New This Year! Computer Labs and Craft Workshops on the Cutting Edge For attendees to learn the skills and mindset that can keep environmental journalism — and their careers — going strong, regardless of the fortunes of mainstream news organizations, we had two well-equipped computer labs and we took full advantage of them. Some sessions provided hands-on experience with audio, video, podcasting, mapping, and turning data into stories. Other sessions covered what's happening with mobile media, search engine strategies, blogs, social media, citizen journalism, crowdsourcing, entrepreneurial media projects, and much more.

There was *much* more...

• Over 30 panel sessions on reporter's craft, coal, energy, climate, water, land, environmental health and the nation.
• Field trips: 17 outstanding field trips for Thursday and Saturday.
• Dozens of exhibitors on hand Thursday through Saturday.
• A special emphasis on serving SEJ's growing freelance community.
• Thursday Evening Independent Receptions. A favorite for our members!
• Friday luncheon and roundtable discussion on a multitude of industry topics.
• Friday Evening Beat Dinners.

Since we were in the heart of coal country, we offered attendees an unprecedented look at the problems and promise of this globally important energy source. We took a bus up to Kayford Mountain in West Virginia to get a look at one of the most dramatic examples of mountaintop removal mining anywhere. Our opening plenary addressed the status and future of big coal. A set of concurrent sessions examined all facets of coal. Finally, scheduled overflights of the region gave SEJ members a bird's eye view of the scope of the environmental damage.

For those who just couldn't get enough conference fun, we included these pre- and post- events:

• An environmental reporting bootcamp, organized by Michigan State University's Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, from Sunday eve, Oct. 12, through Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 15, and including the climate change workshop (below).
• An all-day workshop for SEJ members only on Wednesday, Oct. 15, on Covering Climate Change and Our Energy Future in Rural America, moderated by Bud Ward, and including Amory Lovins and several other experts.
• Finally, our post-conference tour this year took folks From the Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay, Sunday, Oct. 19 - Wednesday, Oct. 22.

For details on tours and the exciting, jam-packed conference schedule, see our brochure (requires free Adobe Acrobat ® reader) or the conference agenda.

About the Society of Environmental Journalists
Founded in 1990, SEJ is a unique membership organization of working journalists. SEJ's mission is to advance public understanding of environmental issues by improving the quality, accuracy and visibility of environmental news reporting. SEJ is at the center of a growing community of individuals and institutions concerned with media and the environment. SEJ supporters and its board, staff and membership of more than 1,400 journalists, educators and students are dedicated to improving and increasing news coverage of environmental issues through programs and services designed by and for journalists. We are building a stronger, better-educated, and more closely connected network of journalists and editors in print, radio, television and online media who cover environment-related issues.

SEJ programs include annual conferences, a comprehensive Web site, TipSheet, SEJournal, EJToday daily news digest, Awards for Reporting on the Environment, diversity program, conference fellowships, mentoring program and the freedom-of-information WatchDog project.

Financial support for SEJ's work is provided by foundation grants, earned income through dues and fees, media company contributions and university sponsorship of the annual conference. SEJ does not seek or accept gifts or grants from non-media corporations, government agencies or environmental groups. SEJ welcomes individual gifts to its 21st Century Endowment Fund.

Funding for SEJ's 18th Annual Conference has been provided by Virginia Tech (conference host and primary sponsor), Animal Planet and Planet Green (premier media company sponsor), The Roanoke Times, The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, Leisure Publishing (publishers of Blue Ridge Country), Radford University School of Communication, Wheeling Jesuit University, West Virginia University, The Frontier Culture Museum, and The Charleston Gazette. SEJ 2008 programs and operations are made possible by grants of general and project support from foundations and other organizations, as well as individual donors to the Society of Environmental Journalists.

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About Virginia Tech
Nestled on a plateau between the Blue Ridge and the Allegheny mountains, Virginia Tech is the state's leading research institution with a $367 million research program that ranks it among the top 10 percent in the nation. Through its mission of teaching and learning, research and discovery, and outreach and engagement, the university of nearly 30,000 students offers 60 undergraduate and 140 graduate programs throughout its eight colleges: Agriculture and Life Sciences, Architecture and Urban Studies, Business, Engineering, Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Natural Resources, Science, and Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. Virginia Tech is a leader in addressing many environmental challenges facing the world, from clean energy, air, soil and water, to sustainable forestry and farming, liveable communities, and wildlife conservation.

Deans' Forum on the Environment