MIT Environmental Solutions Journalism Fellowship

Karina Atkins is a Chicago-based environmental journalist. Her reporting explores how climate change is affecting the Midwest—from Chicago’s environmental justice neighborhoods to the Great Lakes and rural family farms—and what’s being done about it. She studied anthropology, journalism and policy at the University of Virginia.

Fellowship project: An investigation into why Illinois' agriculture is dominated by corn and soybeans, even as climate change threatens the regions that have traditionally provided most of America's fruits and vegetables. The four-part series, Cash crops, hidden costs, includes:

• Who owns most of the farmland in Illinois? Not farmers
• Crop insurance costs taxpayers billions. But it only benefits big farms and companies
• As labor costs rise, AI is learning to farm
• Lack of middleman between Illinois farmers and consumers limits market for fruits and vegetables.

Carolyn Beans is a science reporter covering food, agriculture, and health from her home base in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. After earning a PhD in biology from the University of Virginia, she made the leap to science journalism via an AAAS Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellowship at NPR. Her food writing has appeared in Undark, The Atlantic, PNAS Front Matter, Slate, The Washington Post, TED-Ed, The Food and Environment Reporting Network and other outlets.

Fellowship project: A series on Pennsylvania dairy farmers’ efforts to measure and minimize greenhouse gas emissions, and ultimately earn a return on climate-smart milk. Published pieces include:

• Pennsylvania dairy farmers consider return on climate-smart milk
• Could measuring greenhouse gases increase returns on Pennsylvania dairies?
• Can Pennsylvania dairies profit from carbon markets?
• Who will pay for climate-smart milk?

She also appeared to talk about her project on Lancaster Farming's podcast, FarmHouse.

Elena Bruess covers the environment and climate for the Houston Landing. She comes to Houston after two years at the San Antonio Express-News, where she covered the environment, climate and water. Elena previously worked in the Midwest as a reporter for Circle of Blue, a nonprofit newsroom where she focused on water issues in the Great Lakes region. Before that, she covered health and inequity in Chicago as a Pulitzer Center reporting fellow. She is originally from Northeastern Iowa and holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University and a degree from University of Iowa's undergraduate writing program.

Fellowship project: A series on landfill pollution, methane emissions, and the health effects of landfills on marginalized communities in Houston, as the city confronts a shortage of landfill space. Published pieces include

• Houston’s trash problem is only getting worse. What will it take to get it under control?
• Experts say composting is the best solution to landfills. Where does Houston stand?
• A sustainable future is possible for Houston—local officials just have little say over it

Nina Misuraca Ignaczak is an award-winning journalist and editor based in Detroit. She founded Planet Detroit, a digital media startup producing public interest journalism on climate, equity, health, and the environment, centering grassroots voices and solutions. Since 2019, Planet Detroit has earned recognition from the Society for Professional Journalists Detroit, the Institute for Nonprofit News, and LION Publishers. Before journalism, Nina worked in urban planning in government and nonprofit sectors. She holds a Master of Science in Natural Resource Ecology and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Fellowship project: An investigation of how food waste and methane emissions in Metro Detroit contribute to Michigan’s climate challenges, and community-driven solutions. Published pieces include:

• Rotting food, rising heat: How Michigan's landfills help drive methane pollution
• Can Michigan fix its food waste problem with composting?
• Banana peels to coasters: Is this the future of food waste?
• New landfill rules were supposed to cut methane. Michigan's still falling short

Her series also included a reader guide on "6 ways to fight food waste in Michigan"; two opinion pieces, "Food waste costs Michiganders billions. It's time to rethink what we throw away" and "Michigan has a big food waste problem. Here's a roadmap for change"; and an interactive food waste game.

Paul Ruffins was one of the first journalists to cover the complexities of environmentalism in Black communities and served as a delegate to the first People of Color Environmental Justice Summit. Since then, he has been the managing editor for several community newspapers and social justice organizations. His articles have appeared in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Washington CityPaper and many other publications. In 2020, he started a science column called “The Science of the City” for Streetcar Suburbs News, a chain of nonprofit newspapers reviving local journalism in Prince George's County, Maryland, where he lives.

Fellowship project: A deep dive into food waste handling in Prince George's County and the surrounding D.C. suburbs. Published pieces include:

• A landfill full of food is a recipe for methane
• Composting, the fertile solution to food waste
• Some Maryland counties burn food waste; others just digest it

• Overcoming the ‘ick factor’ in sorting food waste

• Maryland needs a stronger infrastructure for recycling food and everything else

Alex Baumhardt is a reporter covering environment and education for the nonprofit news site Oregon Capital Chronicle. Before coming to Oregon, she was a national radio producer and reporter covering education for American Public Media’s documentaries and investigations unit, APM Reports. She earned a master’s degree in digital and visual media as a U.S. Fulbright scholar in Spain, and has reported from the Arctic to the Antarctic for national and international media and from Minnesota and Oregon for The Washington Post.

