USC Annenberg announces inaugural class of Health and Climate Change Reporting Fellows
The USC Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication and Center for Health Journalism are pleased to announce the selection of 10 talented journalists who will be participating in the inaugural cohort of the Health and Climate Change Reporting Fellowship.
The Fellowship class includes journalists reporting for state and local outlets across the nation, including the Alaska Beacon, Blue Ridge Public Radio, The Guardian US, Chicago Sun-Times, KJZZ Phoenix, The Nation, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Planet Detroit and the Kentucky Lantern.
The five-month Fellowship program includes a two-day in-person training in Los Angeles this month followed by five months of ongoing virtual training and mentorship with leading environmental journalists. Participating journalists also received reporting grants to support their work with us.
In partnership with the Center for Health Journalism and the Center for Climate Journalism and Communication, reporters in the Fellowship will produce ambitious investigative and explanatory news projects on topics such as the lasting health aftereffects of wildfires, the ways a warming planet can fuel disease threats, the community impacts of rising sea levels, the mental health and cultural impacts of climate displacement, the long-term health effects of repeated flooding, and efforts to protect people from extreme heat in their home and work environments.
“At USC Annenberg, we are so excited that two of our leading centers have partnered to support journalists working at the intersection of health and climate change,” said Gordon Stables, director of schools at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. “We see the immediate devastation from climate change, but the long-term health consequences are significant and less recognized. This important program supports the high-quality journalism urgently needed to address this challenge.”
“Too little attention is paid to what happens to the health and well-being of families and communities in the months and years after their lives are upended by climate change-fueled disasters," said Michelle Levander, director of the USC Center for Health Journalism. “We’re excited to launch this program and to welcome these talented reporters – whose urgent stories need to be told.”
“Climate change intersects with virtually every aspect of our lives today and journalists need to be equipped to tell the complex and consequential story of public health in a warming world,” said Allison Agsten, director of the USC Center for Climate Journalism and Communication. “We are grateful to the Annenberg team and supporters for making this program possible.”
We are delighted to announce our 2025 Health and Climate Change Reporting Fellows:
Ethan Bakuli, Planet Detroit
Brett Chase, Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ
Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News
Katharine Gammon, The Guardian
Mike Kropf, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Katie Myers, Blue Ridge Public Radio and Grist
Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon
Javeria Salman, Kentucky Lantern/States Newsroom
Alexandra Villarreal, The Guardian
Jess Zhang, The Margin, The Nation and KYUK
The Eleven Eleven Foundation generously supports the Health and Climate Change Reporting Fellowship, a joint initiative of the Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication and the Annenberg Center for Health Journalism.