By Karen Mockler
The road from the University of Colorado's Mountain Research Station up toward Niwot Ridge is an old mining road. At the turn of the century, it connected the towns of Ward and Albion. Today, it remains unpaved and full of rocks, and is traversed mainly by scientists traveling to their alpine experiments.
By late summer, the snow is gone from the road, and it remains bare for a month or two before another season's snow begins to fall. On Sept. 4 -- during this window of opportunity -- the School's Ted Scripps Fellows in Environmental Journalism made the trip up to the tundra. Led by Bill Bowman, head of the research station, and Associate Professor Tom Yulsman, deputy director of the Center for Environmental Journalism, the fellows came equipped with fleece jackets, windbreakers and, of course, notebooks.
Above treeline, experiments conducted by CU scientists awaited them, scientific attempts to answer questions connected to global warming, nitrogen pollution, water supply, questions an environmental journalist might ask as well.
Named after the late Ted Scripps, grandson of the founder of the Scripps Howard Newspapers, the program gives the journalists a year at CU to study environmental science and policy so they can cover the environment more effectively, and in turn help the public make informed decisions.
"We're providing the fellows something they rarely have in a newsroom: The chance to learn about environmental issues without deadline pressure," says CEJ Director Len Ackland.
Fellows select at least two courses each semester from a broad array of environmental science, policy and law courses. The program covers tuition and fees and also pays a $26,000 stipend for the nine-month academic year.
Five fellowships are awarded each year. To be eligible, an applicant must have a minimum of five years' full-time professional journalism experience and have completed an undergraduate degree. But prior experience in covering the environment is not required.
Christine Shenot, one of the five fellows, is a business reporter for The Orlando Sentinel. Until August, her main beat was the Walt Disney Co. This year Shenot will work on a project related to Disney's planned fourth theme park, a zoo opening next spring. She'll examine the purported conservation and education goals of the park, within the context of what other zoos have been doing in recent years, not just in terms of breeding endangered species but also support for research and habitat preservation.
The other fellows have all done environmental reporting before.
Michael Milstein is a reporter for the Billings (Mont.) Gazette, writes free-lance stories for science publications and is a former reporter for the Los Angeles Times. He has a bachelor's degree in public policy from Duke University.
Bruce Ritchie was an environmental reporter for The Gainesville Sun and has been with The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville and United Press International. He has a master's degree in mass communication from the University of Florida.
Jenni Vincent is a reporter for the Fairmont Times-West Virginian and a former local correspondent for The Associated Press and public television. She has a master's degree in environmental law studies from Vermont Law School.
Dan Whipple is a free-lance writer whose articles have appeared in publications including the Los Angeles Times and Field and Stream.
He was a reporter for the Casper, Wyo., Star-Tribune and editor of High Country News. He has written two books for National Geographic and was the editor of Northern Lights Magazine.
Besides pursuing their own research and attending classes, the fellows meet for weekly seminars. In October they went to the annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists in Tucson. And they take a number of local field trips, to such places as Rocky Mountain National Park and the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site.
