Joan Meiners 🐝🚴♀️
@beecycles
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Climate reporter @azcentral 🌵 • Ph.D. @UFSNRE • Past lives: 🐝 scientist, 🚲 racer • Past words: @DiscoverMag , @ProPublica , @Orion_Magazine , @NatGeo , more
Phoenix, AZ
Joined September 2013
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Pinned Tweet
NEW: Arizona wants you to think it's the hub of the
#cleanenergy
transition. But in rural Mohave County, leaders voted to ban solar, then to allow a gas-fired peaker plant near retiree homes.
Buckle up for my
#longread
about the residents fighting back:
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I just got an email from my 8th grade biology teacher congratulating me on my PhD. She helped me do a science fair project on the antioxidant content of honey that made me believe I could be a scientist when I grew up. Mentorship, and representation, really does matter. 🥰 🐝
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15K
People who do
#science
in a 2nd language are just so, so amazing.
I feel like we don’t say that enough.
#STEM
#diversity
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Hi.
I’ve been offline. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend. I’ve seen a lot of bee tattoos gone wrong, but didn’t know the context behind this one. I’m glad to know now. It was a mistake, and I apologize.
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I’m sorry if this is unpatriotic, but fireworks are idiotic.
—they pollute
—they (re)traumatize soldiers/pets
—they start wildfires
—every year someone blows a limb off
—more reasons???
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I had 3 doctors suggest I rethink my plans to do PhD after I suffered a
#traumatic
brain injury in 2015. I’ve since publ. 3 sci papers, 25 articles, won 2 fellowships & will graduate in the spring. It’s been excruciating, but I never would have forgiven myself if I had given up.
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I'm walking out on my job with a
@Gannett
newspaper for 24 hours because I shouldn't have to dog sit for extra cash with a skilled FT job that I love and crush. The importance of our work in
#localnews
cannot be overstated. We should be paid and treated better.
#Gannettwalkout
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Today is my first day as the new
#Climate
Reporter for The Arizona Republic/
@azcentral
/
@azcenvironment
!
Tell me: Who should I know? What should I read? Who should I talk to? What AZ climate-related topics do you want explained or looked into?
👉🏻 Joan.meiners
@arizonarepublic
.com
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#THREAD
The Tale of the
#Manchester
bee, as told to me by angry Mancunians.🐝💜
TL;DR- I made a mistake & grabbed the wrong image for what I thought was just a science joke. It upset folks in Manchester, UK. Many called me names but many others educated me. Here are their words:
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Today it’s been 10 years since
#DeepwaterHorizon
spilled 130 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 long days, killing marine mammals, sea turtles birds & other
#wildlife
. Have these species recovered? Find out in my story for
@NatGeo
.
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🚨 Some Personal News: 🚨
I’m GOING, GOING back to UTAH, UTAH!
Hey everyone! I’m excited to announce that I’ve been selected as
@report4america
corps member & will be reporting on water 💧 issues & growth in southern Utah this next year for
@SpectrumNews
.
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When Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in 2005, it unleashed more than misery. 540 oil leaks were sprung, and 14 years later, no one has been held accountable for the environmental damage they did. My latest for
@propublica
&
@NOLAnews
.
#oilandgas
#pollution
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It’s really so heartbreaking to be a climate reporter. You pour your whole self into trying to write something beautiful and compelling about something terribly sad in hopes it might make people care, only to read the comments and feel they never will, no matter how bad it gets.
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It’s Nov. 12 and we’ve got water shortages and heat deaths on the
@azcentral
front page. And I’m still getting emails telling me everything is fine and kids these days just need to suck it up.
My story on using energy data to locate indoor heat risk here:
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When I first learned of a spray for dust that might be killing trees & raising western
#wildfire
risk, I had no idea it would lead to 14 mo. of delicate reporting in a tiny Utah town or that my story would become part of
@wpmagazine
's issue on news deserts
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I literally just got out of the wilderness and found out about all of this. If I could take it back I would.
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New research has calculated that a heat wave + blackout would send 50% of Phoenix to the ER and 1% to the grave.
(Didn’t get the advance tip on this but still turned it in a day and this story actually has the right numbers. *Support
#localjournalism
.*)
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In my first for
@NatGeo
, I wrote about the ongoing harm to wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico ten years after the
#DeepwaterHorizon
#oil
spill. The
#anniversary
of the 130-million-gallon spill is Monday.
