Hi, and welcome to The Seedling! Lina Tran here, writing from my place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a short walk from Lake Michigan.

I just got back from Ohio, where I spent a few days with a group of fellow Uproot members learning all about water. Our host was the Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources, in partnership with Uproot. We came from all over, from islands, coasts, and river valleys, to discuss the challenges and nuances of reporting on water. Obviously, water is a critical part of our work — maybe there’s too much, not enough, or it’s just not clean. 

Starting in Toledo, we made our way to a tiny island in Lake Erie: Gibraltar Island, a speck off the larger South Bass Island in the western basin of the lake. The trip took two buses, one ferry, and a much smaller science boat. Gibraltar is home to a dull gray water snake, which has bounced back from near-extinction (I saw three!), and the Ohio State University’s island lab. There, we learned about the biggest environmental challenges facing Lake Erie and its sister lakes. Lake Erie is plagued by invasive species, wildly swinging water levels, and harmful algal blooms largely fueled by agricultural pollution. These have tested local fisheries, eroded shorelines, and degraded the region’s air and water quality. 

There’s nothing like seeing things with your own eyes, and the workshop was invaluable, as a hands-on, on-the-ground (uh, water) experience. We collected a handful of data points for NOAA’s long-running records on Lake Erie and were warned to turn off the lights at night lest mayflies — a general indicator of water quality — swarm our rooms. We also met Alicia Smith, director of the community group Junction Coalition, who put people and places to the water issues we’d been learning about. Lead in Toledo’s pipes harms the children in her long-disinvested neighborhood, she said, while toxins from harmful algal blooms irritate her neighbors’ lungs and skin. 

It was invigorating to be in the company of so many other journalists of color. Many of the issues we report on — extreme weather, water insecurity, air pollution — disproportionately impact communities of color. Sometimes, they’re our own. We need diverse voices at the forefront of covering these challenges. 

Of course, there was time for fun too. We watched the sun disappear into the watery horizon, and on our last night in Toledo, caught a baseball game (go Mud Hens!). I jumped into the lake with new friends and bobbed in the wake of passing boats. We wore sandals so our feet wouldn’t get cut by invasive zebra mussels, which blanket the bottom of the lake. Those things are everywhere.

What Are You Planting? 

This section of The Seedling is dedicated to featuring one of the many incredible members of The Uproot Project.

• Uproot x Grist ONA Conference Happy Hour (sign up here)
  Where: Bonaventure Brewing Co. – Los Angeles, CA
  When: September 23, 2022, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
• NYC & East Coast Uprooters! Save the date: on October 26th, we will be hosting an exhibit in NYC. Details to come!

• NPR, Climate Solutions Reporter
• The Baltimore Banner, Environment/Climate Reporter
• Warner Bros. Discovery, Data Editor, CNN Visuals
• Warner Bros. Discovery, Senior Data and Graphics Editor, CNN Visuals
• Slate, Associate Writer, News & Politics
• Insider, Science Fellowship
• Vox, Climate Editor
• Fund for Investigative Journalism Diversity Fellowships
• AP, Climate Text Editor, Climate Solutions Reporter, Clean Energy Reporter

• Join us on Slack to stay up to date with events, resources, and connect with fellow members.
• Have you had the chance to check out our new database? It includes a roster of editors, mentors, subject matter experts, sources, and other journalists of color. Please share widely!