Fall 2009 Jefferson Fellowships: The Right Climate for Confronting Climate Change?

Fall 2009 Jefferson Fellowships for Journalists

Dates: October 25-November 14, 2009

Theme: “The Right Climate for Confronting Climate Change?”

Travel Destinations: Honolulu, Hawaii; Monterey and Palo Alto, California; Boulder, Colorado; Washington, D.C.

Who Can Apply: Working print, broadcast, and on-line journalists in the United States, Asia and the Pacific Islands. Five years of experience preferred. English fluency required.

Funding: Airfare, lodging, per diem and most other program expenses are provided through a grant from The Freeman Foundation of Stowe, Vermont. Participants are responsible for all applicable visa fees and any additional visa-related expenses. 

Application Deadline: Wednesday, June 17, 2009.

Information and applications: For more information about the program and how to apply, please visit: http://www.eastwestcenter.org/jefferson.

Contacts: Send applications and questions by email to jefferson@eastwestcenter.org or fax at (808) 944-7600. For phone inquiries, please contact Ann Hartman, Jefferson Fellowships Coordinator, at (808) 944-7619.

Theme: “The Right Climate for Confronting Climate Change?”

The new U.S. presidential administration of Barack Obama has increased attention to climate change in advance of the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in December 2009. With this backdrop, the Fall 2009 Jefferson Fellowships program will explore the ability of U.S. domestic and foreign policy to confront the important economic challenges and opportunities involved in addressing climate change and its consequences. While near-term costs may affect the livelihoods of Americans already struggling in the current U.S. recession, addressing climate change also presents opportunities to strengthen important parts of the economy and create jobs. In addition, the Fall 2009 program will examine how the issue of climate change may serve as a way for the United States to rebuild partnerships and alliances around the world and to bolster national security. 

The program will begin in Honolulu with one week of discussions, field visits and participant presentations that explore the challenge of climate change throughout the Asia Pacific-U.S. region. Participants will share impacts, responses and policy challenges from the perspectives of their own countries. The study tour will focus on policy challenges and opportunities for the United States through visits to key destinations on the U.S. mainland.