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The
@azcentral
store at the Phoenix airport doesn’t have paper copies of Arizona’s largest state newspaper, produced by
@azcentral
.
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I just met Jane Goodall!! My life is now complete.
I asked her why so many older people are so resistant to the idea that change is possible when they’re the ones who have seen the most of it (good and bad). She said to just keep telling the stories of positive progress. 🥰
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Today:
- Wake up
- Read about Kabul
- Write about dying trees
- Editor asks if I want to cover health advisory cause wildfire smoke
- Listen to radio story on gun violence while making lunch at home cause pandemic
- Press conf on Colo River cuts cause drought
- Beer, cause w.t.f.
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Last night we said goodbye to The Times-Picayune. On Monday we turn in our equipment. I will always love this paper & its people for believing in me as I made the transition into journalism. That newsroom was packed beyond capacity with big hearts & fearless leaders. ❤️📰
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First day as (adjunct) Professor Joan! I’m going for a college-appropriate Mrs. Frizzle-type vibe with my shark tooth earrings and bird shirt. Decided to save the fungi dress for finals week.
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Front page of Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate today!
@NOLAnews
@theadvocateno
With photo by
@TedJacksonPhoto
!
I am grateful for help from 2 fantastic editors
@charlesornstein
&
@GordonRussell1
& best colleague anyone could ask for,
@MSchleifstein
.
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While I intend to (somehow) finish 2019 w/ ProPublica LRN, it seems the newsroom I nested in just vaporized.
So, I’m looking to broaden my
#journalism
contacts.
I write on science & environment
& I got mad
#data
skillz 👈
Avail 1/2020. DMs open to ideas.
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Coming from science, it still baffles me when national reporters rip off
#localjournalists
' stories and fail to give credit. It costs nothing to mention and/or link to local work. When I used stories from the
@MohaveDailyNews
in my research, I named the paper and included links.
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Headed to
#ESA2018
? Check out my 'Guide to New Orleans for Ecologists' to make sure you have the full
#NOLA
experience while attending the conference.
Please RT & see you all next week!
@NOLAnews
@AAASMassMedia
@aaas
@ESA_org
@esa_students
@ESAEcology
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🚨 Enviro journos w/ project ideas! Apply for
@MIT
's Enviro Solutions Fellowship (
@mit_esi
,
@ClimateMIT
). My experience last year was great.
You get $10k cause you're awesome + $5k for your project + support from smart people for needed work.
Due Apr 28:
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Hello I’m an
#environmental
investigative reporter and today my office was cloudier than normal. ✈️
#TFW
your job is the coolest.
@NOLAnews
@ProPublica
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I just realized that today is the 5th anniversary of the bike crash that gave me a traumatic brain injury and changed a lot in my life. I like to celebrate this day to recognize how much worse it could have been. I’m grateful to still be able to move and work. Be safe out there!
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Energized (yes yup yeah) to have been selected for
@ColumbiaUEnergy
’s 2024 Energy Journalism Fellowship — can’t wait to meet & learn from this group of journalists & experts in NYC next month!
If you’re based in NYC & want to grab coffee while I’m in town June 10-14, pls DM me!
Joan Meiners (
@beecycles
) is the climate news and storytelling reporter at
@azcentral
, covering climate accountability, environmental investigations, and news analyses.
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Very excited to announce that I’ve been selected as a 2023 fellow with
@mit_esi
and am looking forward to working with them on a project I believe will help secure a more sustainable and equitable future for Arizona. That’s all I can share at the moment, but stay tuned for more!!
We are pleased to announce our 2023 ESI Journalism Fellows! We look forward to supporting these 5 outstanding reporters as they produce long-form
#climatejournalism
for local newsrooms from New England to the Southwest.
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My first article for
@SmithsonianMag
just went live! Featuring penguins, Antarctica & the awe-inspiring
#science
of
@drmichellelarue
,
@IlesDT
& more.
@MOOAntarctica
@AntarcticReport
@WHOI
The Complicated Calculus of Counting Emperor Penguins
@jaywbennett
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Today I get to see my 8th grade biology teacher, who made me think I could be a scientist, for first time in almost 20 years! Life is crazy. Also crazy — my parents still had my science fair board. Middle-school me wrote that my conclusions made sense because “think about it.” 😆
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When you go through your childhood room at your parent’s house and remember the moment you became a scientist.
