Gloria Dickie

{{Infobox person

| name =

| image = Gloria Dickie among 2018 Oregon State University Marine Science Fellows on board Discovery (cropped).jpg

| alt = See caption

| caption = Dickie in 2018 at the Oregon State University Marine Science Fellowship

| birth_name =

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| birth_place = London, Ontario

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| occupation = Journalist

| years_active = 2013-Present

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| notable_works = Eight Bears

}}

Gloria Dickie is a Canadian journalist who focuses on environmentalism, climate change, and the impact of environmental changes to local wildlife. Growing up in Ontario, Canada, she had an early interest in wildlife photography and went on to receive degrees in media and the environment, with her Master's thesis focusing on bears and their interactions with humans. Her interest in bears would continue as she reported on the Arctic and other environmental issues around the world as a freelance journalist before joining Reuters.

In 2023, she published the book Eight Bears that investigated the biological and cultural history of bear species around the world, including current academic research and environmental impacts on their livelihoods. She was nominated for multiple journalism awards for her reporting and received numerous fellowships and grants for her publications.

Childhood and education

Dickie spent her childhood in London, Ontario, photographing local wildlife as she grew up, with a desire to be involved with larger animals that did not live in the region. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Western Ontario in 2012 in the media, information and technoculture program. She went on to earn a master's degree from the University of Colorado Boulder. Her master's thesis was on the topic of black bears and their encounters with humans in neighborhoods in the area of the American West, which she researched by traveling to Lake Tahoe and surrounding cities. She looked into how each city had set up its garbage bylaws to minimize the risk of bears traveling to inhabited areas to consume thrown out food.{{cite web |url=https://news.westernu.ca/2023/07/gloria-dickie-eight-bears/ |title=Western grad follows the bears to write new book |last=Stacey |first=Megan |date=July 7, 2023 |website=news.westernu.ca |publisher=University of Western Ontario |access-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-date=July 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712161600/https://news.westernu.ca/2023/07/gloria-dickie-eight-bears/ |url-status=live }} Her interest in the subject came about after she learned about the Bearsitters volunteer group in Boulder, Colorado, that acts to make sure any bears inside the city limits are encouraged to leave without being harmed.{{cite magazine |last=Lepore |first=Jill |date=July 17, 2023 |title=The Bear In Your Backyard |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/07/24/eight-bears-mythic-past-and-imperiled-future-gloria-dickie-book-review |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611210052/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/07/24/eight-bears-mythic-past-and-imperiled-future-gloria-dickie-book-review |url-status=live }}

Career

Beginning her journalism work while still in university, Dickie acted as a reporter for her university's newspaper, the Western Gazette. She would eventually become editor-in-chief of the paper.{{cite news |last=Hopper |first=Tristin |date=January 17, 2013 |title=UWO student paper, council clash over 'press freedom' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post-uwo-student-paper-council/149111610/ |work=National Post |access-date=June 11, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=July 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712161517/https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post-uwo-student-paper-council/149111610/ |url-status=live }} After graduating with her higher degree, she wanted to learn more about bear species around the world and became a freelance foreign correspondent while traveling before being hired by Reuters as an official environmental journalist. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, many news outlets stopped hiring freelance journalists and those that continued hiring wanted only articles about the pandemic. For her work, Dickie decided to write international articles about how the pandemic has been affecting zoos, tourism, and non-human animals at risk of infection.{{cite web |url=https://www.womeninjournalism.org/infocus-all/canada-gloria-dickie-talks-about-her-experience-covering-covid-19 |title=COVID-19 Canada: Gloria Dickie Talks About Her Experience Covering Covid-19 |author= |date=April 27, 2020 |website=womeninjournalism.org |publisher=Coalition For Women In Journalism |access-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-date=June 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612021149/https://www.womeninjournalism.org/infocus-all/canada-gloria-dickie-talks-about-her-experience-covering-covid-19 |url-status=live }}

