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Thomas Yulsman
Work: 303-492-3009 Tom.Yulsman@Colorado.edu
7204 Timothy Place
Niwot, Colorado 80503
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M.S. in Journalism, 5/80
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
B.A. in Environmental Studies, 5/77
Harpur College, State University of New York at Binghamton: Specialization in environmental journalism
Associate Professor, 8/96 to present
School of Journalism & Mass Communication, University of Colorado at Boulder
Co-director, 8/03 to present
Center for Environmental Journalism, School of Journalism & Mass Communication
News-Editorial Sequence Head, 8/04 to present
School of Journalism & Mass Communication
Senior Faculty Member, 1/99 to present
Environmental Studies Program, University of Colorado at Boulder
Deputy Director, 8/96 to 8/03
Center for Environmental Journalism
Acting Director, 1/00-7/00
Center for Environmental Journalism
Adjunct, New York University, 9/81 - 6/82
Guided students’ independent study programs, advised on major writing projects, graded final papers and oral exams.
Contributing Editor, Astronomy Magazine, 6/97 to 9/02
Wrote major feature articles on a regular basis for the world's leading astronomy magazine.
Contributing Editor, Earth Magazine, 8/96 to 7/98
Wrote major features for the only consumer magazine devoted to the science of planet Earth; worked with editorial and art staffs to improve cover design and cover headlines.
Editor-in-Chief, Earth Magazine, 5/92 to 8/96
Directed all editorial aspects of this former bimonthly consumer magazine devoted to the science of our planet. Hired and supervised all editorial staff.
Editorial duties: Conceived magazine’s editorial mission, article ideas and new areas of coverage; assigned stories, oversaw assignments by other editors; reviewed incoming manuscripts; edited, wrote and rewrote features; wrote editorials; oversaw layout and design of magazine; top edited articles.
Administrative and managerial duties: Prepared and oversaw budgets; wrote job descriptions; worked with circulation, advertising sales, creative services and administration departments on business aspects and sales and marketing of Earth magazine.
Desk Editor, Medical Tribune Company, 4/91 - 4/92
Edited, rewrote and wrote articles for the Medical Tribune News Service, a joint venture with the N.Y. Times News Service that provided daily medical news copy to news outlets worldwide; supervised staff reporters in New York and Washington; with BBC, developed pilot for daily, global medical news report for television.
Desk Editor, New York Times Magazine Part 2, 3/89 - 4/91
Edited, wrote and rewrote articles, generated story ideas, conceived graphics for articles, wrote headlines and captions.
Contributing Editor, Self Magazine, 8/88 - 3/89
Retained by Condé Nast Publications to improve and professionalize coverage of medicine and psychology; edited medical news section, assigned, wrote and edited features and news stories.
Contributing Editor, American Health Magazine, 1/86 - 3/87
Assigned, wrote and edited news and feature stories; responsible for medical news section.
Freelance Writer, 8/85 - 4/91
Wrote on science, environment, technology, medicine, health and fitness for leading publications, including New York Times, Newsday, Discover, American Health, McCalls, Travel & Leisure.
Contributing Editor, Science Digest Magazine, 8/85 - 8/86
Wrote features and news articles.
Senior Writer, Science Digest Magazine, 1/84 - 8/85
Wrote and edited features, investigative pieces and news articles.
News Editor, Science Digest Magazine, 6/80 - 1/84
Responsible for news content of magazine, oversaw 16-page science news section, supervised four staffers and 15 regular contributors, assigned, wrote and edited articles and special sections.
Investigator, New York State Assembly Committee on Oversight and Investigations, 12/78 - 8/79
Worked on staff of then Brooklyn Assembly member Charles Schumer (now Senator). Uncovered government policies that stifled competitive bidding for state contracts, conceived and drafted legislation.
LEGAL CONSULTING
Expert Witness, Spring 2000: Retained by Petrie, Bauer, Vriesman & Hecht LLP in case of Full Draw Productions v. Easton, et al. I offered expert testimony about the magazine industry and whether the defendant’s journalistic practice was within the accepted norms of magazine journalism.
Reprinted:
- Yulsman, T. (2000), “The Day the Sea Stood Still.” Current Perspectives in Geology, Brooks-Cole, (McKinney, McHugh and Meadows eds), pp. 164-166.
- Yulsman, T. (1999), “The Day the Sea Stood Still Part 1.” Geotimes, Feb., Vol. 44 Issue 2, pp. 14-17. (Note: Geotimes is a monthly journal of the American Geological Institute.)
