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The University of Rhode Island Metcalf Institute advances informed, inclusive public discussions abou metcalfinstitute.org

Metcalf Institute provides education, training and resources to journalists, scientists and science communicators across career stages to engage diverse public audiences in conversations about science and the environment.

10/15/2026

Our last three newsrooms in the cohort cover Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, respectively. Welcome to Climate Ready Newsrooms!

Amjambo Africa is a nonprofit, multilingual news organization based in Maine that covers the experiences, perspectives, and contributions of African and immigrant communities in Maine, amplifying voices often underrepresented in mainstream media. Deputy Editor-in-Chief Eloge W***y Kaneza, who worked in journalism in East Africa before he was based in Maine, will be distilling Metcalf trainings in the Amjambo Africa newsroom.

Around since 1864, The Concord Monitor is a daily news outlet based in New Hampshire’s capital that prioritizes being a visible presence in the community. News editor Rebeca Pereira primarily covers agriculture and the environment, and general assignment reporter Emilia Wisniewski has covered energy and climate change issues. Both will be engaging in Climate Ready Newsrooms.

VTDigger is a nonprofit, nonpartisan digital news organization covering issues of statewide importance in Vermont. Two reporters will represent the VTDigger newsroom during Climate Ready Newsrooms: environmental reporter Bear Savage, who is also a mentor for the Community News Service at the University of Vermont, and senior editor Emma Cotton, who has experience covering the environment, climate change, energy, and agriculture.

Learn more about Climate Ready Newsrooms: https://ow.ly/WuZn50ZXKRS

10/08/2026

Next up in our Climate Ready Newsrooms spotlights: two Massachusetts newsrooms!

The Acton Exchange is a weekly digital-only news source, providing hyperlocal coverage of the town of Acton, MA. It was founded by volunteers in 2023 after the previous print paper folded and the town became a news desert. Both managing editor Kim Kastens and environmental journalist Susan Greene have backgrounds in science and journalism, and will be continuing to develop their expertise to bring back to the newsroom during their time with Metcalf!

CAI (WCAI-FM) includes the Cape, Coast, and Islands NPR stations WCAI 90.1, WNAN 91.1, WZAI 94.3 and their website. Based in Falmouth, MA and founded by local residents, CAI strives to celebrate the uniqueness of the communities it serves while discussing common issues. Serving as point person is science and environment reporter Amy Kolb Noyes, an award-winning journalist who has worked in print and radio since 1991.

Learn more about Climate Ready Newsrooms: https://ow.ly/zhF250ZV3zq

10/06/2026

Metcalf's Fall Lecture is coming up next week on Wednesday, October 14! We're bringing the conversation outside for a walk in the North Woods with the Dwell Lab team, followed by a zine-making activity with materials sourced from the Creative Reuse Center of RI and discussion about the making of the North Woods Field Guide project. All are welcome to attend either or both parts of this free, open-to-the-public event on the University of Rhode Island Kingston campus! RSVP here: https://ow.ly/ayHL50ZV2c0

Walk and journaling in North Woods:
4:30-5:30 PM
Meet in front of the Coastal Institute Building, 1 Greenhouse Road, Kingston, R.I. 02881

Conversation, reception, and zine-making:
6:00-7:30 PM
Toray Commons, The Fascitelli Center for Advanced Engineering, 2 East Alumni Avenue, Kingston, R.I. 02881

We're excited to hear from speakers and North Woods-enthusiasts Madison Jones (associate professor and DWELL Lab director), Ellie Lin (Rhode Island NSF EPSCoR SURF fellow and RISD student), Bonnie Phillips (Ecori News), and Stephanie West-Puckett (associate professor and field guide project lead) in a conversation moderated by Metcalf Executive Director Fara Warner.

Learn more: https://ow.ly/e2ZZ50ZV2c1

College of the Environment and Life Sciences
Rhode Island Land Trust Council
Rhode Island Environmental Education Association - RIEEA

10/01/2026

Working our way up southern New England, this week we’re highlighting three Climate Ready Newsrooms fellows based here in Rhode Island!

East Greenwich News is an online-only news and information website for East Greenwich, RI, and nearby neighborhoods with a hyper-local focus. Editor Elizabeth McNamara, who brings a long career of experience working in publishing and local reporting, will be participating in Climate Ready Newsrooms on behalf of her team.

South County Star is a nonprofit digital news organization serving southern Rhode Island and southeastern Connecticut, with a mission of providing reliable local reporting that keeps residents informed and engaged. Co-founders Alex Nunes and Nancy Burns-Fusaro, both accomplished journalists, will be immersed in the Metcalf fellowship over the next several months.

Producing community-centered journalism encompassing northern Rhode Island and nearby Blackstone, MA, The Valley Breeze Newspapers is a free, weekly newspaper that has been a staple in local homes for 30 years. Senior Staff Writer Sandy Hall and Deputy Editor LuzJennifer Martinez have honed a deep knowledge of their coverage areas, and soon will add climate coverage to their skillsets!

Learn more about Climate Ready Newsrooms: https://ow.ly/nLQa50ZTx0X

09/30/2026

If you're a journalist interested in exploring climate solutions, this webinar is for you! Join us next Tuesday, October 6, 12 PM EST!

We're partnering with Solutions Journalism Network to offer a free training, Simulating Climate Solutions with En-ROADS, led by Katherine Markova. En-ROADS is a climate simulator co-developed by Climate Interactive and MIT Sloan. Journalist participants will get to dive into solutions, from renewable energy and transport electrification to nature-based solutions and innovations like technological carbon removal, and learn how they can reduce health, nature, and financial impacts of climate change. The training will also cover how En-ROADS is used by advocates and journalists to conduct research, fact-check legislative proposals, and communicate complex concepts in an accessible manner. All levels of experience are welcome!

