Center for Environmental Journalism

We're delighted to welcome Stephen Robert Miller as the new Assistant Director of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Stephen is an award-winning environmental journalist whose reporting focuses on climate change adaptation. His work has appeared in National Geographic, WIRED, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and many other publications. He is also the author of Over the Seawall: Tsunamis, Cyclones, Drought and the Delusion of Controlling Nature, which explores the unintended consequences of adaptation efforts around the world.

A graduate of the University of Arizona, Stephen has been both a Ted Scripps Fellow and a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. His work has been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists, the Native American Journalism Association, and other organizations.

Please join us in welcoming Stephen to the CEJ community. We look forward to the experience, insight, and leadership he brings as he begins this new role.

Learn more about Stephen and his work: https://stephenrobertmiller.com/

In his latest feature for National Geographic, Luke Runyon, co-director of The Water Desk, examines how worsening drought, shrinking snowpack, and rising temperatures are pushing the Colorado River toward a critical point. Reporting from Colorado's Grand Valley, his story explores the difficult balance between protecting endangered fish and meeting the water needs of communities, agriculture, and ecosystems.

As climate change accelerates long-term drying across the region, the story highlights how today's water challenges offer a glimpse of the future facing rivers and communities across the Southwest.

Read the story:https://tr.ee/mBcNFz

Image: Side channels on the Colorado River ran dry early on April 22, 2026 near Dos Rios Park in Grand Junction, Colorado. Cobble bars and muddy banks emerged as the river receded (left). Record-low winter snowpack and heavy diversion in the agricultural Grand Valley contributed to the low flows.
Luke Runyon, The Water Desk

New polling suggests that Americans overwhelmingly oppose the construction of data centers, with women expressing the strongest concerns about their environmental, social, and economic impacts.

In this report for The 19th, Climate Reporter and incoming Ted Scripps Fellow Jenae Barnes examines public attitudes toward the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and explores why women are often at the forefront of community opposition to data center development.

Read more: https://19thnews.org/2026/05/women-opposition-ai-data-centers/