- Yulsman, T. (1999), “The Day the Sea Stood Still Part 2.” Geotimes, Feb., Vol. 44 Issue 3, pp. 16-18.
Reprinted:
- Dowling, C. G. & Yulsman, T. (1998), “Gorgeous Organic Grass.” News & Observer, June 20, p. E. 2.
OTHER CREATIVE WORK
School of Journalism & Mass Communication
Environmental, Population & Organismic Biology
PRINCIPAL PROFESSIONAL PROJECT ADVISEES SINCE 1996: 41
(Note: The professional project substitutes for a master's thesis for graduate news-editorial students at SJMC)
PRINCIPAL HONORS THESIS ADVISEES: 2
Finalist, Colorado Book Awards for “Origins”
Distinguished Teacher, awarded by the students of the SJMC, 5/3/99.
Interviewee: Midday Utah, KPCW, Utah Public Radio, about the increasing acceptance by the public, corporations and lawmakers of the reality of global climate change, Feb. 1, 2007
Panel Member: “Transforming Energy” panel following the screening of a documentary by the same name at the Boulder Theater and Boulder Shining Mountain School, 9/5/06 and 11/18/06 respectively.
Workshop Co-organizer and Presenter: Communicating science to the public, Biosphere-Atmosphere Research & Training program, University of Michigan Biological Station, July 25, 2006
Panel Member: Global warming public forum, University of Denver, May 31, 2006. Organized by DU’s Department of Human Communication Studies.
Interviewee: Midday Utah, KCPW, Utah Public Radio, on my Denver Post column about science, religion and intelligent design, Jan. 30, 2006
Interviewee: Colorado Inside Out, KBDI, public television Denver: panel discussion about evolution and intelligent design, Nov. 30, 2005
Interviewee: Mike Rosen Show, KOA radio, Denver, on evolution and intelligent design, Nov. 23, 2005
Organizer: Scripps Institute on the Environment, every May since 1998. The institute is a week long series of workshops, field trips and seminars in and around Boulder, sponsored by the CEJ for 25 journalists from around the country. Funded by the Scripps Howard Foundation.
Co-Organizer: Life in Extreme Environments/Astrobiology journalism workshop in Yellowstone National Park, co-sponsored by the CEJ, CU Center for Astrobiology and CU’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Aug. 4-7, 2005.
Interviewee: “Midday Utah,” KCPW, Utah Public Radio, on my Denver Post column about global warming and the Kyoto Protocol, July, 18, 2005.
Interviewee: “Climate Change,” Colorado Springs Independent article by Kathryn Eastburn on the growing movement among evangelical Christians to do something about global warming, April 21, 2005.
Invited Speaker: “News Values versus Science Values,” Center for Science and Technology Policy Research, University of Colorado, Dec. 6, 2004.
Invited Co-Organizer: Mars Science Journalist Workshop, co-sponsored by the CEJ, CU Center for Astrobiology and CU’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Dec. 12 and 13, 2003. This workshop for science journalists previewed the upcoming landings on Mars by U.S. robotic spacecraft.
Book Talks on “Origins: the Quest for Our Cosmic Roots”: Barnes & Noble, Boulder, Sept. 25, 2003; University of Colorado/CEJ, April 24, 2003; Tattered Cover book store, Denver, April 3, 2003
Invited Organizer: “Break-Out From the Global Warming Trap: an update from the front lines of science, policy & the media.” National Association of Science Writers Workshop, Feb. 13, 2003, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting.
Invited Co-Organizer: “The Daily Planet: Why the Media Stumble Over the Environment.” CIRES Distinguished Lecture by New York Times Science Reporter Andrew C. Revkin, University of Colorado, Oct. 17, 2002. (Co-organized with Prof. Roger Pielke, Jr. of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research.)
Invited Speaker: “Climate Change & Big Business — the Next 50 Years,” Society of Environmental Journalists, Oct. 11, 2002. Co-leader of discussion with working environmental journalists. (With Eileen Claussen, President of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.)
Invited participant: “Workshop on Astrobiology,” Denver Museum of Nature and Science, May 21, 2002. Participated in discussions to help the museum plan its first planetarium show for its new space theater (to open Spring 2003).
Symposium organizer: “Science & the Media: A Roundtable discussion,” University of Colorado, March 11, 2002. Organized and moderated symposium bringing media scholars and journalists together in event sponsored by Carbon, Climate and Society Initiative.
Interviewee, “The Meaning of Life,” article published in Astrobiology News, a news update section on NASA’s National Astrobiology Institute web site, 8/01.
Invited Talk: “Reflections on the Copernican Revolution: Are We Special?.” University of Colorado Graduate School Fall Symposium, 9/00.