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I literally have been in the wilderness. I didn’t like any tweets. I just found out about all this.
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I left academia for journalism bc I believe in the power and importance of
#localnews
. If only
@Gannett
believed in us enough to extend us the dignity of secure jobs & a living wage. I stand in solidarity w/ colleagues
@azrepublicguild
& beyond.
#LocalNewsLunchOut
#FairPayGannett
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My big news: I’m headed back to
@NOLAnews
as part of
@ProPublica
’s 2019 Local Reporting Network!
I have many truly wonderful people to thank for this opportunity:
@cynthiabarnett
@MSchleifstein
@1manueltorres
@MarkLorando
@carolynpfox
@AAASMassMedia
@SaraSneath
@tristanbaurick
We just announced our new Local Reporting Network partners for next year. Thrilled to be working with
@MsOtwell
@JMitchellNews
@beecycles
@wendi_c_thomas
@ConnorASheets
@kylehopkinsAK
@LynnArditi
in 2019!!
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I finished my PhD 2.5 years ago but, due to how incredibly toxic my last year & exit from
#academia
was, I never even bothered to order copies of my dissertation. I wanted nothing to do with any of it anymore. Well. I’ve recovered. And my masterpiece just arrived in the mail.
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I just found out I won the Southwest Science Writers Assoc.’s award for best long form
#sciencewriting
of 2020! I was in the wilderness pondering the
#environment
when they announced it at the online awards ceremony, of course. (Sorry!) But I’m very honored & excited.
#scicomm
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I'm incredibly excited to announce that I will be working w/ the Pulitzer-winning Coastal Reporting Team at | The Times-Picayune this summer as a
@AAASMassMedia
Fellow. RT & Follow for story links!
@NOLAnews
@UF
@UFSNRE
@UFWildlife
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The enviro reporting team
@azcentral
is truly, as our editor
@shaunmckinnon
writes, “one of the largest commitments to
#environmentaljournalism
you'll find in a (local) newsroom.” We’re honored to do this work and we now have a newsletter where you can keep up with it! Sign up!👇🏼
Our new AZclimate newsletter is finally here! You can sign up to get weekly updates on all the amazing work that this team does.
@brandonloomis
@beecycles
@Debkrol
@ClaraMigoya
via
@azcentral
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Today I’m at the top of A1 (and yesterday I was on A2) in the biggest newspaper in the 5th biggest city in America, which also happens to be the place I was born but haven’t lived in for decades. Never expected to be here. It’s very strange & kinda cool how life works sometimes.
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With worsening heat + a growing housing deficit,
#Arizona
faces a dual
#HousingCrisis
&
#ClimateCrisis
.
I dug into the data, people and solutions at the intersection of these problems, w/ support from
@mit_esi
&
@JuliaArinCooper
.
Read the series & 🧵:
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I was born in
#Phoenix
. And now I return to write a weekly story about how
#climatechange
has altered what it means to live here. Here's our first in this series. I hope you like it & I look forward to telling your stories too.
@azcentral
@azcenvironment
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All over the Sunday front page of The Arizona Republic |
@azcentral
— My deep dive into the ways Arizona’s housing and climate crises are colliding to produce lethal, unsustainable and inequitable impacts. Thanks again to
@mit_esi
for supporting this work.
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I’m on strike today & tomorrow, along with many other journalists with the
@USATODAY
network across the country, because
@Gannett
won’t give us what we need to sustainably do this job for our communities. If you’d like to pitch in to the GoFundMe to offset lost wages, see below:
THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC GUILD IS WALKING OFF THE JOB 🧵
It's very simple, what
@Gannett
is offering us would leave some members with LESS money in their paychecks each week, and that is unacceptable. We've started a GoFundMe to help support our journalists
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Omg a 7th grader just emailed me that she "would like to use some of your data" (mentioned in one of my stories) and "would it be possible to get those references?"
That, my friends, is hope for the future.
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This is really ✨EXCITING!✨And a really BIG DEAL!! I’m proud of our
@azrepublicguild
union 💪 and grateful to my former & current colleagues who were in this fight over the long haul (FOUR YEARS)!! Hopefully this progress will ripple far & wide across the journalism world. 💜
After four long years, we have a tentative agreement. Despite cuts across
@Gannett
newsrooms, our
@azrepublicguild
won a contract that raises wages for everybody and preserves medical and retirement benefits.
