Media Advisory: Stanford to host Sept. 5-9 environmental journalism conference

The annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists will draw several hundred working journalists, journalism professors, students and public information officers to Stanford to meet with the nation's leading climatologists, engineers, bioscientists, policy experts and business executives.

The five-day event is hosted by the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford and the John S. Knight Fellowships for Professional Journalists.

The gathering provides a number of sessions for media professionals to discuss the challenges facing reporters covering climate change and other environmental issues. For those who wish to cover the event, it is an ideal opportunity for stories assessing the media's performance in educating the public about global warming as well as new directions in reporting on climate change.

The conference also will include panels on the latest environmental research ranging from marine reserves and trees flowering in January to energy subsides and the effort to reintroduce the endangered Bay Checkerspot Butterfly to its native habitat. Journalists also will have an opportunity to test drive some of the world's most promising alternative-vehicle prototypes and talk to the auto experts. The full schedule is available at: http://www.sej.org.

In addition, there will be a news conference on Friday, Sept. 7, at which California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols will make a major announcement about implementation of the state's landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. The event will be from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. at the Spruce/Maple Conference Rooms at the Sheraton Palo Alto Hotel, 625 El Camino Real.

While paid registration is required to attend the annual SEJ conference, the organizers will welcome reporters who wish to cover a conference event or select portions of the program. Reporters on assignment, who are not registered conference participants, should go to the registration table in the lobby of the Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center, 326 Galvez St., and ask for a press pass from Robin Smith. Press credentials will be requested.