Max interviewing Jane Goodall.
This meeting is cosponsored by Hernando Audubon, Adventure Coast Sierra Club, and Hernando Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society.
Reporting on Florida’s future: How can we use conservation storytelling to spur hope – and meaningful change? with speaker Max Chesnes
Socializing: 6:00 p.m.
Program starts: 6:30 p.m.
About the presentation: Tampa Bay Times’ environmental journalist Max Chesnes will tell us how his investigative reporting on threats facing Florida’s public lands has led to policy change and a broader statewide appreciation for Florida’s outdoor spaces. In 2024, Max broke a series of stories about how Florida’s government wanted to develop state parks with golf courses and hotels, and a separate proposal that would have traded away some of the Withlacoochee State Forest to a luxury golf developer. Max will present on his reporting process and how human-centered environmental stories can be a catalyst for change.
Max Chesnes
About the speaker: Max is the environment reporter for the Tampa Bay Times, where he's a member of the newspaper's Environment Hub. He reports on public lands, water quality, pollution, wildlife and everything in between. Prior to working for the Times, Max covered environmental issues for Treasure Coast Newspapers and the USA Today network, writing about Lake Okeechobee, the Indian River Lagoon and Florida’s wondrous Everglades. Max is a 2023 journalism fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy and a recipient of several environmental writing awards. He studied both journalism and sustainability at the University of Florida and is licensed to fly drones.
Max displaying drone results.