Sign up here: https://ow.ly/5pRB50ZLxg2

09/24/2026

First up in our Climate Ready Newsrooms spotlight: two based in Connecticut!

Connecticut Public is Connecticut’s only state-wide, community-supported public media service. They are a member station of national public media services PBS and NPR, and parent company for two television stations and WNPR. Environment & Climate Change Reporter and Report for America member Aine Pennello serves as Climate Ready Newsroom point person for Connecticut Public.

The Day Publishing Company, established in 1881, publishes The Day, a daily newspaper covering eastern Connecticut with a daily and Sunday readership of nearly 13,500, and their website. Executive Editor Izaskun Larrañeta, an award-winning journalist who first started working at The Day as a town reporter in 1999, and Theresa Sullivan Barger, lead freelancer for their Imminent Horizons series, will be bringing their Metcalf training back to the newsroom.

Learn more about Climate Ready Newsrooms: https://ow.ly/BWTV50ZR4S8

09/22/2026

On this fall equinox, we're excited to share details about Metcalf's Fall Lecture on October 14! This year, we're doing things a little differently: join us for a walk in the North Woods with the Dwell Lab team, followed by a conversation about their North Woods Field Guide project.

From 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., RISD student and DWELL Lab team member Ellie Lin will lead participants on a walk through the North Woods on URI's Kingston campus, exploring the rich ecology, human history, and significance of this woodland as a communal space.

Then, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., we'll host a conversation, reception, and zine-making workshop at Toray Commons in The Fascitelli Center for Advanced Engineering. The conversation will focus on the creation of the first edition of the North Woods Field Guide, featuring Lin; Madison Jones, associate professor of science communication and director of the DWELL Lab; Bonnie Phillips, Ecori News editor, North Woods Field Guide partner, and a URI alum; and Stephanie West-Puckett, URI associate professor of professional and public writing, who’s leading the creation of the guide; and moderated by Metcalf Executive Director Fara Warner.

This event, as part of Metcalf’s 2026 Annual Public Lecture Series, is free and open to the public. Notebooks and writing utensils will be provided for the walk as well as materials to make the zines.

🌳 Learn more and register: https://ow.ly/ok6y50ZQaCv

College of the Environment and Life Sciences

09/17/2026

Congratulations to the 10 New England newsrooms chosen for the third cohort of Metcalf Institute’s Climate Ready Newsrooms fellowship!

Acton Exchange
Amjambo Africa
WCAI-FM
The Concord Monitor
Connecticut Public
The Day
East Greenwich News
South County Star
The Valley Breeze Newspapers
VTDigger

We are thrilled to welcome a group of newsrooms representing all six states in New England. The cohort encompasses a mix of small, medium, and large newsrooms, serves urban, suburban, and rural communities, uses digital, print, radio, and television formats, and spans institutions as new as a few months old and as historic as 162 years old. We look forward to seeing this group work together and learn from each other as they develop their climate reporting goals and strategies.

Stay tuned as we spotlight each newsroom!

09/09/2026

Journalists, get ready to roll up your sleeves and explore climate solutions in real time with a training on En-ROADS!

We're partnering with Solutions Journalism Network to offer a free training, Simulating Climate Solutions with En-ROADS, led by Katherine Markova. En-ROADS is a climate simulator co-developed by Climate Interactive and MIT Sloan School of Management. Journalist participants will get to dive into solutions, from renewable energy and transport electrification to nature-based solutions and innovations like technological carbon removal, and learn how they can reduce health, nature, and financial impacts of climate change. The training will also cover how En-ROADS is used by advocates and journalists to conduct research, fact-check legislative proposals, and communicate complex concepts in an accessible manner. All levels of experience are welcome!

Join us virtually Tuesday, October 6, 12 PM EST
Sign up here: https://ow.ly/u84c50ZLxfC

09/01/2026

From tiny phytoplankton to familiar flounder, every catch netted aboard URI's research vessel, Cap'n Bert, has been contributing data to a longstanding fisheries and environmental monitoring survey – which several journalists and science communicators got to witness firsthand this summer through Metcalf fellowships!

URI Graduate School of Oceanography graduate students and trawl assistants Alexander Rubin and Alyssa Tsukada gave fellows a glimpse into their research. "This sort of work is really important so that we can understand the history and the current state of our ecosystem and learn how to be responsible stewards of the environment and forecast what conditions may look like in the future," shared Alex.

Alyssa, who collects data for one of the longest-running plankton time series, shared with fellows how critical these samples are for monitoring the health of Narragansett Bay, and how the time series can be used by researchers world-wide.

"When you start learning about how phytoplankton not only feed all the bigger organisms, but are also responsible for nearly half the oxygen we breathe, can be used as biosensors for environmental change, and, not to mention, can be quite visually stunning, you gain a new perspective that allows you to look at and appreciate the little specks shimmering in the water and the yellowish sludge on the shoreline," Alyssa said.

"Bringing groups like Metcalf Institute out on our surveys gives us the opportunity to talk more about the work that we're passionate about and provides another way to share our research with the public and the people that rely on Narragansett Bay," Alex echoed.

Thank you to Alyssa, Alex, and the Cap'n Bert crew for sharing their knowledge and creating a hands-on experience for journalists!

University of Rhode Island

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