About YEPT
Youth Environmental Press team (YEPT) is an Indiana-based organization focused on elevating the voices of high school journalists writing about the environment and the climate crisis. YEPT is a program of Earth Charter Indiana, whose mission is intergenerational climate action.
As a team, YEPT members seek high school journalists who cover environmental and climate crisis stories to help them build their skills as journalists. Being a member of YEPT means developing a network of support for fellow journalists as they learn and grow together as writers, leaders, teammates and advocates.
Once student content has been edited and refined, it is published on this website, on Indiana Environmental Reporter when it was in operation, and, occasionally, via Public News Service.
Adult advisors for this project include:
Jim Poyser: Jim is Director of Advancement for Earth Charter Indiana and over his journalism career served as an editor at numerous publications, including The Bloomington Voice, Breeze Magazine, Indiana Living Green and NUVO Newsweekly. His essays were published throughout the alternative newsweekly circuit and beyond.
Beth Edwards: Sadly, Beth passed away on June 30, 2023. She was instrumental in supporting our program and our youth, at a pivotal time in our growth. She was an award winning journalist and documentary filmmaker working for the Indiana Environmental Reporter. Her previous work included projects for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Amazon, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, as well as many others.
We are pleased to partner with Quill and Scroll and their Associate Director Lori Keekley. Our missions to uplift youth journalism overlap perfectly, and we look forward to expanding YEPT with their assistance.
We are grateful for support from Earth Rising Foundation in growing this program.
In 2021/2022 we worked closely with five transmedia storytelling graduate students from Ball State University, led by Dr. Kevin Moloney to further develop this program (including this website!). Thanks to John Becker, Toria Callow, Gwyn Hultquist, Brook Kemp and Jean Trevino.
Meet our high school journalists here.