Call for Metcalf Institute Annual Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists 2024 is open!!!
Water Under Pressure: How water systems are changing and being challenged by global climate change
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 (AWJ) is designed to address this gap, and to be a valuable resource for journalists working in a wide variety of beats. It’s the 26th anniversary of this immersive program, and this year will have a special focus on water issues and climate change. Fellows will dive deep into issues such as water quality, plastics and public health, and ecosystem restoration, all through a social justice lens.
Metcalf Institute’s AWJ is for full-time journalists working in any medium who want learn more about research and topics relating to climate change science, impacts, adaptation, and justice. It’s designed to bolster the understanding of the methods, norms, and culture of science, with hands-on activities, field trips, and opportunities to develop relationships with scientific experts and with the other fellows! They welcome journalists of all beats, such as arts & culture, business, technology, policy, and politics, as climate change shapes all of these fields with ever-increasing urgency.
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.
The 2023 Workshop will be conducted in person at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, RI. on June 3-8, with supplementary asynchronous preparation. Applications are due by February 12, 2024 by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Location:
United StatesBenefits
- The Fellows will:
- 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.
- Thanks to Metcalf Institute’s endowment and the generosity of private donors, the fellowships include full tuition.
- Fellows must pay all travel expenses up front and will receive travel reimbursement ($500 max within continental U.S., $1000 max outside of continental U.S.).
- Lodging, meals and ground transportation during the in-person workshop are covered by Metcalf Institute.
Eligibilities
- 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, mitigation, 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, ability, sexual orientation, medium, geography, and journalism experience.
- Metcalf Institute strives to create a diverse Fellowship cohort; journalists of color are strongly encouraged to apply.
- Important considerations for applicants:
- The Metcalf Annual Workshop focuses on the science and policies underlying globally significant issues from a U.S. perspective. Metcalf Institute receives applications from journalists worldwide but journalists must be reporting for audiences in the United States and U.S. territories.
Application Process
- The Metcalf fellowship application package has three required parts:
- The 2024 fellowship application form,
- A resume
- Two professional references.
- Applications are submitted electronically. All application forms, resumes and references must be submitted in English; application packages in languages other than English will not be reviewed.
- Metcalf Institute strives to create a diverse Fellowship cohort; journalists of color, as well as those who are LGBTQIA+ and/or are disabled, are strongly encouraged to apply.
- The deadline for all materials is Monday, February 12, 2024, 5 p.m. U.S. Eastern Standard Time.
- Applications are submitted via Google Forms, which will not save the applicant’s work as they write. Applicants are strongly encouraged to view the application and create answers separately in order to complete the application in a single online session.
- The application requires that the applicant selects samples of their reporting that have been published or aired by a news outlet within the past 24 months. The original date and venue of publication or broadcast must be easily identifiable.
- The applicant may choose samples from different media and/or outlets. All samples must be in English or an English translation must be provided as part of the application package.
- Links to work samples must be fully functional and the samples must be accessible without a paywall.
- The applicant may submit work samples as web links or as a PDF file.
- Applicants will be able to upload their resumes as part of the application form. The resume should list all positions the applicant has held as a professional journalist, including freelance work.
- The application form is not considered complete without a resume.
- Any issues with completing or submitting the application form or work samples should be reported to [email protected] immediately and sufficiently prior to the deadline.
- Applicants must direct the authors of two professional references to the 2024 Metcalf fellowship Reference Form.
- These two people should be able to evaluate the potential impacts of the Metcalf fellowship on the applicant’s work and their news audience(s). One reference form must be completed by the applicant’s current immediate supervisor or, for freelancers, an editor who has most recently worked with them.
- The applicant’s professional references must be completed by Monday, February 12, 2024, 5 p.m. U.S. Eastern, for the application to be considered for a fellowship.
- All application materials, including references, must be received by Monday, February 12, 2024, 5 p.m. U.S. Eastern for consideration.
Application Deadline: February 12, 2024
Application ClosedOfficial link
