Welcome to
The Journey
of a Story 2024
An exhibit hosted by The Uproot Project
The Uproot Project presents its third annual Journey of a Story event series. This year’s theme, “Solutions in Our Community,” highlights innovative and community-driven responses to climate challenges. By focusing on solutions journalism, the events in this series amplify stories of resilience, adaptation, and sustainable practices that are transforming local landscapes. This event series emphasizes how journalists of color are instrumental in reporting on climate solutions emerging from underrepresented communities, bringing critical perspectives and diverse voices to the forefront.
Thank you to the MacArthur Foundation for their support of this event.
Digital Brochure | Table of Contents
(Click the links below to navigate)
Thank you to the MacArthur Foundation for their support of this event
About the Journalists
Eva Tesfaye
Eva Tesfaye covers the environment for WWNO and WRKF’s Coastal Desk. You can reach her at eva@wrkf.org. Before joining WWNO, she reported for Harvest Public Media and the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. She was based at KCUR 89.3 in Kansas City, Missouri where she covered agriculture, food and the environment across the Mississippi River Basin. Eva was also a producer for NPR’s daily science podcast Short Wave. A graduate of Columbia University, she started her journalism career as an NPR Kroc Fellow. She grew up moving around Africa and has lived in Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, South Africa and Kenya.
Drew Xolaya Costley
Drew Xolaya Costley (they/them/theirs) is a journalist from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area reporting and editing stories in greater New Orleans. When reporting, they cover environmental, climate, health and LGBTQIA+ news. As an editor, they love working with reporters to help them tell the stories they’re interested in. As a human, they enjoy sports, nature, arts and crafts, terrarium building and taking care of critters.
Danny McArthur
Danny McArthur is the environmental justice reporter for the Gulf States Newsroom, a regional collaboration among NPR and public radio stations in Alabama (WBHM), Mississippi (MPB) and Louisiana (WWNO and WRKF). This beat centers on the people most vulnerable to climate change’s effects and the communities disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards and poor public policy. Danny is a proud Georgia native and University of Georgia grad. Their hobbies include cheering on the Georgia Bulldogs, reading and writing books, learning Spanish and going to drag shows.
Ayurella Horn Muller
Ayurella is a staff writer at Grist covering the intersection of climate, food and agriculture. She is the author of Devoured: The Extraordinary Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Ate the South. Her work has also appeared in CNN, National Geographic, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Mother Jones, WIRED, Scientific American, Popular Science, Gizmodo, USA TODAY, The Miami Herald, and a number of other publications. She previously reported on climate change for Axios and Climate Central, and produced TV news at WPLG.
Cameron Oglesby
Cameron is an internationally awarded environmental justice organizer, oral historian, journalist, and aspiring land steward who is dedicated to re-centering the voices, narratives, and knowledge of historically disinvested communities in conservation, environmental policy, and corporate decision-making. A double alum of Duke University, she has worked for nearly a decade with academic institutions, NGOs, and communities in North Carolina and the Southeast to establish climate education initiatives, leverage institutional power to redistribute resources to frontline organizers, and report on the intersections of environmental racism, infrastructure and policy, and land and agriculture. Her reporting has appeared in The Nation, The Margin, The Assembly NC, Atmos Magazine, Grist, Southerly, Scalawag, Yale Climate Connections, and Earth in Color. Cameron is a National Geographic Young Explorer, a Future Leader Climate Fellow with the Aspen Institute, an Environmental Education 30 Under 30 Leader with the North America Association for Environmental Education, a 40 Under 40 Awardee and Lead Prevention Ambassador with Young, Gifted, and Green, a Young Climate Leader of Color Fellow with the People’s Climate Innovation Center, and a Public Voices Fellow on the Climate Crisis with the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication; she has been honored by Covering Climate Now, Black in Environment, and the Society of Environmental Journalists as well as featured in the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Broken Ground and NC WUNC’s The Broadside podcasts for her environmental justice journalism. Her work is inspired by her own connection to ancestral farmland in Maryland that’s been in her family for over 100 years.
About Uproot
The Uproot Project is a newly launched network for journalists of color who cover environmental issues, as well as students and others aspiring to cover this beat.
We want to bring diverse voices to the forefront of environmental reporting. As a network, we’re dedicated to advancing the careers of journalists of color who’ve been historically underrepresented in this field, imbuing journalistic coverage with critical and fresh perspectives. The Uproot Project will connect its member journalists with publications, offer training, and build community as we navigate the work ahead reporting on the environmental crises of our time.
The Uproot Project is open to journalists of all races, ethnicities and backgrounds, but its goal is to uplift and support journalists of color who have been underrepresented in the journalism industry for far too long. Our group is currently funded by and assisted operationally by Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. While we plan to one day operate independently, our first priority is to establish the network, welcome new members, and build a network that transforms who tells the stories of one of the most important issues of the century.
Initiatives
Environmental Journalists of Color Database
The Uproot Project Database is a critical resource for journalists who are seeking to connect with editors, mentors, experts, sources, and other journalists of color within the environmental space. As a network by and for environmental and climate journalists of color, The Uproot Project is committed to diversity in the media, which means spotlighting diverse voices. The people you will find in our database identify as Black, Indigenous, or other people of color, who have exercised expertise in climate, science, social justice, and environmental spaces.
Environmental Justice Fellowships
At The Uproot Project, we believe there are important environmental justice stories that need to be told. We believe that journalists of color bring critical and fresh perspectives to covering these stories. With The Uproot Project’s Environmental Justice Fellowship, we want to bring the two together — to help underrepresented journalists shed light on undercovered topics. Meet our 2022 class of fellows here.
The Seedling (newsletter)
We produce a biweekly newsletter aimed at getting our members up to speed on all things Uproot. It’s dedicated to sharing updates for future Uproot trainings, panels, and meetups as well as sharing job opportunities and reporting resources. It’s also a spot to amplify the work of our members and highlight our growing network of journalists of color. You can subscribe here.
Donate to the Uproot Project here
Explore the Exhibit
This exhibit features work from environmental journalist of color, all of whom are Uproot members. The exhibit is intended to be interactive: through audio and video, you will learn about each journalist’s experience reporting on their story. As you explore the exhibit, we encourage you to take out your phones and scan the QR codes on the posters to listen to the audio. For accessibility and convenience, links to the audio, transcripts, and articles can all be found below.
Sea Change: Bringing Back the Beach
Eva Tesfaye | WWNO
Ancestral wisdom is guiding communities in the birthplace of EJ
Cameron Oglesby | Atmos
Local climate justice group creates hurricane guide to help queer and transgender people survive storms
Drew Xolaya Costley | Verite News
Meet the Alabama woman who is turning her farm into an indigenous food forest
Danny McArthur | WWNO
The people who feed America are going hungry
Ayurella Horn Muller | Grist
Thank You to Our Sponsor
Thank you to everyone who made this event possible including the generous sponsorship by the MacArthur Foundation, Grist, and all the journalists & publications who allowed The Uproot Project to feature them in this event.