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I’ve had my heart broken before.
By a boy,
By a grad adviser,
By the electoral college.
But this time it just feels like the whole world is broken. What will we do when there is no more local news? Who will watch over the people and the places where we live?
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why I’m struggling to pick myself up right now:
2015: best bike race season til crash =traumatic brain injury
2016: still in recovery, finish M.S.
2017: breakup
2018: PhD adviser makes my life miserable
2019: finish PhD, get dream job, dream job vanishes
So, I need a minute, k?
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Just in case you were wondering, “The Swamp,” in real life, is actually an incredibly beautiful thing.
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Another day in the life of a (female) climate reporter!
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Thank you for sharing your story, Manchester. Again, I'm sorry to have caused you more pain.
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Pleased to be among the grantees. Thank you to
@sejorg
and
@rewiringamerica
for supporting local coverage of the clean energy transition!
We are thrilled to announce that SEJ’s
#FundforEnvironmentalJournalism
has awarded $47,605 for 11 story projects on the U.S. Clean Energy Transition. Learn more and see the grantees: .
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Such an honor to accept Pulliam Prize for Outstanding Environmental Reporting from
@sejorg
today. Special thanks to
@1manueltorres
&
@MSchleifstein
for believing in me as I left science for journalism & to
@charlesornstein
for giving our talented team opportunity to do this work.
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9
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In a big departure from my regular climate reporting, I wrote a personal essay about running the Boston Marathon 40 years after my dad ran it and then named me after its winner. I’d love for you to give it a read.
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Please read & share! This has been my focus all year w/
@ProPublica
's Local Reporting Network at
@NOLAnews
. I'm SO EXCITED today is day we finally share it with world!
🙏 collabs/mentors
@tristanbaurick
@lyllayounes
@charlesornstein
@1manueltorres
@GordonRussell1
@MSchleifstein
Our MASSIVE data deep dive on air quality in Louisiana with
@NOLAnews
@theadvocateno
: Welcome to “Cancer Alley,” Where Toxic Air Is About to Get Worse
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It’s been a really hard year for me, full of personal loss and sadness. If you are feeling down or hopeless, I see you. Keep going. I promise you can.
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Find someone who talks with you like these two talk to each other.
Creators of This Podcast Will Kill You
@tpwky
(& epidemiology PhDs)
@epidemicerin
&
@theedubs
share their podcast origin story & production process
@Better_Scicomm
#AmpTheSignal
.
#scicomm
=more fun w/ friends! 👯♀️
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I just spent a week canoeing down a river through a remote canyon with friends.
Re-entry into the current shitty reality has been harsh.
If you need me, I’ll just be burying my head in this picture for a little while longer. You are welcome to join me there if you need a minute
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VERY excited to finally share that a piece I wrote over the course of TWO YEARS is now in print as a beautiful 8-page spread in
@DiscoverMag
!
Thanks to my editor
@DrAnnaFunk
for all her help & patience.
Pick up a copy of the Sept/Oct issue & read all about “Life After Death!”
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So, hi, yeah, this is the ad is running at the top of my climate story pages today.
It might be time to decide what it is we're doing here,
@Gannett
@USATODAY
@azcentral
.
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In my first for
@chronicle
, I wrote about flaws of the postdoc system and ways we can improve it to
#diversify
#academia
.
#AcademicTwitter
#DiversityandInclusion
#diversityinSTEM
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UPDATE: Excited to share that I've reaffiliated myself with academia & my alma mater,
@UF
/
@UFSNRE
, and am now ✨Adjunct Faculty✨ with
@UFJSchool
. I'll be (virtually) teaching data & statistical methods to enviro journalism students working on investigative projects.
#GoGators
!
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Reporter presents! Thanks to
@Report4America
&
@GroundTruth
.
Basically all I’ve ever wanted was to be part of something meaningful, helpful & larger than myself. So yay. ❤️
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My mom just texted me this picture of my dad reading my latest piece, for
@Orion_Magazine
.
Mom: “Page 12. You are sharing periodical space with E.O. Wilson!! And a bunch of other big names!”
Me (has owned every E.O. Wilson book since I was a kid): 😍 Swoon.
