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Reporter's Toolbox is a regular column focused on the world of data journalism, with an emphasis on data tools, techniques and database resources that journalists can use to improve their environmental reporting.

For questions and comments, or to suggest future Reporter's Toolboxes, email Toolbox Editor Joseph A. Davis at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Journalists can receive Reporter's Toolbox free by subscribing to the SEJournal Online, the digital news magazine of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Subscribe to the e-newsletter here.

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October 22, 2025

  • Drinking Water Database Opens Spigot on Local Stories

    Drinking water may be ubiquitous in the United States, but that doesn’t mean it’s always safe. To report the answer in your community, the latest Reporter’s Toolbox suggests exploring the Safe Drinking Water Information System, a federal government database mandated by the Safe Drinking Water Act. Here’s how to use it to identify whether your local systems meet its standards.

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October 8, 2025

  • Crop Cover Database Seeds Local Environment Coverage

    Cropland can easily be found time and again at the heart of the key concerns on the environment beat, whether climate, water, chemicals or, of course, land. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox shares a high-quality, mappable database that can serve up stories on more than 100 categories of crops, with numbers drawn from satellite imagery. Plus, a pro tip on using the data smartly.

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September 24, 2025

  • Trump Administration Icing Out NSIDC Data

    An important federal database that tracks Arctic ice and snowmelt — which help address concerns like sea level rise and fresh water resources — is facing funding cuts and reductions in services. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox looks at the kind of high-quality information the National Snow and Ice Data Center can provide environmental reporters, including for local stories. That is, while it lasts.

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September 10, 2025

  • Walkability Index Helps Journalists Highlight Planning Issues

    Many local government decisions come down to a key factor: walkability. And that’s not just a question of transportation infrastructure. As the latest Reporter’s Toolbox notes, walkability is also an environmental consideration. To turn that simple truth into stories about the built environment, here’s a high-quality, mappable walkability index. How to use the database smartly, plus questions to ask that will get your reporting started.

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August 20, 2025

  • EPA Open Data Plan Is Worth Putting Into Action

    Public databases — a boon to good environmental reporting — have long been a priority for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as evidenced in its just-published “open data plan.” But as an analysis in the latest Reporter’s Toolbox notes, that pioneering approach may succumb to Trump 2.0 policies. What’s at stake and what’s already being lost.

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July 23, 2025

  • NASA Portal Can Lead Reporters to Universe of Data

    For environmental journalists looking for data riches to help tell their stories — whether about urban heat islands, sea-surface temperatures or air pollution — NASA has the satellites whose sensors capture insights galore. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox offers an introduction to the U.S. space agency’s incredibly extensive data portal, and how to get started amid the wealth of information (caveat: before it’s gone).

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June 25, 2025

  • Lead Pipe Data Map Offers Sharp New Tool

    Lead-contaminated drinking water has long been a widespread worry, but one big challenge has been locating the many lead service lines around the United States. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox points you to a mappable database to help address that problem, with current, detailed data filtered through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Learn more about this resource and how to best use it.

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June 11, 2025

  • Will DOGE Evaporate Crucial Water Data?

    Streamflow data gathered by thousands of U.S. Geological Survey gauges helps track the country’s floods and droughts. But it may be lost if the Trump administration follows up on a decision not to renew leases of USGS water science centers that read the gauges and disseminate the measurements. Reporter’s Toolbox on the value of this database and the risk of its loss.

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May 21, 2025

  • Green Geeks Liberate Environmental Data

    Environmental journalists need environmental data, even as it’s being stripped from government sites by the Trump administration. That’s where a band of programmers organized into the Public Environmental Data Partners comes in. The latest Toolbox reports it’s rescuing wiped data and making it accessible to reporters. Learn who’s behind the project and get an overview of some of the datasets being restored.

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April 16, 2025

  • As One Door Shuts on Climate Risk Data, News Outlet Opens Another

    Even as U.S. government agencies rush to wipe climate change information (or even the mention of the word climate) from their websites, others are racing to reconstruct lost data elsewhere. Case in point is a rescued database on climate risks preserved by The Guardian. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox has more on the preserved database and how best to use it.

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SEJournal Online is the digital news magazine of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Learn more about SEJournal Online, including submission, subscription and advertising information.