Fellowship project: An extended series on carbon credit markets in Oregon working lands, collected as "Banking on Oregon Forests."

Alex also published the related articles:

• Plan for Elliott State Forest would put its 83,000 acres into fighting climate change
• Land Board approves ‘precedent setting’ plan to put Elliott State Forest in a carbon market
• Oregon inks agreement with developers to enter entire state forest into carbon market

Anastasia Hufham is an environmental reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune originally from Birmingham, AL. She covers the Colorado River and the use of Utah’s public lands — like mining, grazing, recreation and energy development. Anastasia has also reported on local government, public lands and the Navajo Nation for the Moab Sun News in Moab, Utah, where she learned about the legacy of uranium production on the Colorado Plateau. She earned a B.A. in Ethics, Politics & Economics from Yale University, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of The Yale Politic, a student magazine.

Fellowship project: An investigation of the resurgence of the uranium industry in Utah. Published pieces include:

• Here’s what a Utah uranium mine is like today
• Utah has the last conventional uranium mill in the country. What does it do?
• A new uranium mill was proposed outside Green River nearly 2 years ago. What’s happened since then?
• As a closed Utah uranium mill seeks state approval to reopen, taxpayers are still paying to clean up others

Brooke Larsen is a journalist based in Salt Lake City, where she reports on water, the energy transition, and environmental justice for High Country News and other outlets. Over the past year, she covered rural communities, agriculture and conservation as HCN’s Virginia Spencer Davis Fellow. Brooke received her MA in Environmental Humanities from the University of Utah and a BA in environmental policy from Colorado College. She is the co-editor of the anthology New World Coming: Frontline Voices on Pandemics, Uprisings, and Climate Crisis and a co-producer of the podcast Stay Salty: Lakefacing Stories about the receding Great Salt Lake.

Fellowship project: A three-part series in High Country News on the energy transition in Utah’s coal country. Published pieces include:

• Utah's coal mines can't find enough workers
• How Utah's Christmas Festival has buoyed a changing coal community
• What happens after Utah’s coal-fired power plants close?

Philip Jankowski is a political correspondent for the Dallas Morning News focusing on energy and the state Legislature. He has covered government, politics, and criminal justice in Texas for 16 years. He previously worked for the Austin American-Statesman, the Killeen Daily Herald, and the Taylor Press. Philip is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.

Fellowship project: An exploration of the state politics of renewable energy in Texas. Published pieces include:

• As climate change pushes dry weather east, striking changes are coming to Dallas-Fort Worth and Texas
• Texas political leaders are indifferent, if not hostile, to climate change mitigation
• Batteries hold promise of clean, reliable Texas energy, if problems can be overcome
• Does nuclear energy hold the key to Texas’ power needs? The state is exploring options
• On-campus nuclear reactor approved for university in Texas
• Wind and solar power can generate vital profits for Texas’ dwindling farms and ranches

Reid Frazier covers energy for The Allegheny Front, a weekly public radio environmental news show in Pennsylvania. He has covered the impacts of the natural gas, coal, petrochemical, and steel industries. He is a contributor to the NPR Climate Collaborative. His work has aired on NPR, Marketplace, and other outlets. He is based in Pittsburgh.

Fellowship project: The development a ‘blue’ hydrogen hub in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio, and the parallel growth of industrial hydrogen-based steel overseas. Includes the three-part radio series:

• In Sweden, companies are cleaning up steel production—one of the world’s biggest carbon problems
• What will it take for the American steel industry to go 'fossil-free'?
• In Sweden, broad consensus on climate change spurs an energy transition in manufacturing." 

Reid also published the related piece: "Trump has derided Biden’s landmark climate programs. Would he ditch hydrogen?"

Micah Drew covers local government, the environment and athletics for The Flathead Beacon in Northwest Montana. Micah earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Montana, a master’s in biomechanics and kinesiology from Boise State University and previously reported for weekly newspapers in Idaho and Montana. When not in the newsroom, Micah is routinely found running on alpine trails in Glacier National Park. Since 2007, The Flathead Beacon has been devoted to delivering free public-service journalism and commentary throughout Northwest Montana. Collaborating newsroom members include Tristan Scott, who has spent 15+ years reporting on Montana’s environmental issues, and Denali Sagner, a recent University of Pennsylvania graduate.

