Work With Us
Submission Guidelines
KneeDeep Times editors welcome story, film, photo and art submissions on a wide variety of climate resilience topics. Editors are actively working to expand the magazine’s freelance and editorial pool to better reflect California’s diversity.
We sometimes seek time-sensitive pitches on specific topics. Please scroll to bottom to view active pitch requests.
KneeDeep pays up to $1/word for most stories. Preferred lengths are 500 or 1000 words.
We prefer solution-driven stories about the greater San Francisco Bay Area. But we welcome stories about California, the West Coast, or even elsewhere in the country as long as you can add information about what it has to do with our region (example two part story: New Jersey Shells Out for Retreat + Coast Leaders Talk Graceful Withdrawal).
KneeDeep also pays for professional photography, art, and film.
KneeDeep also welcomes opinion or perspective pieces, or letters to the editor (300-1000 words). But we reserve the right to decide whether to publish them or not.
Feel free to contact us, either to introduce yourself and the types of stories you like to cover, or with pitches. Contact the editor Ariel Rubissow Okamoto.
Citizen Stories & Snaps
KneeDeep welcomes citizen stories and personal reflections on climate adaptation and resilience on the California Climate Quilt. Our editors are also available to help you shape and share your story this way. While we do not pay for quilt squares, we hope to organize some occasional prizes for best images and stories soon!
Picture of the Month
The editors chose a Picture of the Month and feature it at the bottom of the home page. All submissions must be of high resolution and in a horizontal format, and include an interesting caption, either telling the story of what we are seeing in the picture or of what the photographer felt and was trying to capture in the image. We pay up to $100 per picture of the month.
Republication Guidelines
KneeDeep welcomes republication of its stories. See our guidelines here.
Other Recent Posts
Training 18 New Community Leaders in a Resilience Hot Spot
A June 7 event minted 18 new community leaders now better-equipped to care for Suisun City and Fairfield through pollution, heat, smoke, and high water.
Mayor Pushes Suisun City To Do Better
Mayor Alma Hernandez has devoted herself to preparing her community for a warming world.
The Path to a Just Transition for Benicia’s Refinery Workers
As Valero prepares to shutter its Benicia oil refinery, 400 jobs hang in the balance. Can California ensure a just transition for fossil fuel workers?
Ecologist Finds Art in Restoring Levees
In Sacramento, an artist-ecologist brings California’s native species to life – through art, and through fish-friendly levee restoration.
New Metrics on Hybrid Gray-Green Levees
UC Santa Cruz research project investigates how horizontal “living levees” can cut flood risk.
Community Editor Job Announcement
Part time freelance job opening with Bay Area climate resilience magazine.
Being Bike-Friendly is Gateway to Climate Advocacy
Four Bay Area cyclists push for better city infrastructure.
Can Colgan Creek Do It All? Santa Rosa Reimagines Flood Control
A restoration project blends old-school flood control with modern green infrastructure. Is this how California can manage runoff from future megastorms?
San Francisco Youth Explore Flood Risk on Home Turf
At the Shoreline Leadership Academy, high school students learn about sea level rise through hands-on tours and community projects.
Federal Funding Flip-Flops Stop Work on California Forest Safety and Working Lands Projects
Federal funding cuts halt wildfire protection and farm aid across Sonoma and California’s Resource Conservation Districts.
Calls for Pitches
- Know someone in your community, business or government “being the change” ???? KneeDeep is always looking for stories about people innovating, acting, doing, helping, growing, stewarding …. Send us your ideas for profiles.
- KneeDeep is also interested in small town or small community portraits. What are the special things in these particular places at risk from climate change, whether it’s flood, fire, inequity or other challenge? What steps are local neighbors and leaders taking to protect and sustain their special place?
Jobs & Internships: New Community Reporting Network
Starting summer 2025, KneeDeep will be looking for a freelance, part-time community editor for a one year pilot project. The new editor will manage a special grant to expand reporting, citizen storytelling, and climate science and health education in under-represented communities. Responsibilities may include: mentoring journalism students from community colleges, meeting Bay Area communities where they live, working with local CBOs and neighborhood groups to support citizen storytellers, and re-imagining KneeDeep content for broader audiences (short-form video, audio, WhatsApp, etc.)
Part-time freelance stipend for the editor $1000-$1500 per month.
Prefer bi-lingual, Spanish speaking applicants who live in the East or South Bay.