Invited panelist: Society of Environmental Journalists, presentation and panel discussion on environmental and science journalism fellowships for working reporters. 9/99.
Interviewee: "Science Profile," Boulder Daily Camera, 6/20/99: Profiled for weekly Camera feature.
Symposium organizer: “Environmental Journalism: Beat or Bias?,” University of Colorado at Boulder, 10/98. Organized and moderated a public symposium with five working journalists on the nature of environmental journalism.
Interviewee: “Cloning More Common Than You Think,” The Salt Lake City Tribune, 1/29/98. Quoted in article about media coverage of cloning.
Interviewee: “CU holds own meet on global warming,” Denver Post, 10/7/97. Quoted in story about Presidential teleconference on global climate change.
Invited speaker: “What makes news in science?,” National Center for Atmospheric Research, 6/97. Presentation at a symposium on science communications for graduate students attending CEDAR atmospheric science workshop.
Symposium organizer, “What Makes News In Environmental Science?,” University of Colorado, 5/97. Organized and moderated public symposium with four national environmental reporters.
Co-Director, Center for Environmental Journalism: Help administer the program, mentor environmental journalism students, organize symposia and seminars, plan new CEJ programs, help run the Ted Scripps Fellowships in Environmental Journalism, co-organize annual, week-long Scripps Institute on the Environment for working journalists. The CEJ advances understanding of environmental issues through professional development, student education and communication with scientists and the public.
News-Editorial Sequence Head, 8/04 to present: Handle administrative duties for the News-Editorial Sequence in the SJMC, including course assignment coordination, overseeing recruitment, training and coordination of adjuncts and instructors; provide liaison between News-Editorial faculty and administration of the school; provide leadership on sequence matters and initiatives, including curriculum reform, promulgation of sequence policies and procedures, etc.; perform outreach with professional journalism community.
Dean’s Executive Committee, Fall 2004 to Fall 2006: Advisory to the Dean of the School of Journalism & Mass Communication on matters relating to budget, long-range goals, relationship with other campus units, awards, and other matters of importance to the SJMC, its faculty members and students.
Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, Fall 1998 to Fall 2006
Graduate Curriculum Committee, Fall 2006 to present
Advertising Faculty Search Committee, Fall 2004
Personnel Policies and Procedures Committee, Spring 2002 to present: Committee appointed by the Dean to revamp and oversee SJMC’s Bylaws and Personnel Policies and Procedures.
Faculty Search Committee, Spring 2001, Spring 2006, Fall 2006, Spring 2007
Acting Director, Center for Environmental Journalism, Spring 2000: Filled in for director Len Ackland during his sabbatical. (For a full description of CEJ activities, see above.)
Member, SJMC Dean Search Committee, Fall 1999: Appointed by vice chancellor.
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO SERVICE
Faculty Affiliate, Center for Science & Technology Policy, CIRES, Fall 2002 to present: Invited by CSTP director, Prof. Roger Pielke, Jr., to participate in Center initiatives.
Center of the American West, Spring 2002 to present: Faculty Advisory Council.
Senior Faculty Member, Environmental Studies Program, 1998 to present: Service duties include participating in faculty meetings, helping to shape the curriculum, participating in searches for new faculty, and contributing to the decision-making process on other key program issues. As a faculty member in ENVS, I helped plan the new graduate program, served on the Program Review Committee, and was appointed in Fall of 2002 to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. I have also participated in creating the Graduate Certificate in Environment, Policy and Society.
Collaborator, CU Center for Astrobiology, 1998 to present: Participate in Center activities, attend and give talks at Center seminars and symposia, provide input from the perspective of a science journalist. (Note: The Center is part of NASA’s Astrobiology Institute.)
Search Committee, CIRES Public Information Officer, Fall 2001: Invited by CIRES executive director Prof. Paul Sperry to serve on this committee, charged by Prof. Susan Avery to help in the selection of a person to coordinate all of CIRES’ public information efforts. In this capacity, I reviewed applications, interviewed applications, and deliberated with my fellow committee members on who to recommend for the job.
SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY AND THE PROFESSION
Editorial Advisory Board, Geotimes, FALL 2005 to present: Invited by managing editor of Geotimes magazine, a publication of the American Geological Institute, to help shape its editorial mission, long-term strategy, and marketing.
Grant Review Panel Member: Peer grant reviewer on NASA's National Space Biomedical Research Institute public outreach and education panel, Houston, Nov. 15 & 16, 2000.
MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Society of Environmental Journalists
Selected Publications Prior to Joining SJMC Faculty