The Journal of Environmental Media offers a scholarly platform to bridge work in environmental studies, identity and social justice, and science communication through the prism of screen media, focusing on the role of new and emerging digital media in our understanding and perception of the environment and related social issues.
The Journal of Environmental Media is published with the support of the Abess Center, University of Miami.
This title is indexed with Scopus.
For more information, to access the journal or to subscribe visit the Discover platform here.
Editors
Juliet Pinto
Penn State University, USA
jzp726@psu.edu
Patrick Brodie
University College Dublin, Ireland
patrick.brodie@ucd.ie
Associate Editors
Alix Johnson
Macalester College, USA
ajohns39@macalester.edu
Anne Pasek
Trent University, Canada
annepasek@trentu.ca
Reviews Editors
Lisa Han
Arizona State University, USA
lyhan@asu.edu
Rachel Webb Jekanowski
Memorial University Newfoundland, Canada
rjekanowski@mun.ca
Editorial Assistant
Rachel Colson
Macalester College, USA
rcolson@macalester.edu
The Journal of Environmental Media (JEM) explores the role of digital screen culture and new media in shaping environmentally themed content and activism, communicating environmental data and impacting social perceptions of the environment. JEM is a scholarly platform aimed at bridging work in environmental studies, digital culture studies, environmental justice, infrastructure and materiality studies, STS, media anthropology and environmental communication, covering a range of environmental issues such as climate change, environmental racism, energy infrastructures, biodiversity, climate migration and e-waste. We promote work that engages with diverse methodological and disciplinary approaches, bringing social science research into dialogue with environmental humanities, screen studies and intersectional social theory, in order to investigate a broad landscape of media forms and practices including smart technology, machine learning, popular media and streaming services, social media platforms and new developments in augmented reality and virtual reality.
All articles undergo initial editorial screening either by the journal's Editorial Team and/or incumbent Guest Editors. Articles then undergo a rigorous anonymous peer review by two referees, following the guidance in Intellect's 'Peer review instructions'. Based on this feedback, the Editors will communicate a decision and revision suggestions to authors. To appeal an editorial decision, please contact the main Editor who will consider your case.
The journal follows the principles set out by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Read our Ethical Guidelines for more on the journal's standards.
Editors
Juliet Pinto
Penn State University, USA
jzp726@psu.edu
Patrick Brodie
University College Dublin, Ireland
patrick.brodie@ucd.ie
Associate Editors
Alix Johnson
Macalester College, USA
ajohns39@macalester.edu
Anne Pasek
Trent University, Canada
annepasek@trentu.ca
Reviews Editors
Lisa Han
Arizona State University, USA
lyhan@asu.edu
Rachel Webb Jekanowski
Memorial University Newfoundland, Canada
rjekanowski@mun.ca
Editorial Assistant
Rachel Colson
Macalester College, USA
rcolson@macalester.edu
Editors
Juliet Pinto
Penn State University, USA
jzp726@psu.edu
Patrick Brodie
University College Dublin, Ireland
patrick.brodie@ucd.ie
Associate Editors
Alix Johnson
Macalester College, USA
ajohns39@macalester.edu
Anne Pasek
Trent University, Canada
annepasek@trentu.ca
Reviews Editors
Lisa Han
Arizona State University, USA
lyhan@asu.edu
Rachel Webb Jekanowski
Memorial University Newfoundland, Canada
rjekanowski@mun.ca
Editorial Assistant
Rachel Colson
Macalester College, USA
rcolson@macalester.edu
Editors
Juliet Pinto
Penn State University, USA
jzp726@psu.edu
Patrick Brodie
University College Dublin, Ireland
patrick.brodie@ucd.ie
Associate Editors
Alix Johnson
Macalester College, USA
ajohns39@macalester.edu
Anne Pasek
Trent University, Canada
annepasek@trentu.ca
Reviews Editors
Lisa Han
Arizona State University, USA
lyhan@asu.edu
Rachel Webb Jekanowski
Memorial University Newfoundland, Canada
rjekanowski@mun.ca
Editorial Assistant
Rachel Colson
Macalester College, USA
rcolson@macalester.edu
Journal of Environmental Media (6.2)
'Care-ful convening: towards low carbon and inclusive knowledge sharing'
The consequences of human-induced climate change, the extinction of flora and fauna, pollution, environmental predation, and injustices are causing a spectrum of constraints, shrinkage, alteration and loss (Murphy, 2017; Elliott, 2018; Dokumaci, 2023). In response, people are figuring out how to think, communicate and act differently to account for damages done by systems whose human, more-than-human, and planetary harms are fueled by petrocultures (Chapman and Ahmed 2021; Gomez-Barris 2018; Táíwò 2022). Carbon-concerned researchers, professionals, and citizens are advancing necessary shifts, including designing and implementing alternative communication and gathering forms. Our call invites scholars across disciplines to explore the articulation between media and new forms of collaborative and non-extractive ways of knowledge exchange and communication.
