| Dan Fagin Environmental and Science Journalist An associate professor of journalism at New York University, where he heads the science journalism program, Dan Fagin writes about a broad range of environmental and science topics in newspapers, magazines and books. Recent publications include articles in Scientific American and New Scientist. From 1991 to 2005 he was the environment writer at Newsday in New York, where he was a principal member of two reporting teams that were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. His stories on cancer epidemiology were awarded the 2003 AAAS and NASW science journalism prizes. He is the co-author of the book Toxic Deception, which documented pervasive flaws in chemical regulation and was described by the New York Times as "the story of the triumph of a special interest over the public interest." Dan is working on a book for Bantam/Random House that intertwines three story lines: the history of environmental cancer epidemiology, the half-century saga of the Toms River, N.J., childhood cancer cluster, and current research into gene-environment interactions (the closely related fields of molecular epidemiology, ecogenetics and toxicogenomics). At NYU, Dan is the director of the masters-level Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. (Check out SHERP's webzine, Scienceline.) During the summer of 2005, Dan was a Templeton-Cambridge Fellow at Cambridge University, UK. His previous fellowships were at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., and the Institute of Arctic Biology in northern Alaska. He has been a visiting professor or lecturer at Columbia, Dartmouth, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, Ohio University, Michigan, St. Thomas University and many other schools. An abbreviated c.v. is available here. Dan is a former board member and past president of the 1,500-member Society of Environmental Journalists, the world's oldest and largest association of journalists dedicated to improving the quality, accuracy and visibility of environmental coverage. Contact Dan at dan@danfagin.com. He is represented by Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Dan lives with his wife Alison Frankel (author of the book Double Eagle) and their two daughters in the village of Sea Cliff, N.Y. Selected writings: The introduction (pdf file), first chapter and afterword of Toxic Deception, the book Dan co-wrote with Marianne Lavelle and the Center for Public Integrity. Also a syndicated column by Dan and Marianne. (Link courtesy of pmac.net) The group Investigative Reporters and Editors named Toxic Deception a finalist for its national award for best investigative journalism book of 1997. More than 1,400 articles (link is slow) Dan wrote for Newsday are available for purchase through the newspaper's archives. The stories linked below are also available elsewhere on the Web. "Tattered Hopes" An award-winning six-part series detailing how flawed science, politics and activism wrecked a $30 million cancer study and derailed the search for neighborhood cancer clusters. Newsday, July 28-30 and Aug. 11-14, 2002. (The results of the two principal federal environmental studies are available here and here.) "Science and Journalism Fail to Connect" An overview of some of the key problems afflicting journalism on scientific topics, including hype, timidity and ignorance about the processes of science. Harvard University's Nieman Reports, Winter 2005. "Erasing the Rules" One of a series of articles scrutinizing the Bush Administration's unprecedented efforts to ease regulation of industry and bring business lobbyists into the government, this story focuses on environmental issues. Newsday, Oct. 12, 2004. (Link courtesy of bobwhitson.com) "Turning Garbage into Oil -- and Cash" A look at Changing World Technologies a small company that is making waves and raising big money with an astonishing technology that can transform almost any carbon-based waste -- from tires to turkeys -- into high-quality petroleum and fertilizer. Newsday, April 4, 2004. (Link courtesy of mindfully.org) "After Sept. 11, Headlines About Air Quality Were Everywhere" (pdf file) An essay about the gut-wrenching complexities of covering the environmental aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York. Harvard University's Nieman Reports, Winter 2002. A selection of columns about issues confronting environmental journalism published in the quarterly SEJournal in 2003 and 2004. "A New Environment" A dusty corner of Colorado epitomizes the Bush Administration's "unfinished environmental revolution". This feature was written halfway through George W. Bush's first term as president. Newsday, Jan. 12, 2003. (Link courtesy of newsmine.org) "Mercury Poisoning, the Hidden Danger in Your Home" An overview of mercury risks. Family Circle magazine, March 2002. (Link courtesy of mindfully.org) A series about leaking oil tanks and the gasoline additive MTBE explains how a effort to clean the air wound up polluting groundwater from California to New York, and why cleanups are faltering. Sidebars about the secrecy surrounding leaks and the neighborhood fights they often spark. Aug. 23-24, 1998. (Links courtesy of junkscience.com and toxicstargeting.com) "Down the Road, Portable Power" A look at the promise and pitfalls of hydrogen as a transportation fuel. Newsday, Aug. 10, 2003. (Link courtesy of ecology.com) "Trouble on the Rise" An overview of the threats posed by global warming, focusing on likely impacts in downstate New York, Newsday, April 4, 1999. (Link courtesy of NY Sea Grant) "Border Town Mystery" Just across the Rio Grande from the the foul-smelling chemical plants of Matamoros, Texas mothers in 1992 were giving birth to babies without brains at eight times the nationwide rate. Newsday, July 12, 1992. (Link courtesy of fluoridealert.org) Chapter One of a yearlong Newsday series about the natural history of Long Island. It was also released as the book Long Island: Our Story. Newsday, Sept. 29-Oct. 12, 1997. Writings by others about Dan's work: Two columns (parts one and two) by Peter Montague in Rachel's Environmental and Health Weekly about Toxic Deception in 1997. A column about Toxic Deception by the late Donella Meadows, a visionary environmental thinker and nationally syndicated columnist. April 26, 2000. Other links: Transcripts of Dan talking about the future of environmental reporting on National Public Radio, and the resignation of EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman on CNN. A syllabus (pdf file) of the environmental journalism course Dan teaches at New York University. Covering Pollution, a guidebook to investigative environmental journalism, by Lori Luechtefeld for Investigative Reporters and Editors in cooperation with the Society of Environmental Journalists. Dan is a contributor. |
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