens scientific conclusions. Participants will engage in discussions and activities to explore how misunderstandings about uncertainty can lead to pitfalls in climate journalism, and what strategies journalists can use to better communicate uncertainty in their climate stories. The session concludes with guest speaker Michael Oppenheimer, Director of the Center for Policy Research on Energy and Environment at Princeton University and long-time participant in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, who will discuss scientific ambiguity. After this session, participants will have a better understanding of how to avoid miscommunications with scientists, accurately report on scientific research findings, and build trust with their readers.

Inclusive Science Communication

Thursday, February 20, 2025 (12:00-1:30pm)

Zoom link: https://uri-edu.zoom.us/j/94096028453?pwd=IX1xSRccoz8aXLoOJ1KkftMKjxJQEV.1

Effective science communication is about more than sharing information — it’s about ensuring that all voices are heard and valued. This session will introduce participants to the principles of inclusive science communication, a core pillar of Metcalf's work, emphasizing the role of equity, intentionality, and reflexivity in creating stories that resonate with diverse audiences. Participants will explore strategies for engaging underrepresented voices, addressing historical inequities in science, and building trust with communities often overlooked in climate and environmental reporting. Trainers TBD. The session concludes with guest speaker Camille Padilla Dalmau, Co-Founder of 9 Millones in Puerto Rico, who will share her innovative approach to community engagement as a journalist, which focuses on creating spaces of listening, mutual understanding and integrating communities in the storytelling process. After this session, participants will have new strategies to center equity and understand the needs of their communities in service of impactful and accountable climate reporting.

Solutions Journalism

Thursday, February 27, 2025 (12:00-1:30pm)

Zoom link: https://uri-edu.zoom.us/j/98512836911?pwd=bvXbKJUbqRJmfIanKm4PknTdkg2i3o.1

Climate progress is a fast-moving train: the U.S. electric grid is ~40% decarbonized and U.S. carbon emissions have fallen ~20% since 2005 levels. As climate journalists, these stories demand our attention too. Solutions journalism stories are not fluff pieces, but rather rigorous and compelling reporting about responses to social problems. They examine what works, what doesn't work, what evidence we have, what limitations of solutions are, what we can learn from solutions, and why solutions matters to audiences.  In this session, Ethan Brown, Journalism Program Consultant at Metcalf Institute and a certified Solutions Journalism Network trainer will walk participants through the four pillars of solutions journalism, and how and why to incorporate it into their newsrooms. Studies show readers both prefer and trust solutions stories over problem stories, and anyone from climate doomers to climate deniers can be brought back into the conversation through careful solutions journalism. The session concludes with guest speaker Soni Pradhanang, Professor of Geosciences at University of Rhode Island, who will share her work on nature-based solutions, including a new grant project funded by the National Science Foundation. After this session, participants will understand the value of solutions journalism, some examples of science-based solutions, and how to integrate solutions into their regular reporting.