The National Press Foundation (NPF) and the National Press Club Journalism Institute (NPCJI) have jointly awarded $43,700 to fund five reporting projects on environmental justice. This is the fourth year that the two leading journalism organizations have partnered to fund investigative reporting on disproportionate environmental harms.
The 2025 Kozik Environmental Justice Reporting grantees and their projects are:
Tristan Baurick and Halle Parker, Verite News. Baurick and Parker will expand on their existing reporting on lead poisoning among children in New Orleans, with a focus on the places where children come into close and regular contact with potentially contaminated soil, such as parks, schools, and daycare centers. Their project includes two public service components: an interactive map showing the results from their hands-on testing of these sites, as well as informational postcards to be distributed to vulnerable communities near the hotspots. ($5,900)
Bradford Davis, Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Davis will evaluate the intersection of sports, transportation, and the environment by building an interactive map that uses real congestion and emission data, allowing users to explore how building transportation alternatives to and from sporting events can alter the environmental impact on the surrounding communities. Davis will focus reporting efforts in Arlington, Texas, the largest city in America without public transportation and home to two major sports franchises: the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers. ($8,600)
Max Filby, The Columbus Dispatch. Filby’s project explores the unsafe levels of radon that exist in more than 50% of homes in Ohio, an overlooked public health threat. Filby will produce a series of stories examining the issue with hands-on testing in communities most vulnerable to exposure. And he’ll produce a map and ZIP code database so that Ohioans can search radon levels in their neighborhoods. ($7,500)
Photo Courtesy: Jason Bredehoeft – USA TODAY NETWORK
Carla Samon Ros and Johanna Hänsel, Inside Climate News. Samon Ros and Hänsel will probe who controls America’s lithium mining rush and document how companies are exploiting a 150-year-old colonial mining law and an accelerated permitting process to build out the domestic supply chain for EVs, leaving vulnerable communities and ecosystems unprotected. Their reporting points to systemic patterns of backdoor deals, weak regulations, and lack of enforcement that come at a high cost. In addition to their stories, they will develop an accessible map that shows the overlap between Indigenous lands, environmentally protected areas, and lithium mining projects. ($11,700)
Helina Selemon and Jordan Gass-Pooré, New York Amsterdam News. Their four-part multimedia project will investigate the human and economic toll of extreme heat on communities of color in New York City, one of the nation’s most intense urban heat islands. Their stories will explore efforts to expand mitigation and adaptation efforts to communities most in need, spotlight the systemic issues driving these deadly outcomes, and provide evidence-based responses that can be used to address them. ($10,000)
Judges praised the grantees’ creative approaches to telling vitally important stories centered on the people and places most affected by systemic environmental injustice.
The selected proposals featured timely news pegs, hands-on data collection, and the potential for “long-term impact” in geographically diverse parts of the country. Each project’s “direct ties to the people on the ground” were especially appealing, judges said.
“Each of these projects has the power to expose the deep rifts that exist between how people live their day-to-day lives and the environmental circumstances that put them at high risk for long-term health concerns,” said Beth Francesco, executive director for the National Press Club Journalism Institute. “While these are sometimes nuanced, complex stories to tell, each of this year’s grantees has prioritized accessibility for the public in their work.”
“We’re excited by the investigative work and the data visualizations proposed this year, which we believe will bring new audiences to the journalists’ work,” said Anne Godlasky, president of the National Press Foundation. “These reporters will help their communities understand their risks and feel empowered by the information – service journalism at its core.”
The Kozik Grants are funded by a 1991 gift from the late Dr. Franklin Kozik in honor of his deceased son, Robert Kozik. The five grantees were selected by judges Yvette Cabrera, Rob Chaney, Charles Self, and Kat Stafford. This is the fourth round of Kozik grants awarded since 2021.
See more about the Kozik grant recipients’ projects published in 2024, 2023, and 2021.
About The National Press Foundation
The National Press Foundation is a nonprofit whose mission is to “make good journalists better.” We educate journalists on the complex issues of the day and train them to use the latest reporting tools and techniques. The foundation recognizes and encourages excellence in journalism through its awards and fellowships.
About the National Press Club Journalism Institute
The National Press Club Journalism Institute promotes an engaged global citizenry through an independent and free press and equips journalists with skills and standards to inform the public in ways that inspire a more representative democracy. As the non-profit affiliate of the National Press Club, the Institute powers journalism in the public interest.