In July 2023, she published the book Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future, which covers the scientists who research bears, the culture and history surrounding bears in different countries, and the risks that climate change has for their ongoing existence.{{cite news |last=Hance |first=Jeremy |date=July 11, 2023 |title='We will decide their future': Q&A with "pro-bear" environmental journalist Gloria Dickie |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/we-will-decide-their-future-qa-with-pro-bear-environmental-journalist-gloria-dickie/ |work=Mongabay |access-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611030057/https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/we-will-decide-their-future-qa-with-pro-bear-environmental-journalist-gloria-dickie/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=O'Dowd |first=Peter |date=July 11, 2023 |title=Want the bear facts? 'Eight Bears' explores the dangers these creatures face across the world |url=https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/07/11/eight-bears-gloria-dickie |work=WBUR |access-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611220426/https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/07/11/eight-bears-gloria-dickie |url-status=live }} To obtain the material for the book, Dickie traveled to different global regions associated with each bear species: first to South America for spectacled bears, then India for sloth bears, China for panda bears, and Vietnam for sun bears and Asian black bears. She then traveled back to North America and the United States for both American black bears and brown bears, before finishing in her country of origin, Canada, for polar bears.{{cite journal |last1=Can |first1=Özgün Emre |date=July 6, 2023 |title=The future of bears |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi4084 |journal=Science |volume=381 |issue=6653 |pages=35 |doi=10.1126/science.adi408 |doi-broken-date=November 1, 2024 |access-date=June 13, 2024 |archive-date=June 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240613025407/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi4084 |url-status=live }} The book was selected by Scientific American as one of the 55 best books of 2023{{cite news |last=Kane |first=Brianne |date=December 8, 2023 |title=55 Books Scientific American Recommends in 2023 |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/55-books-scientific-american-recommends-in-2023/ |work=Scientific American |access-date=June 11, 2024}} and by Men's Journal as one of the best 25 books of 2023.{{cite news |last=Farr |first=Naomi |date=December 12, 2023 |title=The 25 Best Books of 2023 Are Just Right for Thrill-Seekers and Go-Getters |url=https://www.mensjournal.com/entertainment/best-books#gid=ci02d06188b0002444&pid=a-fine-line-searching-for-balance-among-mountains-by-graham-zimmerman |work=Men's Journal |access-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-date=June 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612015939/https://www.mensjournal.com/entertainment/best-books#gid=ci02d06188b0002444&pid=a-fine-line-searching-for-balance-among-mountains-by-graham-zimmerman |url-status=live }}

Organizations

As a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ), Dickie served as a board member from 2016 to 2019.{{cite web |url=https://www.sej.org/sejspotlight-gloria-dickie-freelance-journalist |title=#SEJSpotlight: Gloria Dickie, Freelance Journalist |author= |date=2024 |website=sej.org |publisher=Society of Environmental Journalists |access-date=June 9, 2024 |archive-date=June 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240609184326/https://www.sej.org/sejspotlight-gloria-dickie-freelance-journalist |url-status=live }}

Awards and honors

For her article on new methods being used to farm maggots as livestock feed, Dickie was selected as a winner of the 2017 Food Sustainability Media Awards.{{cite news |last=Peñuelas |first=Michael |date=December 6, 2017 |title=Winners of the 2017 Food Sustainability Media Awards Announced |url=https://foodtank.com/news/2017/12/2017-food-sustainability-media-award/ |work=Food Tank |access-date=June 15, 2024 |archive-date=June 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615021738/https://foodtank.com/news/2017/12/2017-food-sustainability-media-award/ |url-status=live }} After publishing a short piece of feature writing for enRoute titled "Adventures in Panda Land", she was nominated for the 2019 National Magazine Awards.{{cite web |url=https://magazine-awards.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/NMA19_Winners_Final.pdf |title=2019 National Magazine Awards |author= |date=2019 |website=magazine-awards.com |publisher=National Media Awards Foundation |access-date=June 12, 2024}}

For her reporting on the Arctic and environmental conditions there in 2021, she was made a finalist for the Breaking News category in the Covering Climate Now awards. She was also given a First Honorable Mention in the SEJ's Awards for Reporting on the Environment for her reporting. For the international reporting group, she was a finalist in the 2022 Livingston Awards.{{cite web |url=https://wallacehouse.umich.edu/announcing-the-2022-livingston-award-finalists/ |title=Announcing the 2022 Livingston Award Finalists |author= |date=April 27, 2022 |website=wallacehouse.umich.edu |publisher=University of Michigan |access-date=June 12, 2024 |archive-date=June 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610131851/https://wallacehouse.umich.edu/announcing-the-2022-livingston-award-finalists/ |url-status=live }}

Her book Eight Bears was chosen as a finalist in the environmental literature category for the 2023 Banff Mountain Book Awards.{{cite web |url=https://www.banffcentre.ca/articles/2023-banff-mountain-book-competition-category-finalists |title=2023 Banff Mountain Book Competition category finalists |last=Elliott |first=Jess |date=September 28, 2023 |website=banffcentre.ca |publisher=Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity |access-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-date=June 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612015623/https://www.banffcentre.ca/articles/2023-banff-mountain-book-competition-category-finalists |url-status=live }}

