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
Artist Repurposes Shoreline Detritus
Courtney Griffith scours beaches and parks for everything from plastic to charcoal, mangled ropes and burnt wood to use in her work.
After The Fire: Scenes from Chinese Camp
One of California’s oldest Gold Rush settlements takes stock after a devastating fire — a photo essay.
Youth Group Tackles Heat Islands in Santa Rosa
A new youth advisory team convened by the Greenbelt Alliance and Latino Service Providers is exploring heat disparities in southwest Santa Rosa.
ReaderBoard
Once a month we share reader announcements: jobs, events, reports, and more.
CEQA Reforms: Boon or Brake for Adaptation?
California Environmental Quality Act updates may open up more housing, but some are sounding alarms about bypassed environmental regulations.
Repurposing Urban Lots & Waterfronts: Ashland Grove Park, Palo Alto Levee, and India Basin
In this edition of our professional column, we look at how groups are reimagining a lot in Ashland Grove and shorelines in San Francisco and Palo Alto.
Backyard Harvests Reduce Waste
A Cupertino Rotary Club program led by Vidula Aiyer harvests backyard fruit and reduces greenhouse gases.
Digging in the Dirt Got Me Into Student Climate Action
A public garden at El Cerrito High School in the East Bay inspired my love of nature and my decision to study environmental science at UCLA.
King Kong Levee: Two Miles Done, Two To Go
Two miles of levee are now in place as part of the project to protect Alviso and parts of San Jose, but construction will last much longer.
Making Shade a Priority in LA: An Interview with Sam Bloch
After witnessing fire disasters in neighboring counties, Marin formed a unique fire prevention authority and taxpayers funded it. Thirty projects and three years later, the county is clearer of undergrowth.
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, CBOs: Opportunities with 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.
Jobs: Assistant Editor
KneeDeep is looking for an Assistant Editor to help with all levels of magazine editing and production, and to guide social media and audience growth.