UF Environmental Journalism

It's Homecoming weekend at the University of Florida, where even those of us who don't love football can't get enough of alligators, including our plush mascot, Albert the Alligator. But DYK that for more than half a century, UF's mascots were living alligators, often subjected to cruelty, kidnapping and killing? Read UF journalism senior Sarah Henry's story "Mascot for Cruelty" (all the way to the end--because humans redeem themselves!)

Mascot for cruelty – ATRIUM MAGAZINE Mascot for cruelty October 18, 2024October 19, 2024 For half a century, the University of Florida’s mascots were living alligators. The story of the original Alberts shows the depth of human cruelty to animals — and how we can change. UF students surround their living alligator mascot, Albert, i...

WUFT and Report for America announce new hire for agriculture, water and climate change beat Rose Schnabel will join the UF College of Journalism and Communications’ Innovation News Center in July as part of WUFT’s new Florida Environment & Ag Desk.

Gainesville friends! As you plan next week, I hope you will save Wednesday, April 17th, at 7 p.m. and join me as I host Barbara Drake-vera's book launch party for MELTED AWAY: A Memoir of Climate Change and Caregiving in Peru at the Matheson History Museum downtown. I am a such a fan of this beautiful book that grapples with care for family and care of the Earth. Join us for a book discussion, sale and signing, and of course--treats! Free but please register: https://mathesonmuseum.networkforgood.com/events/67412-book-launch-for-melted-away

Students, sign up for the FIO newsletter to hear about opportunities including open bearths on research vessels!

Whether you are looking for a new job, internship, volunteer, or cruise ride-along opportunity, FIO's new Student Opportunities newsletter will have it all. Join our newsletter to be one of the first to learn about student opportunities from FIO, our members and our partners. Visit the link in our bio to sign up!

Gainesville! Please join me and Jack E. Davis Tuesday night (1/30 @ 6 p.m.) at Pugh Hall on the UF campus as we host Rebecca Renner to talk about her fantastic new book GATOR COUNTRY. It's a masterwork of immersive reporting, beautifully written and captures the complexity of both Florida and wildlife poaching in a way that few others have done. "Remarkable," wrote the New York Times in its review, "Every species, and every person who fights for its continued existence, deserves a book like this."

A critical story by student Augustus Hoff WUFT News on what it's like to play volleyball in public school gyms in Alachua County in record heat with no air conditioning. Some great photos here of the human fans who have to bring their own electric fans. . https://www.wuft.org/news/2023/09/25/not-cool-for-school-alachua-county-students-struggle-inside-gyms-without-a-c-with-no-plans-of-installation/?fbclid=IwAR0cZKFvwxe5eGmbvEzqILHcJRsoVG4P0MUf6i5bnM45bueg3HMwAUoqzNs

Not cool for school - Alachua County students struggle inside gyms without A/C, with no plans of installation - WUFT News Filing into the school gymnasium is an all too familiar feeling: The squeak of glossy pine floorboards, the reek of sweat, rubber balls and cheap body sprays. But for some Alachua County students, there’s an added woe: The heat. “It’s very hot. Too hot,” said Layla Robinson, a seventh grader...

In our latest project, a team of journalists from the UF College of Journalism and Communications and Missouri School of Journalism report the story of fertilizer from Florida's Bone Valley to Louisiana's Cancer Alley. All thanks to the Pulitzer Center. Please share this great work from the new generation of environmental reporters.

The Price of Plenty Few inventions have changed the world like synthetic fertilizer. But fertilizer manufacturing and use also threaten human and environmental health. The Price of Plenty teamed up student journalists from the University of Florida and the University of Missouri to report on fertilizer from the ground....