Reflections on SEJ 2026.

A view from the gulf between academics and practice.

Over the years, the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual conference has proven a welcoming space for this academic, even though it’s primarily a professional-oriented gathering.

I always find it interesting to see the differences between an academic conference and a professional one. For one, the professional conference is far more fun. People are more welcoming. There are no excursions to see California condors or wastewater treatment plants at academic conferences. Perhaps most shockingly, artificial intelligence was not mentioned even one time at the panels I attended at SEJ this year. Right now, academic conferences are practically consumed by AI discourse – for better or worse.

The purpose of the SEJ conference is to provide a support system for environmental journalists, in particular through community-building. Many environmental journalists are freelancers. Even those on staff at a news organization are likely to be the only environmental or climate beat reporter; a few major news organizations have teams, but those are certainly outliers.

Environmental journalists can be independent reporters running their own Substack; they can be book authors and podcasters; they can be freelancers shopping their work to any number of publications as different in their practices as the New York Times is to the New Republic. And while journalists of any ilk can also be these things, environmental journalists are more likely than most to be working in some kind of alternative or contingent way simply because most news organizations don’t invest much in covering the environment.

This makes environmental journalists a diverse coalition when it comes to professional identity and practices.

For academics like myself, I think it’s a good idea to spend time with journalists of all these different orientations. Journalism professors, especially those who are more research-focused like myself, have a tendency to view journalism solely through the lens of major news organizations. But journalism as an institution is far more diverse than that.

There are many pathways to a career covering the environment. Some are easier than others. But the diverse array of participants at SEJ each year reminds me that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to a life as an environmental journalist. And that’s a reality check that this academic appreciates.