I'm happy to report that Curtis Shuck and his Well Done Foundation have received grant money to continue the good work. Shuck, of my story "Citizen Methane," is the problem-solver who plugs abandoned oil wells.
There are an estimated two-plus million of these wells leaking fumes across the country.
Satellites with sensors that can detect chemical signatures over the earth, such as large methane emissions, provide publicly available, open source data, and investors are starting to look at this data when assessing a corporation's "risk" or exposure to environmental penalties. As a result, corporations will face increasing pressure to take environmental commitments (ESG) seriously. This trend is set to revolutionize the transparency of corporate emissions, particularly methane in the oil and gas industry, which has been under-reported for years. The good news for those in environmental work is that this trend should provide positive leverage they can use to drive change. Here's my report in Canadian magazine Corporate Knights. (Photo: NASA, Satellite deployment, 1985)
So as I was working on this piece for Civil Eats it was fascinating to hear how women are really becoming a force for sustainable farming in the upper Midwest. There's even a bit of a political movement – which is another story. Sustainable farming is still a tiny sector, but there seems to be a movement going on, particularly energized by women. That's anecdotal. The story
sticks to quotes, facts, and figures.
Who didn't make it into the final story, which was scrambling to include the latest UDSA census, was Atina Diffley, another remarkable trailblazer in sustainable farming. It was clear that a shift occurred somewhere in the early 2000's in which women started making their presence known in farming communities. This work for equal footing in the industry across the Midwest is still a work in progress.
Left: Sylvia Burgos Toftness, Rancher, grass-fed organic advocate, radio broadcaster, and amazing woman!
Photo Credit: Airwolfhound, Wikimedia Commons
Look for my latest journalism
at Mongabay in the Wildtech section.
Managing the data deluge: Twitter as a tool for ecological research
"Access to constant streams of observational data from 60 or 70 million Twitter users is a potential trove for scientists, but extracting the target data is a challenge..." Read more
The original Artsmashri.com looked like this, and was a web engagement community built around arts enthusiasts and the 80+ arts organizations in Rhode Island. Its articles appeared regularly in Rhode Island's Arts and Cultural Alliance newsletter. The web community sponsored meetups, discussions, event booths, talk-backs with artistic directors and art crawls informed by artists and art professors. It was an early promoter of video in support of dance companies and performances.
A much reduced version of ArtsmashRI continues at its Facebook Page. Link provided on request.
I was the project manager developing the ADDICTION LABS website:
Credit:T.R. Holbe
Content with high conversion rates: When managing American Addiction Centers' corporate blog, I especially liked working with the First Responders. My post, "The Challenges of the Firefighter Wife" was one of the most highly visited pages on the entire AAC website. The tight-knit fire fighter community (and their wives, thanks to my interview with Lori Mercer) really sent us a lot of traffic. Our tracking showed a high conversion rate - exceptional numbers for top-of-funnel content.
Engaging with the Firefighter Twitterverse brought some lively back-and-forth to @RecoveryWatch. I also enjoyed editing the blogs of multi-book author Fire Captain Michael Morse of Providence, RI.
I specialized in working with AAC experts such as
I also reached out to Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services chief medical officer,
Dr. Stephen Lloyd, for an interview. That was a successful article on a very important topic.
My current ThriveGlobal author page, my author page at HuffPost. And these, from hundreds of freelance articles:
