Class M Communications is an independent consultancy based in North Carolina with an international clientele. It is run by James Hrynyshyn, a communications strategist and tactician with more than 35 years of experience turning science into compelling messages that inform the public and influence policy. His personal and professional mission is grounded in the challenge set down by the late, great science communicator Carl Sagan:

"We've arranged a global civilization in which the most crucial elements — transportation, communications, and all other industries; agriculture, medicine, education, entertainment, protecting the environment; and even the key democratic institution of voting, profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology."

He also produces and hosts a podcast, Polk Lore, about the culture, politics, and geography of the southeastern corner of western North Carolina.

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Chronological c.v.

Present

Communications consultant, editor, writer, and public speaker, specializing in the science and policy implications of climate change. Senior associate at West Hawk Associates. Recent clients include the US government's Climate Resilience Tooklit and the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. Scientific editor with eWorld Editing. Chair of the Saluda Planning Board. Host of the hyperlocal podcast Polk Lore.

March 2003  to  April 2005

Communications co-ordinator for Project Seahorse, a marine conservation and research organization based at the University of British Columbia's Fisheries Centre. Produced annuals reports, newsletters, multi-media presentations and supervised public outreach efforts. Attracted international media attention (CNN, BBC) to the organization's conservation eforts

September 1996 to March 2003

Editor, writer based in Vancouver and Yellowknife, NWT. Clients and employers included Northern News Services, New Scientist, Canadian Geographic, the Vancouver Sun, and Southam News. Served as publications manager for the North Pacific Universities Marine Mammal Research Consortium at the University of British Columbia and edited a book on fish stocks of the Pacific Northwest for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

March 1995  to  September 1996

Freelance science and environmental journalist. Parliamentary correspondent and columnist for Technology in Government magazine. Contributor to Southam News, Equinox and Canadian Forum magazines and the Ottawa Citizen, the Ottawa X Press, The Hill Times, the Whitehorse Star and News/North. Creator of the online X Press and The Hill Times, the first two websites for weekly newspapers in Ottawa, and the North-South Institute.

February 1993 to February 1995

Reporter, editor, designer and photographer, The Hill Times and Ottawa X Press.

March 1991  to  September 1992

Editor, Inuvik Drum; editor, News/North; correspondent, Reuters, Canadian Press, Southam News, Alaska magazine and the Whitehorse Star. Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association Award for editorial writing.

July 1990  to  February 1991

Contributor, Ottawa Citizen; acting science reporter for the Cape Cod Times.
Member of Earthwatch dolphin study team, Costa Rica.

September 1988 to November 1989

Staff reporter and editorial assistant, Ottawa Citizen.

September 1987 to June 1998

Reporter and photographer, Falmouth Enterprise.

May to August 1987, 1988, 1990

Writer and public information officer, Marine Biological Laboratory

Education

• Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology, University of British Columbia (2001)
• Bachelor of Journalism, Carleton University (1987), with a minor in history and specialization in science reporting
• French as a second language training certificates, from Algonquin College, Ottawa (1992) and the Living Languages Institute, Ottawa (1995)
• Underwater Vehicle Training Center Certification, Houston, Texas (1985), in electronics, acoustics, hydraulics and remotely-operated vehicle control

Research

• SHOUTING TO BE HEARD: The effects of noise pollution on blue and fin whale communication, 2001 (under Boye Ahlborn, UBC)
• Grey whale cyamid colonization and distribution patterns in Baja Mexico, 2000 (under Kurt Grimm, UBC)
• Photographic evidence for the early arrival of summer resident grey whales (Eschrichtius robustus) off the coast of Vancouver Island, 2000 (under Jane Watson, UBC)

Miscellaneous

• Expert with the MS Office suite, Adobe Creative Suite and various web-design applications
• Extensive experience with the scientific community in North America
• Accomplished blogger and desktop and Internet publisher
• Widely travelled, from the Canadian Arctic to Central America, Australia, Europe and Southeast Asia
• Certified scuba diver
• Licensed firearms handler (Canada)
• Member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery for four years

Geographical c.v.

Over the past decade, in collaboration with West Hawk Associates, James has worked on projects with clients in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, and Charlottetown. He has delivered presentations to conferences and meetings in Hamilton, Vancouver, Fort McMurray, and Grand Prairie, AB. Closer to home, he has worked with clients in Atlanta, GA, and Asheville, NC.

