Member-to-member help has always been an important part of SEJ's mission to improve environmental journalism, and that's what our mentoring program is all about.

We pair veteran environmental reporters with newcomers to the beat, or with less experienced reporters who want to improve their skills. We also accept applications from university-level students who have demonstrated an interest in environmental journalism, although our program is primarily designed to benefit "mentees" who are already working as professionals.

The program is flexible and member-driven. If our program coordinators are able to make a suitable match for you, all we ask is that you participate for at least a year and communicate with your "partner" at least four times. We also require that all participants, including students, be members of SEJ. (If you're not a member, join us.) Mentors typically critique stories and offer advice to their mentees via e-mail, telephone or in person. They also get together at special mentoring events at SEJ's annual conference.

It's easy to sign up for the mentoring program. All you have to do is fill out a brief mentee application or mentor application and then click the "submit" button at the bottom of the application. (Since this program is for members only, you'll need your SEJ member log-on to access an application; if you have trouble logging on, look here.) Please read the application carefully and answer the questions fully to help us make a suitable match. We'll pair you up as soon as possible with someone whose interests and experience fit with your own.

Questions? We'll gladly answer them. Just send us an e-mail.

Thanks for helping to build the future of environmental reporting!

The coordinators for SEJ's mentoring program are Jane Braxton Little and Dawn Stover.

Jane has written about California condors, wildland fire, deep sea exploration and other natural resource issues for over 40 national publications that include Audubon, Popular Mechanics, Wilderness, Nature Conservancy and Yes! She lives on 35 acres of forestland in the Feather River country of California's northern Sierra Nevada.

Dawn is a freelance magazine writer and editor whose main focus is science journalism. She lives and works in a log cabin on 20 acres outside White Salmon, Washington. She is an Editor-at-Large for Popular Science magazine, where she was a staffer for 19 years. Previously, she worked at Harper's and Science Digest.

The Society of Environmental Journalists
P.O. Box 2492 Jenkintown, PA 19046
Telephone: (215) 884-8174 Fax: (215) 884-8175
sej@sej.org

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