Missouri State Rep. Deb Lavender, D-Kirkwood, presents Don Corrigan with Missouri House Resolution #5355 recognizing his contributions to journalism, including the founding of the blog, Environmental Echo.
Environmental Echo, which has been publishing since October 2014, received recognition in a Missouri Statehouse Resolution in the one-hundredth session of the General Assembly of Missouri in Jefferson City. The 2020 Resolution was presented in June by Missouri State Rep. Deb Lavender, 90th District, at Kirkwood City Hall.
Don Corrigan accepted the resolution which was prompted by his recent induction into the St. Louis Media Hall of Fame. Corrigan, along with Holly Shanks, founded Environmental Echo as an outlet for journalism focused on nature, wildlife, sustainability and environmental protection.
The Environmental Echo Blog was a class project for students enrolled in the Outdoor Environmental Journalism Certificate in the School of Communications at Webster University. Among the first articles for the blog was a story on proposed fracking in the Illinois Ozarks by Claire Hagerty and a story on a management plan for the Ozark National Scenic Riverways in Missouri by Holly Shanks.
Environmental Echo has published several hundred articles since its inception, including stories on climate change and flooding in the Mississippi and Meramec river basins and radioactive waste contamination in Coldwater Creek and the West Lake Landfill in north St. Louis County. Environmental Echo has more than 30,000 hits and is visited locally and nationally by many journalists, including members of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) headquartered in Washington, D.C.
The House Resolution presented by Lavender also recognized Corrigan’s many books, including Environmental Missouri: Issues and Sustainability – What You Need To Know and Nuts About Squirrels. The Resolution saluted Corrigan’s more than 40 years as editor of the Webster-Kirkwood Times newspaper group and his decades as a professor at Webster University, where he was recently given the title of Professor Emeritus.
Environmental Echo 