The Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder has selected five journalists as Ted Scripps Fellows in Environmental Journalism. They will embark next fall on a two-semester program, taking classes in environmental science and policy and conducting independent research.
The 1998-99 Fellows are David Baron of National Public Radio in Boston, Mass.; Jennifer Bowles of The Associated Press in Los Angeles; Paula Dobbyn of KTOO-FM in Juneau, Alaska; Cate Gilles of the Navajo Times in Window Rock, Ariz.; and Todd Hartman of the Gazette in Colorado Springs.
The fellowships are designed to give journalists with at least five years of experience an opportunity to deepen their understanding of environmental science, policy, law and journalism. Each fellow receives a $27,000 stipend to cover housing and other expenses.
The fellowship program began at ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä-Boulder in fall 1997 under the Center for Environmental Journalism, an arm of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. It is funded by a grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation of Cincinnati.
The fellowships are attracting dedicated, respected journalists from around the country, said Len Ackland, a ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä-Boulder journalism professor and director of the fellowships program.
"Journalists by nature are eager to learn," Ackland said. "And having full-time professional journalists on campus gives our students a better sense of life in newsrooms."
The program also helps to carry out ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä's Total Learning Environment mission by being an interdisciplinary, life-long learning experience, he said.
The fellowship program was founded in 1993 by the Scripps Howard Foundation and Cindy Scripps Leising in memory of her father, Ted Scripps, grandson of the founder of The E.W. Scripps Company and a journalist who cared deeply about the environment. The E.W. Scripps Company owns the Daily Camera in Boulder and the Rocky Mountain News in Denver.
"The first year of our association with ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä-Boulder has gone extremely well," said Judith Clabes, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Foundation. "The program is top-notch and it's attracting accomplished journalists from the print and broadcast media."
The incoming fellows for the 1998-99 academic year are:
David Baron, a Boston-based science and environment reporter for National Public Radio. He was formerly with WBUR-FM in Boston and has a bachelor's degree in physics and geology from Yale University.
Jennifer Bowles, a reporter with an emphasis in environmental issues and an editor for The Associated Press in Los Angeles. She has a bachelor's degree in journalism and history from the University of Southern California.
Paula Dobbyn, a reporter at KTOO-FM, a public broadcasting station in Juneau, Alaska. She formerly worked for Monitor Radio and Television in Boston and has a bachelor's degree in political science from Hampshire College.
Cate Gilles, a freelancer and correspondent for the Navajo Times in Window Rock, Ariz., and a former reporter at the Gallup Independent in New Mexico. She has a master's degree in political science from Northern Arizona University.
Todd Hartman, an environment reporter at the Gazette in Colorado Springs and formerly a reporter for the Miami Herald. Hartman has a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Colorado at Boulder.