Are you writing about major droughts, explaining the science behind rapidly melting glaciers or helping your readers understand cap-and-trade proposals? Do you want to better understand climate change, its impact on your community and how elected officials plan to respond?

If so, you can join a select group of journalists from across the country for the McCormick Tribune Specialized Reporting Institute on Climate Change. This all-expense-paid conference will be held October 12-14, 2008 at the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

Applications can be submitted online and are due September 8.

During the conference, you'll learn from experts and insiders what kind of energy, economic and environmental policies to expect from a McCain or Obama administration. You'll find out more about carbon issues before the upcoming U.N. Climate Change Conference. And you'll be able to more fully explore the impact of climate change at local, national and international levels.

This is your opportunity to get to know Dr. Lonnie Thompson, who pioneered ice core studies and won the 2005 National Medal of Science, and take a tour of the Byrd Polar Research Center with Dr. Ellen Mosley-Thompson, head of OSU's ice core paleoclimatology group. You will meet Dr. Laurence Smith, vice-chair, UCLA Department of Geography and author of the forthcoming book, The New North: Our World in 2050. And you will have a chance to hear from Fred Pearce, leading environmental journalist and author of With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change. You also will meet with Dr. Andrew Keeler, a Glenn School economist and former member of the White House Climate Change Policy Team, and Dr. Richard Morgenstern, former senior economic counselor at the U.S. State Department, as well as a host of other scientists, policy experts and journalists.

Due to the generous support of the McCormick Foundation (McCormickTribune.org), the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism will provide meals, lodging and a travel stipend for journalists selected to attend.

The Kiplinger Program, one of the nation's longest-running journalism fellowship programs and a leader in the digital media field, is co-hosting this conference with the Glenn School and OSU's Climate, Water and Carbon Program. To learn more--or to apply--go to KiplingerProgram.org.