Undergraduate’s research with Comfort set for publication
Media School assistant professor Suzannah Evans Comfort and sophomore Media School student Lauren Ulrich recently co-authored a paper that will appear in Journalism History next fall.
Ulrich and Comfort’s paper explores the history of environmental journalism with the use of two specific environmental controversies covered by the New York Times in the 1950s and 1960s. They found a shift in the attitudes towards the coverage of environmental news between the two periods. Comfort attributed part of this shift in the 1960s to the broader rise of the environmental movement.
Ulrich and Comfort worked as a research team through a program called Sustainability Scholars, which matches professors and students on a specific research project.
“I really have to give Lauren the credit for pushing this project forward,” Comfort said. “She had so much enthusiasm and kept showing up and doing what I asked of her.”
Comfort and Ulrich worked on this project, titled “From distant to devastating: The newsworthiness of environmental controversies at the New York Times, 1950s-1970s,” during Ulrich’s freshman year, while she was also learning to balance a college lifestyle.
In addition to gaining a faculty mentor through Sustainability Scholars, students like Ulrich receive scholarship money for their work. The goal of the program is for students and faculty members to research and address large-scale environmental problems.
“My relationship with Dr. Comfort has probably been my favorite part of this experience,” Ulrich said.
One of Ulrich’s main tasks was examining and synthesizing hundreds of New York Times articles. Ulrich said she had so much fun carrying out this task and felt somewhat like a detective poring over each article.
Ulrich said she never expected to do academic research as an undergrad, but she is grateful for the rare opportunity to claim a peer-reviewed academic article so early in her career. Despite the achievement, Ulrich remains extremely humble and excited for what is next, she said.
“It’s really surreal that my name will be out here with this paper,” Ulrich said. “I haven’t told many people about it yet besides my parents.”
Currently, Ulrich plans to become an environmental journalist after graduation. Ulrich said this project allowed her to see the importance of exploring different disciplines and opportunities because it can help her grow through avenues besides traditional news.
“I think this will influence my career and even reinforced how much I already love environmental journalism,” Ulrich said.