University of Nebraska student serving as news correspondent for environmental project

November 21, 2016

Lincoln, Neb. — Diana Marcum is passionate about the environment. In her career, the junior Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Communication major from Bellevue, wants to help the public understand environmental issues and how everyone can make an impact. She’s getting a jump-start by serving as a student news correspondent for Planet Forward. 

Planet Forward uses web, video, social media, television and events to empower new voices and lead a global conversation on the planet’s future. Its goal is to promote innovative ideas to address food, water, energy and environmental challenges confronting the planet. Marcum was one of 10 student correspondents selected from a highly competitive field of applicants from colleges around the country. 

“Planet Forward is a positive environmental news source,” said Marcum. “As a student correspondent I will focus on innovative ideas from people and communities.”

Over the course of six months, Marcum will produce six stories to be featured on Planet Forward platforms. Her first story focused on Doug Golick, an assistant professor of entomology at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He studies bumblebees and other native bees, focusing on their habitat and conservation both on the human side and in field research. Golick developed the pollinator plot on East Campus, which opened in 2015. The space serves as a demonstration and research garden, as well as a classroom. 

“I chose to cover the pollinator plot because at the time pollinators, bees specifically, were in the news a lot because the U.S. had just recently put bees on the endangered species list. I also knew it would provide interesting content both from speaking with Dr. Golick and visually,” Marcum said.

As a student correspondent, Marcum has earned a travel grant to attend the 2017 Planet Forward Summit in Washington D.C. in April. While there she will participate in a private correspondent lunch with former CNN Washington Bureau Chief and Planet Forward founder Frank Sesno. 

To learn more about Planet Forward and view Marcum’s first story, visit http://www.planetforward.org/idea/a-sanctuary-for-pollinators-an-interactive-classroom-for-students.