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A year-long reporting project to examine how PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) permeate firefighting work, endangering health and overburdening small departments, has received support from the renowned Pulitzer Center, the organization announced Friday.
Independent writer Marina Schauffler and the Maine Morning Star are one of nine Fellows and news partners chosen for the Pulitzer Center’s inaugural StoryReach U.S. cohort. The project will involve reporting in-depth stories and exploring innovative engagement activities to expand the reach and impact of journalism with audiences across the United States.
Unlike other fellowships, the project will entail identifying audiences and engagement strategies from the outset of the StoryReach Fellowship, ensuring the people who most need to be reached can benefit from the published reporting.
The Story Reach U.S initiative responds to challenges faced by local and regional news outlets across the United States. It represents the Pulitzer Center’s commitment to staying at the forefront of the world’s most innovative and consequential reporting, with journalism and engagement as the key elements for mobilizing society.
An environmental writer, Schauffler has long written about the intersection of ecology and culture in Maine through her column “Sea Change.” In recent years, her work has increasingly focused on the impact of PFAS, and she wrote an extended article series–”Invisible and Indestructible”–on these persistent chemicals in 2022. She recently launched ContamiNation, a Substack newsletter focused on PFAS and microplastics, which she describes as “twin threats to ecological and human health.”
“Maine is at the forefront in confronting PFAS health threats, but there are still settings with heavy historical use of these chemicals that need further research,” said Schauffler. “I’m honored to be working with the Pulitzer Center, Maine Morning Star and the state’s firefighting community to help illuminate PFAS risks within and from firefighting.”
“We are thrilled to be collaborating with Marina on this project and to have the backing of the Pulitzer Center to help more directly connect this important work with the communities most impacted by these harms,” said Maine Morning Star editor Lauren McCauley.
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