G. Pascal (Gregg) Zachary,
Journalist, author and teacher

G. Pascal (Gregg) Zachary is a journalist, author and teacher. He spent 13 years as a senior writer for the Wall Street Journal (1989-2001) and writes regularly for newspapers, magazines and journals, including Salon, Foreign Policy, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Wilson Quarterly, Fortune and Alternet. Gregg concentrates on development issues and Sub-Saharan Africa, especially those involving migration, agriculture, technological change, governance and political economy. He teaches journalism at Stanford and has lectured on various campuses. He is the author of The Diversity Advantage: Multicultural Identity in the New World Economy.

(PERC Seminar: "Liberty, Personal Initiative and Social Responsibility in Sub-Saharan Africa: Emergent Moral Ideals in the Political Economy of Land, Capital and Expertise") (September 25-29, 2006)

G. Pascal Zachary, greggzachary@hotmail.com:

"PERC's animating idea, about the importance of property rights in well-functioning societies, is of special relevance to sub-Saharan Africa, where wise land-use and equitable development remain hampered by immature economic institutions. My visit to PERC greatly helped my own quest for a more sophisticated understanding of the collision in Africa between humans and animals, business and conservation, wildlife and resource exploitation. The scholars at PERC are not only committed to applying their unique insights to a broad range of timely subjects, but are also open to finding new relevance for their work. I suspect that my own writing and research will be nourished by my encounter with PERC for months and years to come."

Bruce Barcott,
Contributing Editor at Outside magazine

Barcott, a contributing editor at Outside magazine, is currently finishing The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw, a book on environmental conservation in Central America. The book, to be published by Random House in 2007, was recently named a finalist for the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award. His previous book, The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier, was awarded the Washington State Governor's Award. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times Book Review, and since 1996 his feature articles on environmentalism and the outdoor world have appeared in Outside, the New York Times Magazine, Harper's, Mother Jones, Sports Illustrated, and Legal Affairs.

(PERC seminar: "The Story Market, the Idea Market, and Where They Meet") (June 15-22, 2006)

Bruce Barcott, westibest@att.net:

"In June 2006, I spent one of the most intellectually stimulating and rewarding weeks of my career working and learning as a PERC Media Fellow in Bozeman. My fellowship happily coincided with PERC's annual Enviropreneurs Camp and FME Student Seminar, which allowed me to drop in on a wide variety of speakers and seminars-Terry Anderson and P.J. Hill on property law and the commons, Holly Fretwell on public land issues, Hank Fischer on incentives and wolf reintroduction, to recall just a few. It was a fantastic immersion in PERC's ideas and overarching philosophy. I didn't agree with every assertion, but that was kind of the point: I went in hoping to have my own ideas and preconceptions tested and shaken up a bit, and I got that and more. The give-and-take in the seminars and the hallway chatter (and ... at the barbecues) was never less than challenging and delightful; PERC's resident fellows are professionals in the art of debating in good faith and-most crucially-in good humor. Between seminars I had a chance to further my own research on Western water issues in one-on-one discussions with Robert Glennon, Terry Anderson, and other PERCies who've been wrestling with the issue for years. Their feedback and advice has proven invaluable in helping me focus my research and think about the topic in new and exciting ways. ... it was a terrific week, really got my mind spinning in new and wonderful ways. I'm looking forward to keeping in touch and perhaps working on something with PERC and its fellows sometime in the future."

Katherine Mangu-Ward,
Researcher for New York Times Columnist John Tierney

Katherine Mangu-Ward is an associate editor of Reason magazine and Reason.com.

Previously, Mangu-Ward worked as a reporter for The Weekly Standard magazine and as a researcher at The New York Times op-ed page for columnist John Tierney. She was a 2005 Phillips Foundation Journalism Fellow. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Chicago Sun-Times, The New York Sun, The Philadelphia Inquirer and numerous other publications.

Mangu-Ward is a graduate of Yale University, where she received a B.A. in political science and philosophy. She lives in Washington, DC.

