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
Martinez Residents Want More Than Apologies — They Want Protection
After a 2022 release of toxic dust and a February 2025 fire, people in the northeast Bay town are tired of waiting for safety improvements.
Weaving Fire Protection Out Of What’s Already There
A new Greenbelt Alliance report shows how existing vineyards, grasslands, and managed forests can slow wildfire and save vulnerable homes.
Fall Plantings Build Pollinator Habitats in Concord
Community groups, climate advocates and a church are coming together to plant pollinator gardens as monarchs, bees see population declines.
Newark Needs Housing, But Could Shoreline Serve A Higher Purpose?
The Bay Area needs more affordable housing, but would 196-homes or a buffer against sea level serve local needs better in the years ahead?
Learning the Art of Burning to Prevent Wildfire
In Santa Rosa’s Pepperwood Preserve, volunteers are learning how controlled fires can clear out natural wildfire fuel before it can spark.
Who Will Inherit the Estuary? Training for a Rough Future
The six-month program teaches students aged 17 -24 about the challenges facing communities around the SF Estuary, from Stockton to East Palo Alto.
Split Verdict Over State of the Estuary
Habitat restoration and pollution regulations are holding the Bay steady, but the Delta is losing some of its ecological diversity, says SF Estuary Partnership scorecard.
Volunteers Catch and Release Tiny Owls For Science
In Santa Rosa, citizen scientists capture northern saw-whet owls to help further research on climate impacts to the bird.
Antioch Desalination Plant Could Boost Local Water Supply
The $120 million plant opened this fall and treats 8 million gallons of brackish water a day, 75% of which is drinkable.
How Cities Can Make AI Infrastructure Green
Data centers fueling AI can suck up massive amounts of energy, water and land, but local policies can mitigate the impact.
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.