=Fellowships and grants=

For the 2016 UAF Arctic Journalism Fellowship from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Dickie was chosen as a fellow and attended the 2016 Arctic Science Summit to meet with Arctic researchers and policymakers in order to write about their work and travel to their research sites.{{cite web |url=https://www.uaf.edu/news/archives/news-archives-2010-2021/arctic-journalism-fellowship.php |title=Nine selected for UAF Arctic Journalism Fellowship |last=Grimes |first=Marmian |date=February 11, 2016 |website=uaf.edu |publisher=University of Alaska Fairbanks |access-date=June 15, 2024 |archive-date=July 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712161600/https://www.uaf.edu/news/archives/news-archives-2010-2021/arctic-journalism-fellowship.php |url-status=live }} She was named a 2018 National Geographic Explorer by the National Geographic Society and given a grant for her work.{{cite web |url=https://explorers.nationalgeographic.org/directory/gloria-dickie |title=Explorer Since 2018: Gloria Dickie |author= |date=2024 |website=explorers.nationalgeographic.org |publisher=National Geographic |access-date=June 15, 2024 |archive-date=June 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615030505/https://explorers.nationalgeographic.org/directory/gloria-dickie |url-status=live }} The same year, she was chosen as one of twelve international journalists to be recognized as a marine science media fellow by Oregon State University.{{cite web |url=https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/oregon-state-university-announces-marine-science-media-fellows |title=Oregon State University announces marine science media fellows |last=Nealon |first=Sean |date=June 14, 2018 |website=today.oregonstate.edu |publisher=Oregon State University |access-date=June 15, 2024 |archive-date=June 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615182255/https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/oregon-state-university-announces-marine-science-media-fellows |url-status=live }} In 2021, she was awarded a micro-grant from the Overseas Press Club to fund her reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite web |url=https://opcofamerica.org/overseas-press-club-distributes-micro-grants-to-freelancers-around-the-world/ |title=Overseas Press Club Distributes Micro-grants to Freelancers Around the World |author= |date=March 11, 2021 |website=opcofamerica.org |publisher=Overseas Press Club |access-date=June 15, 2024 |archive-date=July 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712161557/https://opcofamerica.org/overseas-press-club-distributes-micro-grants-to-freelancers-around-the-world/ |url-status=live }} She was one of the ten 2022 Thomas Lovejoy Memorial Press Fellows selected from international journalists by the United Nations Foundation to allow them to travel to the research outpost in Manaus, Brazil, in order to report on the environmental work done there.{{cite web |url=https://unfoundation.org/media/un-foundation-announces-2022-thomas-lovejoy-memorial-press-fellows/ |title=UN Foundation Announces 2022 Thomas Lovejoy Memorial Press Fellows |last=Rabbitt |first=Megan |date=October 7, 2022 |website=unfoundation.org |publisher=United Nations Foundation |access-date=June 15, 2024 |archive-date=July 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712161520/https://unfoundation.org/media/un-foundation-announces-2022-thomas-lovejoy-memorial-press-fellows/ |url-status=live }}