(PERC seminar: "How to Get Journalists to Steal Your Work and Mischaracterize It in Print"; "Dos and Don'ts for Dealing with Friendly to Semi-hostile Journalists") (June 14-21, 2006)

Katherine Mangu-Ward, kmanguward@gmail.com:

"PERC is a place full of colorful characters doing good work. I received a warm welcome and was pleased to find many opportunities for serious discussion. The staff and fellows were a great resource, and I plan to continue to tap into the insights and information they offer. The trip to Yellowstone to see wolves perfectly combined education and entertainment, as did the barbecues, dinners, and informal sessions of the Enviropreneur Camp I attended. The unstructured nature of the program allowed me to follow up avenues that proved unexpectedly interesting, but also left me at loose ends on occasion. The stipend made a week-long trip feasible when it would have been a stretch otherwise. ... I am impressed with the enviropreneurs - I plan to follow up with many of them in the near future."

"More Wolves Raised by Wolves," by Katherine Mangu-Ward, Reason Magazine, 30 January, 2007. (Refers readers to PERC's website).

Peter Blake,
Editorial Writer and Political Columnist

Peter Blake is an editorial writer and political columnist with the Rocky Mountain News in Denver. Previously he covered many of the beats on the paper and served for a time as city editor.

(PERC seminar: Grazing rights) (July 14-21, 2006)

Peter Blake, pblake0705@comcast.net:

"The most inspired bit of madness during the week was having me give a presentation on my topic within 36 hours of my arrival in Bozeman. I trust other journalists felt similarly challenged. We're not accustomed to leading discussions. What we like to do is sit in the back and take notes while others talk, hoping there's a lead in there somewhere. But it's a very good idea. The only way to learn is to try and teach, as all academics already know. It's good for congenital note takers to be forced into new experiences. The audience was nicer than it needed to be, but perhaps they were taking pity on a nonacademic. I didn't realize the crowd would be so large and knowledgeable. Seeing Myles Watts, whom I had just interviewed the day before, was quite intimidating. I know the fellows working on longer projects are grilled more relentlessly."

Jon Christensen,
Freelance Writer and Columnist for Conservation in Practice.

You can can catch up with Jon on his Web site: http://www.stanford.edu/~jonallan/.

Jon Christensen has an extensive background in science writing and environmental journalism and is a columnist and contributing editor for Conservation in Practice, a magazine of the Society for Conservation Biology. He writes a web blog, "The Uneasy Chair" at www.jonchristensen.typepad.com/uneasychair/. Christensen is also research fellow at the Center for Environmental Science and Policy where he is working on a Ph.D. in history. He was a Knight Professional Journalism Fellow at Stanford in 2003. Since 1996, he has been a free-lance contributor to The New York Times, and to numerous other newspapers, journals and radio shows. PERC Reports has published a joint article he wrote with Terry Anderson in June 2005.

(September 15-21, 2005)

Jon Christensen, jonchristensen@stanford.edu:

"Being at PERC for a week as a visiting journalist has given me precious time to think about the importance of markets and property rights and the complex conservation challenges that we face in the western United States and around the world. The journalism conference was a perfect center-piece of the week. It exposed me and other journalists to ideas in action through case studies presented by the prac-titioners, ranchers, fishermen, conservationists, environmentalists, and public officials who are trying to use these tools to make a difference in the world. The take home message was we have to talk with each other before we can make a deal."

2007 update: Jon's documentary on "The Great Wilderness Compromise" aired on PBS "NOW" January 5. It examined a controversial effort to find common ground on wilderness protection in the reddest state in America: Idaho.

Steve Greenhut,
Editorial Page Writer for the Orange County Register

Steve Greenhut is a senior editorial writer and columnist for the Orange County Register. He is author of Abuse of Power: How the Government Misuses Eminent Domain (2004) that builds on his frequent reporting on government abuse of property rights in his editorials and weekly columns in the Register.

(November 15-19, 2004)

Steve Greenhut, sgreenhut@ocregister.com:

"As a daily journalist, it's hard to get even a day or two to research and try out ideas without the pressure of the deadline. I write about seven editorials and columns a week, so it's hard for me to overemphasize the importance of getting away and doing what I did. I especially appreciated the chance to sit down with PERC scholars and talk about their areas of expertise, to have a chance to read reports and research you've done, and to get out and about in a community that is far different from the one I live in, yet is struggling with growth and environmental issues in its own way."