Meet SEJ member Mark Schleifstein! Mark is part of a four-reporter team — supported by SEJ's Fund for Environmental Journalism with funding from the Walton Family Foundation — covering the environment for The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate | NOLA.com. He covers coastal restoration, levees, hurricanes, climate change and the oil and gas and petrochemical industries. He is co-author of the 2002 series, "Washing Away," which warned that much of New Orleans could be flooded by hurricane storm surge because the area's levees were too low and subject to overtopping. The series — which won awards from the National Hurricane Conference and the American Society of Civil Engineers — received international attention after Hurricane Katrina, because it had foretold the disaster lying in wait for the city. Mark's reporting on Hurricane Katrina was among the newspaper's stories honored with 2006 Pulitzer Prizes for Public Service and Breaking News Reporting and the George Polk Award for Metropolitan Reporting. He is also co-author with John McQuaid of the book "Path of Destruction: The Devastation of New Orleans and the Coming Age of Superstorms." Stories he wrote on coastal science issues were honored in 2006 with a special award from the American Geophysical Union. He also was co-author of the 1996 series, "Oceans of Trouble: Are the World's Fisheries Doomed?" which won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Mark is also a member of Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE) and National Association of Science Writers (NASW), and is on the board of directors of the Press Club of New Orleans.
"SEJ is my mentor and family," Mark said. "SEJ provides reporters with access to the tools needed to do their jobs on a daily basis, including listservs that can produce stories, sources and key information on deadline, annual conferences that provide an overview of ongoing and future environmental issues and lessons on how to cover them, an important freedom of information backstop for when people or government agencies get in the way of your reporting, and a source of grant money to underwrite your reporting. And it serves as an extended family to its members in times of need." Join Mark in the SEJ community today!
See some of Mark's work on NOLA.com:
- "EPA Investigates Louisiana Environmental, Health Agencies for Racial Discrimination in Issuing Air Pollution Permits," April 7, 2022.
- "A Hurricane Ida Path Just 15 Miles Farther East Could Have Overtopped West Bank, Other Levees: NHC," April 6, 2022.
- "Climate Change Poses Existential Threat to South Louisiana: U.N. Report," March 8, 2022.
- "BP Spill Cleanup Workers More Likely To Be Diagnosed With Hypertension, New Study Says," March 2, 2022.
- "Firestone Polymers of Sulphur To Pay More Than $3.35M To Settle Air Pollution Complaints," February 23, 2022.
- "Louisiana's Plans To Reduce Carbon Emissions 'Huge Improvement' But Fall Short of Net-Zero Goal," October 27, 2021.
- "Industrial 'Decarbonization' Will Require Putting a Price on Carbon Emissions, Combined With Mandatory Carbon Reductions," October 11, 2021.
- "Rising Seas, Stronger Hurricanes: Climate Report Paints Grim Picture for South Louisiana," August 12, 2021.
- "NASA Spent Millions Over Decades Trying To Remove Michoud's Toxic Waste. It's Still There." April 9, 2021.
- "Worker Exposure to Dangerous Chemicals at Rubicon Plant in Geismar Linked To Poor Maintenance Record," January 3, 2021.
- More.
Find Mark:
Twitter @MSchleifstein
Facebook /mark.schleifstein
LinkedIn /markschleifstein
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