The Mother Nature Network, MNN.com, is a website that provides environmental and social responsibility news and information. Founded in 2008 by Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell

Chuck Leavell

Chuck Leavell is an American pianist and keyboardist, who was a member of The Allman Brothers Band throughout the height of their popularity, a founding member of the jazz-rock combo Sea Level, a frequently-employed session musician, and later, the keyboardist for Eric Clapton and The Rolling...

 and former marketing executive Joel Babbit, MNN officially launched on Jan. 6, 2009.

Content

MNN covers a range of environmental issues with original articles, blogs, videos, columns and how-to guides, as well as news from wire services. Content on the site is sorted into eight channels: Earth Matters, Transportation, Business, Technology, Food, Home, Lifestyle and Family.

State Reports

Most of MNN's original content is produced by staff editors and by a network of freelance reporters

Freelancer

A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is somebody who is self-employed and is not committed to a particular employer long term. These workers are often represented by a company or an agency that resells their labor and that of others to its clients with or without project management and...

, but it has also developed a program called State Reports, in which editors select students from across the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 to regularly file video or blog reports from their local markets.

Board of directors

• Joel Babbit
• Thomas Bell Jr., Chairman of SecurAmerica
• Gerald Benjamin, co-founder and managing partner of Atlanta Equity
• A.D. "Pete" Correll
  A.D. "Pete" Correll
  A.D. "Pete" Correll is the chairman of the Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation and the chairman of Atlanta Equity. He is chairman emeritus of Georgia-Pacific Corp. and has served as director of SunTrust Bank, Mirant and Norfolk Southern....
  
  , co-founder and chairman of Atlanta Equity
• Alexandra Cousteau
  Alexandra Cousteau
  Alexandra Marguerite Clémentine Cousteau is the daughter of Philippe Cousteau and the granddaughter of world famous French explorer and filmmaker Jacques-Yves Cousteau...
  
  , globally recognized advocate on water quality and policy
• Doug Hertz, president and CEO of United Distributors Inc.
• Chuck Leavell

Bloggers

• Karl Burkart (Technology)
• Shea Gunther (Earth Matters)
• Andrew Schenkel (Earth Matters)
• Matt Hickman (The Home)
• Melissa Hincha-Ownby (Business)
• Siel Ju (Lifestyle)
• Michael d'Estries (Lifestyle)
• Jim Motavalli (Transportation)
• Jenn Savedge (Family)
• Robin Shreeves (Food)

Awards and Honors

MNN has been labeled “The New Green CNN” by Time, “The USA Today of Sustainability” by Fast Company, and “Green Machine” by The Associated Press; was selected as one of Newsweek’s “Top Picks” for 2009; and was voted “Best Great Green Idea” at Fortune Magazine’s 2010 Green Summit. See more awards and honors:

• April 2010 - 2010 Webby Nominee for the Lifestyle category and an Official Webby Honoree for the Green category
• January 2010 - All My Faves - Best Sites of 2009
• April 2009 - Fortune Brainstorm Green: Five Great Green Ideas 2009
• April 2009 - 2009 Official Webby Honoree for News category
• April 2009 - Wins Atlanta Business Chronicle's 2009 Ennovation Award

Sponsors

Unusually for an environmental website MNN is sponsored by a number of mainstream industrial corporations, including:

• Aflac
  Aflac
  Aflac Incorporated is the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States, founded in 1955 and based in Columbus, Georgia. In the United States, Aflac underwrites a wide range of insurance policies, but is perhaps more known for its payroll deduction insurance coverage, which pays...
  
  
• AT&T
  AT&T
  AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
  
  
• The Coca-Cola Company
• Dell
  Dell
  Dell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services. Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest...
  
  
• Georgia-Pacific
  Georgia-Pacific
  Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is one of the world's leading manufacturers and distributors of tissue, pulp, paper, packaging, building products and related chemicals. As of Fall 2010, the company employed more than 40,000 people at more...
  
  
• MillerCoors
  MillerCoors
  MillerCoors is a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Company, announced on October 9, 2007. The joint venture has the responsibility of selling brands such as Miller Lite, Miller High Life, Miller Genuine Draft, Coors, Coors Light, Molson Canadian, and Blue Moon in the United...
  
  
• PGi
  PGi
  PGi, or Premiere Global Services, Inc., is a multinational corporation and global provider of conferencing and collaboration solutions. Its products include audio conferencing, web conferencing, videoconferencing and virtual meeting solutions...
  
  
• Siemens
  Siemens
  Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
  
  
• CSX
• Southern Company
  Southern Company
  Southern Company is a public utility holding company of primarily electric utilities in the southern United States. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with executive offices also located in Birmingham, Alabama. The company is currently the 16th largest utility company in the world and the...