As a member of the Climate Reality Project, he delivers presentation on the science and politics of climate change at venues throughout western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina. Whenever possible, he takes full advantage of the Internet to avoid unnecessary travel and minimize his carbon footprint.

Output

Helene taught North Carolina a lesson: No one is safe from the effects of climate change

The Globe and Mail, October 2024
James Hrynyshyn, reporter
Decades of writing about climate change didn't help me prepare for it.
⤓ Web

 

Asheville Makes a Plan for Climate Resilience

A U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit case study, 2017
James Hrynyshyn, author

A western North Carolina city is using the Steps to Resilience to proactively plan for expected climate change impacts. A case study in for a program run by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

 

Mighty Peace State of the Watershed

Mighty Peace Watershed Alliance, 2014
James Hrynyshyn, editor and designer

The first comprehensive overview of the state of the Peace and Slave river watershed of northern Alberta. Project included an interactive web version of the report. Produced with West Hawk Associates.

 

Potential Impacts of Climate Change on BC Hydro Managed Water Resources

BC Hydro, 2013
James Hrynyshyn, editor

A short publication exploring the implications of climate change on the ability of BC Hydro to generate hydroelectriticy.

 

End Pit Lakes Guidance Document

Cumulative Environmental Management Association, 2012
James Hrynyshyn, managing editor and author

The first technical guidance document governing reclamation of Alberta oil sands leases involving the transformation of exhausted open-pit mines into sutainable lake ecosystems. Adopted by the Alberta government in 2013. Produced with West Hawk Associates.

 

Fish Stocks of the Pacific Coast

Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2001
James Hrynyshyn, editor and contributor

A summary of the ecological and fishery-management status of fish stocks endemic to the West Coast of Canada, including discussions of related subjects such as climate change, marine mammals and aboriginal fisheries.

 

Immortals of the Arctic

Equinox, September 2000
by James Hrynyshyn

A cover story on the realization by a team of scientists that bowhead whales may be the longest-lived mammals on the planet.

"People recoiled a bit," says Craig George, lead researcher with Alaska's North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, recalling the first reactions to the suggestion that the stone harpoon heads in the blubber pointed to long-lived whales. "Then we started seeing more. That's what really got me excited."

More on climate and the Arctic

• In the Tar Sands (Dragonfire, March 2, 2006)
• Poisoned Ground (This Magazine, Nov/Dec 2003)
• A sovereignty threat (Vancouver Sun, May 2, 2002)
• On Thin Ice (Up Here, April 2001)

Local commentary

• Asheville and the rise of Climate City (Asheville Citizen-Times, March 24, 2018)
• Fire on the Mountains (Between Coasts, December 2016)
• N.C. comes up short on science education (News and Observer, Dec. 16, 2005)
• Lost in the Wilderness (on a Road to Nowhere) (Science & Spirit, Oct/Nov 2006)
• Puzzled at American laziness toward freedom (Asheville Citizen-Times, Oct. 31, 2004)

 

Testimonials

"I had the pleasure of working with James Hrynyshyn on several occasions when I was editor of Up Here magazine in Yellowknife, NWT, between 1998 and 2004. In every instance, I found James's work to be thoroughly reported, well written and delivered on deadline. He is a diligent and detail-oriented journalist."

"As a reporter, it does not take long to figure out there are some people you can trust with your copy and some you can't. Working as a reporter alongside James Hrynyshyn, who was then a copy editor at Northern News Services, I was relieved to discover he was decidedly among the former. I found I could use him as a sounding board with story ideas, which he unfailingly met with insightful suggestions that helped narrow down the story to its strongest angle, or place it in a useful context that I may have overlooked. When I had the good fortune to have him edit my copy, the result was inevitably a series of deft trims and smart word choices that strengthened my writing without attempting to impose a foreign voice. Often, his editing was practically invisible – it would take a look back at my raw copy to realize how much he had improved some of my bumbling verbiage. It also didn't hurt that he was that rare person who sat higher up in the newsroom hierarchy for a good reason: he was smarter than me. As a reporter, that earned him my trust and won him my respect."

"James has proven a tremendous help to our firm countless times. His editorial skills, design talents and overall ability to turn original text and layout into a brilliant and professional product has been greatly appreciated. I am happy to recommend him for any work in the media and publishing industry."

"I've never come across a journalist who can handle such a wide variety of tasks. From a last-minute fill-in columnist to a major rewrite of a story that just wasn't coming together, James repeatedly demonstrated that he understands each facet of the newsgathering process."