Sophia Schmidt ’17 returned to Williamstown to give the first Log Lunch talk of November, describing her coverage of climate change on Philadelphia public radio. Professor Sarah Gardner introduced Schmidt as one of her former students, an Environmental Studies and Biology double major who worked as a Log Lunch cook for one semester during her time at Williams. The summer after graduation, Schmidt free-lanced with the Berkshire Eagle and then applied for internships in journalism, landing one one with NPR. She worked with an NPR station in her hometown of Wilmignton, Delaware for a couple years before getting her current position in Philadelphia.
Schmidt knew that she wanted to do something related to climate change after graduating, and ended up landing on journalism. Although it’s “not the most common career path after Williams,” Schmidt has found her work very fulfilling. Journalism initially drew her in through her love of “reading, writing, and learning in a way that felt less academic and more concrete and accessible.” Through her work, Schmidt gets to “be on the front lines of climate change, seeing how it plays out.” She loves the community aspect of interviewing and spending time with people across the city of Philadelphia.
Schmidt spoke of the importance of local journalism, noting that, “at its best, local journalism holds local institutions accountable,” including the police department and the school district. Local journalism keeps us civically engaged and informed about our communities, making us more connected. Right now, “trust in national news is low,” but local journalism has maintained more of the public’s trust. The US has lost a third of its newspapers and 2/3 of its newspaper journalists, and people are relying for the most part on their phones for news, where disinformation is spread through social media, making local news all the more essential.
Schmidt’s journalism mostly focuses on stories about adaptation to climate change. Her goal with reporting is to “help communities understand and respond to climate change.” She drew from a few examples during her talk, including a story about a retired couple in Manville who were forced to sell their house after flooding from hurricane Ida, having spent their savings repairing it but fearful that further flooding would take their lives. Schmidt emphasized that audio as a form of storytelling best conveys the human voice, helping listeners be “transported into the lives of others.” She played a clip from the couple who sold their home, giving us the chance to hear their story in their own voice. We listened to their retelling of being rescued by boat, the ensuing tens of thousands of dollars of money they spent to try to save their house, only to decide that “we were not going to go through another flood and risk his [husband of speaker] life or mine.”
Her favorite story is one about the wisdom that people have gained from living through multiple floods. She asked people what advice they would give a neighbor going through flooding for the first time, including talking openly about the trauma of going through these events. Schmidt has written about state and federal accountability, looking into the city’s strategy for relying on cooling centers during the summer, but it turns out that most libraries and schools, for example, don’t have adequate air conditioning. Schmidt found that many public spaces do not have the infrastructure to support climate resilience.
She made sure to include some of the fun stories that she writes, including her coverage of a property owner who transformed a flooded mill building into a haunted house during Halloween. Towards the end of her talk, she emphasized how rewarding it is to work in community, connecting with and speaking to a variety of people. Even though the journalism job market is struggling, she is hopeful from the increase in non-profits and other supportive organizations that opportunities to support and work in journalism will increase. “Hopefully,” she said, “this important public service will continue.”
From the Log Lunch cooks, this weeks’ menu was mostly designed by Josh Bruns ’25, inspired by West African and Senegalese cuisine. Diners enjoyed black eyed peas fritters, plantain, kale, and sweet potato curry, a carrot and apple slaw salad with a sweet chili dressing (carrots from Full Well Farm), and for dessert, some decadent gluten free chocolate cookies topped with salt and vegan cinnamon brownies.
BY CAMPBELL LEONARD ’25