Will Sage Astor-ICN Expands Summer Journalism Institute for Teens

Contact: Katina Paron,Will Sage Astor Institute for Environmental Journalism

InsideClimate News is expanding its summer Institute for Environmental Journalism in 2019 to include a boarding course in Bar Harbor, Maine, along with its day program in New York City.

Both feature rigorous hands-on coursework for students entering 10th through 12th grade in the fall of 2019, as well as graduating high school seniors. The program serves students who are looking for an introduction to environmental journalism and those who want to practice their skills and deepen their knowledge with one-to-one mentoring from professional journalists. Need-based financial aid is available by applying to the institute’s Hollywood Foreign Press Association Scholarship Fund.  

Each session offers an immersive two weeks of environmental journalism, including training, mentoring and workshops for reporting and writing news stories. In 2018, mentors came from NPR, BBC, ICN and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Last summer, the work of two participants was broadcast nationally on NPR, one student’s writing was published online at Maine Public Radio, and a photo taken on a reporting assignment was a finalist for a New York Times photojournalism contest. 

Coastal Maine, July 1-12: The Institute’s 2019 early session will be held at the College of the Atlantic near Acadia National Park. Participants will live in dormitories on campus as they use Maine’s coastal diversity as their beat and some of the best environmental scientists as their sources. Outside of class, group opportunities will be available for Acadia hiking, stargazing and visiting Bar Harbor, as well as research and relaxing on the coastal campus.

New York City, July 15-26: The Institute moves to Manhattan for its later session, offering teens an urban environment with workshops hosted at The New School in Union Square. The day program runs Monday-Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Participants will explore New York with the class and gain experience in field reporting on environmental justice, climate change and renewable energy. This is a day program and does not include boarding.   

Students who apply before Feb. 15 will receive a $200 discount on tuition. Applications and financial aid forms can be found online. No prior journalism experience required.

Come explore the nation’s most pressing environmental concerns with ICN! Learn more about the Institute for Environmental Journalism here.

About InsideClimate News:  InsideClimate News is a Pulitzer Prize-winning non-profit, non-partisan news organization that provides essential reporting and analysis on climate, energy and the environment for the public and decision makers. We serve as watchdogs of government, industry and advocacy groups and hold them accountable for their policies and actions. Already one of the largest environment newsrooms in the country, ICN is committed to establishing a permanent national reporting network, to training the next generation of journalists, and to strengthening the practice of environmental journalism.