Carnegie Mellon’s Steinbrenner Institute to Showcase University’s Novel Environmental Research to National Media

May 24, 2010

Contact: Chriss Swaney
Carnegie Mellon University
412.268.5776

PITTSBURGH-Carnegie Mellon University's Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research (SEER) will host eight top journalists June 2-4 at the seventh annual Steinbrenner Institute Environmental Media Fellowship.

           
The journalists include Saqib Rahim, a reporter at ClimateWire in Washington, D.C.; James Tankersley, a reporter with The Los Angeles Times and Tribune Bureau in Washington, D.C.; Mark Schleifstein, staff writer at The Times Picayune in New Orleans; Jeffrey Johnson of Chemical & Engineering News in Washington, D.C.; Sharon Oosthoek, a freelance writer and editor for Canadian Broadcast Corp. in Toronto, Canada; Peter Henderson, bureau chief for Thomson Reuters San Francisco bureau; Sandy Bauers, a reporter with the Philadelphia Inquirer in Philadelphia; and Margaret Benner, editor of Environment Magazine in Philadelphia. 

           
"The fellowship enables leading environmental science, technology and policy journalists to broaden and deepen their knowledge of environmental issues and provides a unique opportunity for Carnegie Mellon faculty to share their research findings with, and learn from an outstanding group of professional communicators," said David A. Dzombak, faculty director for the Steinbrenner Institute and the Walter J. Blenko Sr. Professor of Environmental Engineering.

           
The journalists meet informally with researchers in labs from engineering, computer science, robotics and architecture, and in the field. Their interviews span everything from green design and geoengineering, to water quality and alternative energy issues. The journalists also will visit former brownfield sites, participate in a boat cruise—highlighting Pittsburgh's riverfront transformation—on the Riverquest Explorer, tour one of America's oldest and greenest amusement parks and meet participants of the 2010 Water Matters: Global Water Conference June 3 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Juliet Eilperin, a national environmental writer from the Washington Post and a 2006 participant in a Steinbrenner Institute and College of Engineering Media Summit, will moderate the "Water As An Economic Driver" panel at the conference. Peter Annin, head of the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources, was tapped to moderate the conference's "Water and Energy" panel.

           
"Carnegie Mellon faculty have been extremely cooperative about sharing research and broad knowledge of key environmental issues with the visiting media," said Deborah A. Lange, executive director of the Steinbrenner Institute and the Western Pennsylvania Brownfields Center. "We want the media to know that they can depend on Carnegie Mellon as a resource for a broad range of stories and expertise."

           
Working as a catalyst, the Steinbrenner Institute is charged with developing and enhancing the impact of environmental research and education at Carnegie Mellon. The educational focus includes an emphasis on helping Carnegie Mellon undergraduate students understand the complexity of environmental problems and how their personal and professional decisions can lead to a more sustainable world. Development of the ability of faculty members and graduate students to communicate the results of their research to the public is another educational goal, one of the objectives of the media fellowship.

           
The 2010 media fellowship also is supported by the College of Engineering and the Department of Media Relations.