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If you’ve ever appreciated an article you read and thought about emailing the journalist to tell them so—DO IT. It can make all the difference in this difficult job.
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My first solo byline for
@propublica
, just published today. Please read!
Industrial development usually targets poor communities, but Ascension Parish is one of the richest, and most toxic, places in Louisiana. Some residents say the financial benefits of living there outweigh the risks.
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Everyone in southern Louisiana go buy a newspaper today!!
@NOLAnews
@theadvocateno
@theadvocatebr
@propublica
#TimesPicayune
#PollutersParadise
#pollution
#environmentaljustice
#NewOrleans
#oilandgas
#Journalism
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I only fell in three times and two were on purpose. Stay tuned for more words from the river, including some regarding a surprise black helicopter landing.
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To mark 6 months of my weekly
#climate
series at
@azcentral
, today we published a love letter (of sorts) to my hate emailers.
🙏to fellow hate-mail-recipients
@danielrothberg
,
@Debkrol
,
@_thehalparker
&
@janetwilson66
for their thoughts.
#AZClimate
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Those warm fuzzies you get when a resident of a rural community where you’ve been reporting on an
#environmentaljustice
issue prints out a copy of your article and hands it to county commissioners as a resource at the planning & zoning committee meeting you’re watching online. ☺️
UPDATES: My sources are at a Mohave County meeting to speak against the zoning process that allowed for gas turbines near their homes.
And I got my hands on a letter the utility company sent out inviting ratepayers *but NOT neighbors near the project* to a secret meeting Friday:
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I think she likes our new home. A little more hiking than in our last one.
Job starts on Monday!!
@report4america
#report4america
@GroundTruth
#groundtruthproject
#environmentaljournalism
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My hate mail is the unwanted gift that keeps on giving, apparently. Thank you, Arizona Newspaper Association for recognizing my efforts to turn doom & gloom into…idk, something that’s also doom & gloom but more readable.
(Story for
@azcentral
here: )
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I am pleased to announce that I will be able to continue my work with
@propublica
in New Orleans at
@theadvocateno
. I start on Tuesday. Send me your
#environment
tips at jmeiners
@theadvocate
.com.
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Published a story last Friday for which I was certain I'd get hate mail. Got this instead.❤️😭☺️
#journalism
#thanksforreading
@Report4America
@GroundTruth
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@amandadeibert
I had 3 doctors suggest I rethink staying in my PhD program after I suffered a traumatic brain injury from bike crash. I’m thinking about mailing them copies of my completed dissertation now. Who tells someone to give up on their dreams right after they experience a trauma?!
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I just had a big national radio interview about my latest journalism story get cancelled. But I would love for you all to still learn of the piece.
This is work I’m proud of.
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T - 84 river miles, at last.
Bout to float/
on a boat/
through a remote/
desert canyon for the next 7 days,
thru one of the most remote regions in the continental U.S.
I can’t fully convey how overdue this vacation is. I’ll report back for climate change duty next week. Maybe.
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Asking to pass dudes in their 20s on the trail and then watching them struggle to match my pace and then to comprehend they can’t never gets old.
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I used to get migraines that would keep me in bed all day, sometimes more than a day. This gal would stay by my side the whole time, never making any fuss even when I’d forget meal times. I miss her immeasurably.
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If I channel my FURY over how awful my PhD experience was & terrible way
#academics
(even “the good ones”) often treat ppl with diff. ideas/brains/priorities/complications/backgrounds, into making A TOTALLY KICKASS DEFENSE PRESENTATION, does that mean I win?
#phdlife
#phdchat
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My work is being recognized today (1pm EST) at the 2021
#SEJAwards
Ceremony! My piece for
@DiscoverMag
on sustainable burial won 3rd place from
@sejorg
for best feature stories of 2020. If you like, you can register (free) to attend the presentation 👇!❤️📖
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Not really the point of this story, but I'm encouraged by the
@washingtonpost
calling out the
@nytimes
for failing to acknowledge the original, critical reporting by
#localjournalists
that builds the foundation for national news. We need more like this.
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This week I conclude my PhD. I’m realizing HOW much stress I’ve had for SUCH a long time.
#Phdlife
constantly tells you you’re not enough. For too many, it’s a toxic relationship (& pyramid scheme).
I want to say thank you to everyone who supported me past those who didn’t.❤️🌎
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