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| Volume 46, Number 2, Fall 1998 |
Writers looking to study the basics of marine and environmental issues may want to take advantage of a new workshop offered next May at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography.
Funded with donations from several news organizations and private foundations, the new Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting is launching the first of what it expects will be annual, four-day workshops for journalists interested in learning about the culture and principles of science. Journalists also will be able to pick up background on the latest marine issues in the news.
About 15 journalists will be invited to the inaugural sessions and given a chance to work with scientists in the field and in laboratories, attend lectures and debates, learn some on-line skills and socialize with leading oceanographers and researchers. The first sessions will focus on coastal pollution, the crisis with New England fisheries, beach erosion and the effects of weather and climate change on coastal areas.
The only costs to journalists will be a modest registration fee and their travel expenses.
The new institute was created to honor Michael P. Metcalf, the late publisher of the Providence Journal, who had a deep interest in environmental issues. It is funded by donations from the A. H. Belo Corp., the Providence Journal Foundation, the Telaka Foundation, and the Philip Graham Fund.
While the May symposium is the first offering of the new institute, the directors also are looking into improving communications between journalists and scientists through other means, such as special seminars and new web services.
For workshop applications and more information about the institute, contact Jackleen de La Harpe at 401-874-6211; e-mail jack@gso.uri.edu. The institute’s website can be found at www.gso.uri.edu/metcalf.