The Scripps Howard Foundation has awarded a two-year grant of $100,000 to the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ at Boulder to continue hosting the Scripps Howard Institute on the Environment.
The institute, established last May, is a week-long educational program for journalists who cover environmental issues.
"The success of the first institute demonstrates its value to the working journalists who have the responsibility of covering this vitally important issue," said Judith G. Clabes, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Foundation.
"This is a project that clearly fulfills the mission of our foundation and merits our continued support."
Attendance at the institute is limited to 25 journalists from around the nation. They are selected from among print, broadcast and Web-based media.
Participants take part in an intensive week of study designed to give them a unique window into some of today's most important environmental topics: urban sprawl, climate change, ecology and land management, weather prediction and environmental toxins.
"Our first institute last May was successful by all accounts," said Len Ackland, director of the center for environmental journalism. "We plan to use a similar format in the future."
The first institute pulled in top scientists to work with participants. Institute Director Susan Avery is an acclaimed atmospheric scientist who heads the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥-Boulder.
Other faculty included Alexander (Sandy) MacDonald, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Forecast Systems Laboratory; Daniel Albritton, who was senior U.S. science adviser at the Kyoto climate conference and Patricia Limerick, a distinguished ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ history professor and MacArthur fellow.
The week-long institute included field trips to the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the National Weather Service forecast office and Rocky Mountain National Park. A special session focused on environmental resources on the Internet that are useful for journalists.
The institute covers the costs of the journalists' instruction, field trips, lodging and most meals. For additional information about the first institute, see the center's Web site at .
The Scripps Howard Foundation is dedicated to promoting excellence in journalism and is a leader in journalism education, scholarships, internships, literacy, minority recruitment and development, and First Amendment causes.
Since 1997, the foundation also has provided an annual grant to the center for the Ted Scripps Fellowships in Environmental Journalism. Each year, five Scripps fellows spend two semesters at ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ studying environmental science, policy, law and journalism and working on individual research.
The Center for Environmental Journalism at ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ -- the first of its kind in the United States -- dates to 1992. The center is part of ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥'s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, which offers undergraduate majors a broad education in the liberal arts, while graduate students may choose specialty areas, including environmental journalism.