Alternative histories of digital networks and convenings invite us to radically recenter community, care and human needs and aspirations rather than capital accumulation, hyper-mobility, and efficiency. In addition to making arguments for what is needed and why, we are eager to illuminate what is being done and how. This callout seeks cracks and opportunities: what does care-ful convening look like considering the entanglement between platforms and the global supply chains, extractive industries and capitalist geopolitics that have led to climate breakdown?
We find inspiration in Arseli Dokumaci's (2023) exploration of ‘activist affordances’ that bridge disability studies with our shrinking planet and activism that centres care (Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha 2018), pleasure (Adrienne Maree Brown 2019) and rest (Hersey 2022). The decolonial work carried out by The Civic Laboratory for Environmental Action Research (CLEAR) in Canada, and the praxis promoted by communities like Virtually Connecting (Caines, 2016). We are intrigued by academics who travel low and slow (Knox, 2019; Conti 2021) and aim to decarbonize conference travel (Klöwer et al. 2020), communication systems, and research (Jekanowski, Pasek and Elliott 2022; Miya, Rockwell and Rossier 2021). We are grateful to participate in Low Carbon Research Methods Group and LIMITS initiatives for research exchange both online and off.
The constraints of just decarbonization are challenging long-standing colonialist and ableist mobility norms that have propelled people to travel far and wide to connect. Now, to reduce carbon emissions (Jäckle, S. 2022; Pasek, Roehl and Wellum 2020), increase accessibility (Bastian, 2021; Wu et al., 2022), and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, more conferences and professional encounters are taking place online. However, while formal aspects of virtual conferences might be perceived as “better than expected” (Niner and Wasserman 2021), a significant number of participants express concern that it is challenging to build meaningful connections in online events (Bray et al. 2022; Seidenberg et al. 2021). Contributors to this special issue will be invited to discuss the practicalities of organizing such virtual communication spaces, the philosophies and processes that animate such spaces and their materialities.
How, to what extent and for whom do these digital technologies change knowledge sharing? We seek contributions, taking an intersectional perspective, which showcases creative possibilities of care-ful convening without romanticizing the constraint or the ability to thrive amidst institutional scarcity and political violence. This special issue will bring to the foreground questions about ethics and methodologies, such as: What technical, organizational, and communicative approaches will be restorative for living beings and the planet? Who needs to be in conversation with whom, and by what media? What types of new media platforms and offline programs will challenge uneven and oppressive power dynamics that contribute to environmental harm? How do we know when something ‘works’? And more broadly, how does care-ful convening probe taken-for-granted assumptions about the “contours of ‘media’” (Brodie et al. 2023) and open out to new possibilities?
Form and Format:
We welcome diverse submissions from across disciplines and invite contributions to one of the three categories below. Authors are welcome to submit to multiple categories. We encourage collaborative submissions, particularly those that cross academic boundaries, institutional borders, and geographic locations. We are eager to accept pieces that: bring together the past, present, and future; hold complex tensions; showcase alternative value systems to challenge dominant modes of relating steeped in racism, patriarchy, capitalism, extractivism, and colonialism; provoke new ways of engaging with carbon, inclusivity, and knowledge exchange; and that that inspire reflectivity, justice-driven advocacy, and care. Black and white images of any kind are welcome, including photographs, sketches and drawings, graphs and charts.
If you are considering submitting an abstract, please read the full version of the Special Issue Call for Proposals, which is linked at the top of this tab.
Analyse – Articles (5000–7000 words)
These are research articles and/or critically reflective essays. We are open to articles written in traditional disciplinary writing styles as well as non-traditional formats and writing styles, including first-person prose and creative essays.
Submit to the Analyse section:
Please send us an abstract of up to 250 words and three keywords no later than 15 January 2024, via this submission form (the deadline for abstracts has now passed). Authors will be notified of the editorial team’s selections in February. Full drafts are due 1 July 2024 for peer review. Please review the Journal of Environmental Media’s submission guidelines and submit via this form: https://forms.gle/eLh6sJCNHDsjVebc7
Actualize – Fieldnotes (500–1500)
To examine and explore what is being done and how, these entries share documentation and reflections from media encounters that exemplify convening in more care-ful, equitable and environmentally conscious ways. Key takeaways from these experiences can be shared as instructions for alternative convenings, lessons learned, undergirding concepts, etc. Have you been to a gathering that inspired you, made you think differently and deserves some critical thought and attention? During the course of your research, have you had a convening of technology and people that surprised you, rearranged your thinking and opened up a new way to make and disseminate knowledge? We invite memories and reflections, sketches, field notes, portraits of software and diary entries.
