Cynthia Barnett

Cynthia Barnett

Barnett, photographed by John Moran in 2015
Alma mater University of Florida
Occupation Author, journalist
Website CynthiaBarnett.net

Cynthia Barnett is an American journalist who specializes in the environment. She is the author of the water books Mirage (2007), Blue Revolution (2011), and Rain: A Natural and Cultural History (2015), which was longlisted for the National Book Award and a finalist for the 2016 PEN/E.O. Wilson Award for Literary Science Writing from the PEN America Center.[1][2][3][4]

Career

Barnett earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s in American history with a specialization in environmental history, both from the University of Florida, and has described Florida’s nature and weather as significant inspiration for her work.[5][6][7]

Barnett spent her early career as a newspaper reporter, columnist and editor before joining Florida Trend magazine, where she was known for investigative reporting. Her investigation “Road Racket” into a change-order scheme involving some of Florida’s major highway contractors was recognized by the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information as one of the “Top Freedom of Information stories of the past 30 years.”[8][9][10][11] Her exposé on inspectors general fired by the subjects of their scrutiny won a national Sigma Delta Chi Award for Investigative Magazine Reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists.[12]

After investigating desalination, wetlands mitigation banking, coastal water quality and other water issues, Barnett has described becoming “obsessed with water.”[13] She spent 2004-2005 as a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan researching freshwater scarcity.[14] Her first book, Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S., was published by the University of Michigan Press in 2007. Her second book, Blue Revolution: Unmaking America’s Water Crisis, was published by Beacon Press in 2011. In 2012, she left her full-time job to devote her career to the environment and her books.[15][16] Since then, she has written on the environment for National Geographic, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Salon, Politico, Discover, Orion, Ensia, the Tampa Bay Times, and other publications. Her third book, Rain: A Natural and Cultural History, was published in 2015.[4][17][18][19][20]

Barnett is also Environmental Journalist in Residence at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, where she teaches Environmental Journalism and Nature & Adventure Journalism.[21] She is a critic of environmental communication targeted exclusively to conservation audiences and encourages students to reach “the Caring Middle.” She first wrote about the Caring Middle in a commencement address to the Unity College class of 2012 in Unity, Maine.[22][23]

Personal life

Barnett, a fifth-generation Floridian, was born in Fort Myers, Florida. She is married to Aaron Hoover, a speechwriter, and they are raising their two children in Gainesville, Florida.[24]

Bibliography

Books

Interviews

References

  1. ↑ "2015 National Book Awards Longlist for Nonfiction" (PDF). National Book Foundation. September 16, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Rain: A Natural and Cultural History | PEN America". pen.org. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  3. ↑ "National Book Award nonfiction finalists announced". Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  4. 1 2 "Cynthia Barnett – UF College of Journalism and Communications". www.jou.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  5. ↑ "Environment Writer Interviews: Cynthia Barnett". Watershed Moments: Thoughts from the Hydrosphere. 2015-08-24. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  6. ↑ Correspondent, Diana Tonnessen. "Florida's lush and intriguing landscape has inspired generations of writers". Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  7. ↑ Star-Banner, Annie Pais Special to the. "Blue muse: Writers inspired by North Florida waters". Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  8. ↑ "Road Racket". Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  9. ↑ "The Brechner Center for Freedom of Information". www.brechner.org. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  10. ↑ "The Brechner Center". www.brechner.org. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  11. ↑ "'Road Racket' Still Relevant in 2007". Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  12. ↑ "Watchdogs on a Leash". Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  13. ↑ Magazine, Ron Cunningham Gainesville. "'Obsessed with water'". Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  14. ↑ "Knight-Wallace Fellowships – Knight-Wallace". wallacehouse.umich.edu. Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  15. ↑ "Perspective: A history as right as 'Rain'". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  16. ↑ Goodnough, Abby (2007-06-19). "Florida Is Slow to See the Need to Save Water". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  17. ↑ "cynthia barnett - articles". cynthiabarnett.net. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  18. ↑ "cynthia barnett - books". cynthiabarnett.net. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  19. ↑ "Review: 'Rain' by Cynthia Barnett". Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  20. ↑ Streever, Bill (2015-04-17). "'Rain: A Natural and Cultural History,' by Cynthia Barnett". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
  21. ↑ "Cynthia Barnett - UF College of Journalism and Communications". Retrieved 2016-10-03.
  22. ↑ "Reaching The Caring Middle, One Emerald Lawn At A Time". 2014-10-31. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  23. ↑ "News | Unity College | America's Environmental College". www.unity.edu. Retrieved 2016-08-27.
  24. ↑ Cunningham, Ron (April 1, 2015). "When the rain comes". Gainesville Sun – via Newsbank.com.
  25. ↑ "'Rain,' Rain, (Don't) Go Away". www.wbur.org. Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  26. ↑ "Making 'Rain' for the Caring Middle". Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  27. ↑ "Environment Writer Interviews: Cynthia Barnett". Watershed Moments: Thoughts from the Hydrosphere. 2015-08-24. Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  28. ↑ "Perspective: A history as right as 'Rain'". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2016-10-04.
  29. ↑ "Rain's Complicated Cultural History". Retrieved 2016-10-04.
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