The timing was right, in 2014, when Elizabeth Dunbar attended Metcalf Institute\u2019s Climate Change and the News: Impacts in the Great Lakes seminar in Chicago. The Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) reporter and her team were just about to launch a six-month investigation into climate change impacts in Minnesota.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were looking for opportunities for training, and Metcalf\u2019s seminar seemed to fit really well with what we were going to be covering,\u201d said Dunbar. \u201cIt definitely helped generate a lot of story ideas for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
A native Iowan who grew up with a great appreciation for the outdoors, Dunbar began her journalism career as a general assignment reporter for the Associated Press working in Kentucky, North Carolina, and Minnesota. Now she covers the intersection between environment, politics, and policy for MPR.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the biggest challenge in environmental reporting is helping people understand and care about things that are really important but are complex and difficult to relate to,\u201d said Dunbar, who described her Metcalf training as \u201ca great way to learn more about science and gain the confidence needed to interact with the scientists on a higher level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dunbar cites her Climate Change in Minnesota series as an example of some of her best work. The series, co-reported with colleague Dan Kraker, required the review of a large volume of scientific data and interviews with scores of scientists, state and local officials, foresters, health experts, policy makers, residents, and a local farmer whose family has been meticulously recording their weather observations for generations.<\/p>\n
MPR took additional steps to engage its audience by encouraging listeners to determine their carbon footprints using a calculator on the station\u2019s website. The station also hosted a live show, giving participants an opportunity to ask questions about climate change in Minnesota.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were able to document how the climate is changing right here in our backyard, and people really responded to it,\u201d said Dunbar. \u201cClimate change is really a complex issue and the more you understand the science and the current research, the better prepared you are to go out and find stories that are relevant and important to your audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for future projects, Dunbar would like to delve into stories about Minnesota\u2019s water quality challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cWater is becoming a huge issue globally and in Minnesota,\u201d said Dunbar. We\u2019ve always had plenty of water, yet there are still concerns about how we\u2019re managing it, keeping it clean, and how we can expect our water resources to change because of climate,\u201d she said. \u201cClimate change is a topic that keeps evolving all the time and it\u2019s important to keep it out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read stories by Elizabeth Dunbar:<\/p>\n