ICFJ’s second annual journalism workshop in Belize
On wildlife conservation and other environmental issues

On Aug. 10-12, 2007 the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) will hold its second annual conservation workshop for journalists in Belize. This year’s group will go to the Chaa Creek Resort in Belzie’s Cayo District for seminars, practice sessions and field trips. Talks and field trips will cover agricultural runoff pollution, waste disposal, proposed dam construction and oil exploration and production in Belize. On field trips, journalists are scheduled to visit sites on the Mopan and Macal Rivers.

The program is led by Dr. Bob Thomas, a biologist who is acting director of the School of Mass Communications at Loyola University in New Orleans, and Dale Willman, a veteran radio reporter, producer and teacher who won many awards for his work for public radio in the United States.

Thomas, Willman and newspaper reporter Perry Beeman, former president of the Society of Environmental Journalists, launched the program with a three-day workshop in 2006 at St. George’s Caye, Belize. Journalists who attended that training program launched the Belize Environmental Reporting Network (BERN), a forum for sharing stories and information about environmental reporting.

Journalists’ participation in the workshop is free of charge. All expenses will be paid by the sponsors, the Oak Foundation and Protected Areas Conservation Trust – Belize. At the workshop, participants will work on stories they can publish or broadcast. And they will receive tips on how to submit a winning entry this fall in ICFJ’s first Biodiversity Reporting Award competition in Belize, which offers cash prizes and plaques to the best stories rated by a panel of distinguished journalists.

Journalists who wish to attend should e-mail Bob Thomas at: rathomas@loyno.edu; or call him in Belize at (501) 621-6422 after 4 p.m. Monday, Aug. 6.

Other inquiries may be made by calling Ting Wang at ICFJ; (202) 349-7602, or by e-mail at: Twang@icfj.org

Click here to read about last year's journalism workshop
Click here to read about this year's Biodiversity Reporting Award