Bibliography

{{cite book |last=Dickie |first=Gloria |author-mask=1 |date=July 2023 |title=Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |page=272 |isbn=9781324005094}}Reviews for Eight Bears:
{{cite news |author= |date=August 26, 2023 |title=The grizzly truth |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-the-grizzly-truth/148977670/ |work=The Guardian |access-date=June 11, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=July 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712161518/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-the-grizzly-truth/148977670/ |url-status=live }}
{{cite news |last=Schlichenmeyer |first=Terri |date=August 19, 2023 |title=A bear of a tale |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hood-county-news-a-bear-of-a-tale-by-ter/149110918/ |work=Hood County News |access-date=June 11, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=July 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712161603/https://www.newspapers.com/article/hood-county-news-a-bear-of-a-tale-by-ter/149110918/ |url-status=live }}
{{cite news |last=Murdock |first=Joshua |date=July 25, 2023 |title=New book explores bears in Montana and globally |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-missoulian-new-book-explores-bears-i/149111171/ |work=The Missoulian |access-date=June 11, 2024 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=July 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712162020/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-missoulian-new-book-explores-bears-i/149111171/ |url-status=live }}
{{cite news |last=Carey |first=Richard Adams |date=October 5, 2023 |title='Eight Bears' and 'What the Bears Know' Review: Loved, Feared, Endangered |url=https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/eight-bears-and-what-the-bears-know-review-loved-feared-endangered-9a0a2fb2 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=June 11, 2024 }}
{{cite magazine |last=Lepore |first=Jill |date=July 17, 2023 |title=The Bear In Your Backyard |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/07/24/eight-bears-mythic-past-and-imperiled-future-gloria-dickie-book-review |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611210051/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/07/24/eight-bears-mythic-past-and-imperiled-future-gloria-dickie-book-review |url-status=live }}
{{cite news |last=Kipp |first=Priscilla |date=July 5, 2023 |title=Eight Bears By Gloria Dickie |url=https://www.bookpage.com/reviews/eight-bears-gloria-dickie-book-review/ |work=BookPage |access-date=June 11, 2024 }}
{{cite news |author= |date=September 21, 2023 |title=From myth to art, bears have long captivated people |url=https://www.economist.com/culture/2023/09/21/from-myth-to-art-bears-have-long-captivated-people |newspaper=The Economist |access-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611215536/https://www.economist.com/culture/2023/09/21/from-myth-to-art-bears-have-long-captivated-people |url-status=live }}
{{cite news |last=Miksanek |first=Tony |date=June 1, 2023 |title=Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Eight-Bears-Mythic-Past-and-Imperiled-Future/pid=9777960 |work=Booklist |access-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611220047/https://www.booklistonline.com/Eight-Bears-Mythic-Past-and-Imperiled-Future/pid=9777960 |url-status=live }}
{{cite news |last=Buehler |first=Jake |date=July 13, 2023 |title=Explore the past, present and future of 'Eight Bears' |url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/eight-bears-book-conservation |work=Science News |access-date=June 11, 2024 }}
{{cite news |author= |date=July 2023 |title=Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781324005087 |work=Publishers Weekly |access-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-date=February 21, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221072940/https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781324005087 |url-status=live }}
{{cite news |last=Lida |first=Gretchen |date=August 2, 2023 |title=Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future |url=https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/index.php/bookreview/eight-bears-mythic-past-and-imperiled-future |work=Washington Independent Review of Books |access-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240611222302/https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/index.php/bookreview/eight-bears-mythic-past-and-imperiled-future |url-status=live }}
{{cite news |author= |date=March 21, 2023 |title=Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gloria-dickie/eight-bears/ |work=Kirkus Reviews |access-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-date=July 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712162038/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/like-dislike/2000248482/ |url-status=live }}
{{cite news |last=Erdmann |first=Leah |date=June 10, 2024 |title=Check It Out: Eight Bears by Gloria Dickie |url=https://www.kwit.org/show/check-it-out/2024-06-10/check-it-out-eight-bears-by-gloria-dickie |work=KWIT |access-date=June 11, 2024 |archive-date=June 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610193539/https://www.kwit.org/show/check-it-out/2024-06-10/check-it-out-eight-bears-by-gloria-dickie |url-status=live }}
{{cite news |last=Gulliver |first=Katrina |date=August 19, 2023 |title=Would we welcome bears in Britain again? |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/would-we-welcome-bears-in-britain-again/ |work=The Spectator |access-date=June 12, 2024 |archive-date=June 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612030648/https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/would-we-welcome-bears-in-britain-again/ |url-status=live }}
{{cite news |last=McGrath |first=Stephen |date=October 2023 |title=Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future |url=https://www.pressreader.com/uk/geographical/20231001/282342569439773 |work=Geographical |volume=95 |issue=10 |access-date=June 12, 2024 }}
{{cite journal |last1=Nicholls |first1=Henry |date=July 17, 2023 |title=To save bears, we must learn to live alongside them |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02301-5 |journal=Nature |volume=619 |issue=7970 |pages=459–460 |doi=10.1038/d41586-023-02301-5 |pmid=37460721 |bibcode=2023Natur.619..459N |access-date=June 12, 2024 |archive-date=July 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240712162023/https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02301-5 |url-status=live }}
{{cite journal |last1=Can |first1=Özgün Emre |date=July 6, 2023 |title=The future of bears |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi4084 |journal=Science |volume=381 |issue=6653 |pages=35 |doi=10.1126/science.adi408 |doi-broken-date=November 1, 2024 |access-date=June 13, 2024 |archive-date=June 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240613025411/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi4084 |url-status=live }}

References

Category:People from London, Ontario

Category:University of Western Ontario alumni

Category:University of Colorado Boulder alumni

Category:21st-century Canadian women journalists

Category:21st-century Canadian journalists

Category:Reuters people

Category:Environmental journalists

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Living people