CEJ Faculty & Staff
Len
Ackland is co-director of the Center for Environmental Journalism
and an associate professor at the University of Colorado. He worked
for more than 20 years as a full-time journalist, including reporting
jobs at the Des Moines Register and the Chicago Tribune.
He was editor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists magazine
before joining the University of Colorado faculty as an associate professor
in 1991. Among his journalism honors are the George Polk Award and the
National Magazine Award. His book, Making a Real Killing: Rocky
Flats and the Nuclear West, was published in paperback by the University
of New Mexico Press in 2002. He can be reached at Len.Ackland@colorado.edu.
Tom Yulsman is co-director of the Center for Environmental Journalism, an associate professor at the University of Colorado, and a faculty member in CU's Environmental Studies Program. He keeps a career as a science writer going by covering the Earth and environmental sciences, astronomy and astrophysics for magazines and newspapers. His book, Origins: The Quest for our Cosmic Roots, was published in 2003. Before joining CU in 1996, Yulsman was editor-in-chief of Earth magazine. His work has appeared in a wide variety of publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Denver Post, Discover, Audubon, and Astronomy. He can be reached at Tom.Yulsman@colorado.edu.
Deserai Crow is Associate Director of the Center for Environmental Journalism and affiliated with the Center for Science & Technology Policy Research. She joined the CU faculty in Journalism and Mass Communication in 2008, and moved to the Environmental Studies program in 2012. She teaches courses related to environmental policy and media/information in environmental issues. Crow earned her PhD from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences and a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Colorado at Denver’s School of Public Affairs. Her research interests include local environmental policy processes and the role that information (mediated, interpersonal & scientific) play in those processes. She is particularly interested in environmental issues in the western United States. Previous research focuses on the adoption of non-consumptive recreational water rights by Colorado communities and the factors that influenced policy change within these communities. She is currently working on projects that focus on local media coverage of environmental issues, information in local policy decisions, and policy processes within government agencies. After earning her B.S. in Journalism from the University of Colorado Boulder, she worked as a broadcast reporter and producer, developing an interest in media influences and practices, especially as they relate to environmental issues.
Nancy Hennessey joined the CEJ as the administrative assistant in January 2012. Before arriving at CU, she worked at three other state universities, an ivory tower (The Institute for Advanced Study), a social-policy research organization (Mathematica Policy Research), and a series of public elementary, middle, and high schools. She has a B.A. in Anthropology, a love of travel, and a penchant for working with researchers, policymakers, and students of all ages.
Breanna Draxler is the current graduate assistant at the Center for Environmental Journalism and is pursuing an MA in environmental journalism at CU. She has published works in New West as well as other local publications. Draxler graduated summa cum laude from Gustavus Adolphus College in 2009 with a BA in Environmental Studies and French. She has worked with numerous environmental organizations in her home state of Wisconsin, and her interest in environmental journalism arose from a communications internship with a non-profit environmental organization in Madagascar. Before coming to Boulder, Draxler taught English in France, and she hopes to maintain this international aspect in her future journalistic endeavors.