Environmental journalism now sits at the center of some of the most consequential stories of our time — from water safety and extreme weather to public health, food systems, housing and infrastructure — often unfolding in a polarized, fast-changing and fragmented media landscape.

As SEJ marks 35 years of conferences, this is a moment to look back at how that community was built, how it has adapted and what it has meant for generations of environmental journalists.

An ‘annual recharge’ rooted in camaraderie

When SEJ’s first conference convened in Boulder in 1991, environmental journalism was still fighting for recognition in many newsrooms. Most members were newspaper reporters or broadcasters. Freelancers were rare. Email was not yet standard.

Tim Wheeler, a former SEJ president and the first environment reporter at what was then The Baltimore Evening Sun, recalls how isolating the beat could be in those early years.

“Seeing all the other people there was energizing,” Wheeler said. “I met and discovered a lot of like-minded people who were also trying to figure out better ways to tell the most important story on the planet.”

That sense of belonging became central to SEJ’s culture. Wheeler has attended nearly every conference since, calling them “an annual recharge” that sustains both professional skills and personal connections.

Expanding access, evolving coverage

As SEJ grew, leaders worked to remove barriers that kept some journalists from attending. Early efforts relied on creative ways to stretch limited resources, including fellowships, partnerships with historically Black colleges and universities and support for journalists without institutional backing.

Christy George, who joined in 1997 and later served as SEJ president, watched the organization evolve from “largely white newspaper staffers” into a more diverse, freelance-heavy and increasingly international membership. Deb Krol, who joined through SEJ’s Diversity Leadership Fellowship in 2004, credits those efforts with helping Indigenous journalists find a long-term professional community and encouraging more thoughtful, accountable coverage of Indigenous communities.

At the same time, SEJ’s programming shifted alongside the changing realities of environmental reporting.

“I organized and moderated the first panel on what we called environmental racism,” Letto recalled. “That focus on justice was there from the beginning.”

George noted that reporting expanded from narrow beat coverage to stories that examined how environmental issues were shaping everyday life and public policy. SEJ conferences reflected that evolution through training in data, accountability, multimedia storytelling and community-centered approaches.

‘It was really pioneering’: Field tours helped SEJ stand apart

One of SEJ’s most distinctive features, the field tours, emerged in the mid-1990s.

“At our ‘93 conference, we were at Duke University in Chapel Hill, and they organized little tours,” Letto said. “I remember I went to the lemur center which was really fascinating.” That experience inspired SEJ to organize their own tours at subsequent conferences. “It was really pioneering, nobody was doing anything like it.”

Members started organizing tours themselves, guiding colleagues through wildfire zones, industrial corridors and mining and drilling sites.

“These became the backbone of the conference,” Letto said. “They produced more stories than anything else.” Tours helped reporters connect policy and science to lived experience and return home with deeper understanding and tangible reporting ideas.

Memorable people, moments

Over the decades, SEJ conferences have brought together presidents, scientists, authors, activists and artists.

Al Gore delivered a keynote highlighting the critical role of journalism in addressing climate change. Jane Goodall spoke in a video message to members about connecting solutions to the wildlife crisis.

Bill Moyers delivered a landmark keynote address arguing that the greatest threat to the environmental movement was the "predatory power of money,” reinforcing environmental reporting’s civic importance. Actor Ed Begley Jr. and recording artist Don Henley led a discussion of the media's role in saving a nature preserve from developers.

These appearances signaled that environmental journalism belongs at the center of national and global conversations.

Equally powerful were quieter moments. Letto recalls a session where renowned author and poet Wendell Berry, responding to a question about covering disaster and loss after Hurricane Katrina, started to cry.

“Those kinds of moments are what happen when people are on the front lines of these critical issues,” Letto said. Experiencing and moving through those moments together is central to what SEJ is about. After Hurricane Katrina, members mailed supplies to displaced colleagues. In wildfire and flood zones, reporters supported one another while learning how to report responsibly on trauma.

A legacy still unfolding

For Letto, SEJ’s greatest achievement is not any single speaker or session, but the community itself.

“There’s more at stake in this beat,” he said. “It’s about ecosystems, health, justice and survival.”

For 35 years, SEJ conferences have helped journalists meet that responsibility with rigor, empathy and mutual support. As SEJ marks a milestone anniversary conference, that legacy continues — shaped by new voices, new tools and the same enduring commitment to getting the story right.