Journalists and others attending the 15th annual conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) this fall in Austin, Texas, will find a heavy imprint from the one veteran environmental reporter who will not be there, Kevin Carmody.

The Austin American-Statesman's Carmody, who died in March, had long been a force behind SEJ and behind bringing the annual gathering to Austin and the University of Texas. Carmody's death has been declared a suicide. The SEJ leadership has been devoting lots of time to thinking how best to commemorate his decades of experience covering environmental issues and his role in helping establish SEJ in the first place.

Attendees at past SEJ annual meetings will find many similarities at the Austin meeting: advance-registration Thursday tours (including a 40-minuite flight to Houston to visit the Houston Ship Channel); a Wednesday evening opening reception (with liberal Texas columnist Molly Ivins); a number of hosted receptions; a smorgasbord of issue-oriented "network lunch" entrees; enough concurrent sessions to leave one's mind and notepad on overdose; and an "Austin-style" Saturday night reception (at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum).

Perhaps leaving itself open to the usual criticism that seems to greet SEJ and its conferences for being too "green" or "environmentalist," this year's agenda includes a Saturday keynote by liberal journalist Bill Moyers, who along with Ivins will no doubt draw the attention of conservative critics. Moyers is to address "media and the environment."

That theme is at the heart of the planned Friday morning opening plenary session: "Is Journalism -- Environmental or Otherwise -- a Dying Idea?," a title that with each passing year strikes many as less and less of an understatement. Government secrecy, commentators taking "secret payments" from parties-at-interest, and readers shunning network news and daily newspapers in a new blog-oriented media culture ... those and more are among subjects likely to be aired during that discussion. (The seemingly growing numbers, proportions, and interests of non-daily newspaper and "non-mainstream media" members in SEJ's own ranks are also likely to be on display in Austin.)

For early risers with an appetite, Friday and Saturday plenary breakfast sessions will address "divides and common threads between the science and media communities," on Friday, and "the future of energy," on Saturday.? Each breakfast plenary carries a pre-registration fee of $15, which includes the breakfast.

Conference registration information specifies a July 15 cut-off date for the SEJ membership conference registration fee of $150, with the fee climbing to $180 after July 15. Nonmember and single-date registration fees also are detailed online. Hotel rates for conference participants range from $89 at the La Quinta Inn Austin Capitol to $119 at the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown and $149 at The Driskill Hotel, site of the opening reception (see SEJ website for additional information on the conference).