jh 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 25 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."

jamesh@classm.earth
411 Pine St., Saluda, NC  28773
828.919.9276
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Chronological c.v.

Present

Bradley falls 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

Sh 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

bc beach 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

peace tower 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

Research

Miscellaneous



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


⤓ 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.

 

MPWA
⤓ PDF

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.

 

BC Hydro Climate
⤓ PDF

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.

 

EPA
⤓ PDF

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
⤓ PDF

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
≡ HTML

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

Local commentary

 

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."
— Cooper Lanford
Executive Editor, Financial Post Business Magazine

"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."
— Nathan VanderKlippe
China correspondent, Globe and Mail, Beijing

"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."
— David Wylynko
President, West Hawk Associates, Ottawa

"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."
— Bruce Valpy Managing editor, Northern News Services, Yellowknife, NWT


© 2017 Class M Communications