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Environmental journalist Michelle Nijhuis to speak at UAF Feb. 26

Award-winning journalist and author Michelle Nijhuis will speak Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, from 7-8:30 p.m. in the BP Design Theater at the University of AV����̳ Fairbanks. The lecture will also be streamed .

The free public lecture is part of the Snedden Speaker Series hosted by the UAF Department of Science and Environmental Journalism.

Nijhuis will present “Environmental Journalism Beyond Boundaries,” exploring the challenges of covering the environment during times of crisis and highlighting the innovative people and organizations leading solutions today.

Nijhuis is the author of “Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in an Age of Extinction,” a history of the modern conservation movement that was named one of the best books of 2021 by The Chicago Tribune, the Smithsonian magazine, Booklist and other publications.

Her reporting on conservation and climate change has appeared in National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker and The Atlantic. She is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books and a longtime contributing editor of High Country News, an independent publication known for in-depth journalism about the American West.

Her work has received national recognition, including two AAAS/Kavli Science Journalism Awards, and has appeared in four editions of The Best American anthologies. Her reporting has also been supported by the Alicia Patterson Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and the Food and Environment Reporting Network.

In addition to her reporting, Nijhuis is co-editor of “The Science Writers’ Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Pitch, Publish and Prosper in the Digital Age” and author of “The Science Writers’ Essay Handbook: How to Craft Compelling True Stories in Any Medium.”

After spending 15 years living off the electrical grid in rural Colorado, Nijhuis now lives with her family in White Salmon, Washington.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Paula Dobbyn, visiting assistant professor and Snedden chair, UAF Department of Science and Environmental Journalism, pdobbyn@alaska.edu; Joey Roddy, event designer, Authors Unbound, joey@authorsunbound.com, 541-797-2217

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