Fantasize – Speculative Proposals (500–1500)
We welcome visions of future convenings and forms of convening. This can be grounded in something you’d like to implement right here, right now on earth or can suggest a speculative convening that takes place in a fantastical imaginary realm.
Submit to the Actualize or Fantasize section:
Please send the complete submission by 15 May 2024. Submit via this form: https://forms.gle/gEWGKMTobousTQQAA
Publication of Issue 6.2: October 2025
Guest editors:
Antoine Hardy (Centre Emile-Durkheim)
Shirley Roburn (York University)
Kate Elliott (Simon Fraser University)
Alexandra Lakind (American Council of Learned Societies)
Elizabeth Miller (Concordia University)
Call for Papers: Journal of Environmental Media
Editors
Juliet Pinto
Penn State University, USA
jzp726@psu.edu
Patrick Brodie
University College Dublin, Ireland
patrick.brodie@ucd.ie
Associate Editors
Alix Johnson
Macalester College, USA
ajohns39@macalester.edu
Anne Pasek
Trent University, Canada
annepasek@trentu.ca
Reviews Editors
Lisa Han
Arizona State University, USA
lyhan@asu.edu
Rachel Webb Jekanowski
Memorial University Newfoundland, Canada
rjekanowski@mun.ca
Editorial Assistant
Rachel Colson
Macalester College, USA
rcolson@macalester.edu
Editorial Board
Jemal Ahmed
Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
Alison Anderson
University of Plymouth, UK
Maxwell Boykoff
University of Colorado Boulder, USA
Alenda Chang
University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Kiu-Wai Chu
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Amanda D. Concha-Holmes
University of Florida, USA
Tom Conley
Harvard University, USA
Sean Cubitt
University of Melbourne, Australia
Finis Dunaway
Trent University, Canada
Jennifer Fay
Vanderbilt University, USA
Christina Gerhardt
University of Hawaiʻi, USA
Alison Griffiths
Baruch College, USA
Robert Gutsche Jr.
Florida Atlantic University, USA
Nik Norma Nik Hasan
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
Mette Hjort
University of Lincoln, UK
Adrian Ivakhiv
University of Vermont, USA
Brian Jacobson
Caltech, USA
Pietari Kääpä
University of Warwick, UK
Selmin Kara
OCAD University, Canada
Zenia Kish
Ontario Tech University, Canada
Adi Kuntsman
Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Antonio Lopez
John Cabot University, Italy
Scott MacKenzie
Queen’s University, Canada
Elizabeth Miller
Concordia University, Canada
Theresa Miller
FrameWorks Institute, USA
Salma Monani
Gettysburg College, USA
Lisa Parks
University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Elena Past
Wayne State University, USA
Jennifer Peterson
Woodbury University, USA
Phaedra Pezzullo
University of Colorado Boulder, USA
Joost Raessens
Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Justin Rawlins
University of Tulsa, USA
Cameron Riopelle
University of Miami, USA
Shirley Roburn
York University, Canada
Amy Rust
University of South Florida, USA
Steve Rust
University of Oregon, USA
Matthew Schneider Mayerson
Colby College, USA
Jim Schwoch
Northwestern University, USA
Nicole Seymour
CSU Fullerton, USA
Nicole Starosielski
University of California, USA
Anna Stenport
University of Georgia, USA
Rick Stepp
University of Florida, USA
Noel Sturgeon
York University, Canada
Graig Uhlin
Oklahoma State University, USA
Janet Walker
University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Alexa Weik von Messner
University of Klagenfurt, Austria
Laura Zanotti
Purdue University, USA
Editors
Juliet Pinto
Penn State University, USA
jzp726@psu.edu
Patrick Brodie
University College Dublin, Ireland
patrick.brodie@ucd.ie
Associate Editors
Alix Johnson
Macalester College, USA
ajohns39@macalester.edu
Anne Pasek
Trent University, Canada
annepasek@trentu.ca
Reviews Editors
Lisa Han
Arizona State University, USA
lyhan@asu.edu
Rachel Webb Jekanowski
Memorial University Newfoundland, Canada
rjekanowski@mun.ca
Editorial Assistant
Rachel Colson
Macalester College, USA
rcolson@macalester.edu
Editors
Juliet Pinto
Penn State University, USA
jzp726@psu.edu
Patrick Brodie
University College Dublin, Ireland
patrick.brodie@ucd.ie
Associate Editors
Alix Johnson
Macalester College, USA
ajohns39@macalester.edu
Anne Pasek
Trent University, Canada
annepasek@trentu.ca
Reviews Editors
Lisa Han
Arizona State University, USA
lyhan@asu.edu
Rachel Webb Jekanowski
Memorial University Newfoundland, Canada
rjekanowski@mun.ca
Editorial Assistant
Rachel Colson
Macalester College, USA
rcolson@macalester.edu
