Derek Moscato, PhD
-
It’s been another busy yet immensely rewarding year in the journalism department. I’ve returned to the environmental journalism classroom this year to work with students who are doing some terrific work in areas such as science communication and wildlife reporting. Our class is lucky enough to work with a wide range of community organizations, including the Salish Sea Institute and the Pipeline Safety Trust. This winter, we’re joining the latter entity to visit Whatcom Falls Park in Bellingham to learn more about the legacy of the tragic 1999 Olympic pipeline explosion.
These engagements are helping our students to negotiate environmental issues, and crises, through lenses of ecology and community, but also policy and civic connection. Related to this, I’ve recently finished work on a second environmental media book, titled Environmental Communication and The Wild: Image, Industry, and Technology. This new book features some incredible environmental media scholars from across the country. Please reach out if you’re interested in learning more.
Just over a year after the NHL Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park, I’m still paying attention to some fascinating sporting developments in the region, including next year’s FIFA World Cup in Seattle and Vancouver. I’ve been working with Western’s Border Policy Research Institute to examine the cultural, economic, and environmental ramifications of the cross-border flows of sport, whether it’s FIFA, NHL, Major League Baseball, but also up-and-coming sports like global rugby, professional lacrosse, and junior hockey. Needless to say, these discussions about sport and society are finding their way into my new honors seminar called Global Sport: Media, Politics, and Diplomacy. Now I just need to find some tickets to the actual World Cup games.
Back in the journalism department, our new chapter of the journalism society Kappa Tau Alpha is off the ground, providing a terrific way to recognize student excellence across our sequences. In addition to KTA, I’m also keeping busy chairing the university’s Academic Technology Committee and advising our Western chapter of PRSSA. I always look forward to hearing from our alumni, as do our students, so please stay in touch!