Fellowship Project: An eight-part series in The Flathead Beacon, collected as "Montana’s Climate Change Lawsuit."

Joan Meiners is the climate news and storytelling reporter at The Arizona Republic. With a background in science writing and a Ph.D. in Ecology, she publishes a weekly story aimed at helping readers understand how climate change is altering life in the southwest and what we can do about it. She previously covered water insecurity in southwestern Utah with The St. George Spectrum through Report for America and worked on an investigation into the injustices of petrochemical pollution in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, The Times-Picayune and The New Orleans Advocate. She lives in Phoenix.

Fellowship Project: A five-part series in The Arizona Republic on climate and housing. Published pieces include:

• As Arizona builds to solve a housing crisis, will its homes withstand future heat extremes?
• How is your Arizona city using building codes to combat climate and housing crises? Check our map
• More homes mean more heat. Can new building codes help save metro Phoenix from disaster?

Annie Ropeik is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Maine, where she reports on climate change, energy and environmental issues for The Maine Monitor and other outlets. She is a board member with the Society of Environmental Journalists and assistant director of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, a reporting collaborative. Originally from Silver Spring, Maryland, Annie studied classics at Boston University and spent the first decade of her career as an award-winning reporter and host for NPR stations in Alaska, Delaware, Indiana and New Hampshire.

Fellowship Project: A five-part series in the Maine Monitor, collected as “Hooked on Heating Oil.” Annie also published the related piece "Making Maine’s next generation of housing fossil-free—and affordable” in Energy News Network.

Mike Tony is The Charleston Gazette-Mail’s energy and environment reporter. He has written extensively about how West Virginia’s topographic and political landscapes make its residents vulnerable to climate impacts. Previously, he reported for The Uniontown Herald-Standard in southwestern Pennsylvania, his hometown newspaper. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

Fellowship Project: A four-part series in The Charleston Gazette-Mail:

• We have to move on': WV leaders pushing state flood risk upward by favoring resource extraction over climate action
• More intense, more water': West Virginians call for greater flood protection amid climate concerns from extraction projects
• Focus on the solutions': Climate change communication looms large as WV faces flooded future
• Unfunded, uninsured and ignored: Experts urge support for flood protection solutions amid mounting disaster costs

Awards and recognition: Mike's fellowship series was among the works cited in his Eric and Wendy Schmidt Award for Excellence in Science Communication from the National Academies.

Ryan Van Velzer, Louisville Public Media’s Energy & Environment reporter, is dedicated to covering climate change and environmental issues across Kentucky. Ryan graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and has more than a decade of experience in the industry. He has worked for The Arizona Republic, The Associated Press, The South Florida Sun Sentinel and as a travel reporter in Central America and Southeast Asia. He has won numerous awards including regional Edward R. Murrow awards, Associated Press Broadcasters awards and Society of Professional Journalists Louisville Pro Chapter awards.

Fellowship Project: A four-part series in Louisville Public Media, collected as "Coal’s Dying Light."

Tristan Baurick is an environment reporter for The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate. His work focuses on coastal restoration, fisheries, and the oil industry. He was named the 2018 Louisiana Newsperson of the Year by the state’s managing editors association and was a Pulitzer Center Connected Coastlines grant recipient in 2019. He worked with ProPublica on a series about industrial pollution that earned the Society of Environmental Journalists’ top investigative award last year. Before joining the Times-Picayune, he spent a year as a Ted Scripps environmental journalism fellow at the University of Colorado and worked for his hometown newspaper, the Kitsap Sun, near Seattle.

Fellowship project: A five-part, front page investigative series in The Times Picayune | New Orleans Advocate, collected as "Winds of Change: How the Gulf of Mexico could be the next offshore wind powerhouse."

Dustin Bleizeffer has worked as a coal miner, an oilfield mechanic, and for 22 years as a statewide reporter and editor primarily covering the energy industry in Wyoming. He is a 2021-22 Report for America Corps member covering education at WyoFile, a nonprofit news organization based in Wyoming. Previously, he served as Communications Director for the Wyoming Outdoor Council, a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford, and WyoFile editor-in-chief. He lives in Casper, Wyoming.

Fellowship project: A three-part series in WyoFile:

• Wyoming climate data holds ominous clues about life, economy
• Wyoming residents observe a changing climate and quality of life
• Gilette, Campbell County plan for post-coal economy

Nora Hertel is the government and investigations reporter for the St. Cloud Times in central Minnesota. She likes to tie personal stories to policy, data, and public records. Before moving to Minnesota, Nora reported for the Wausau Daily Herald in central Wisconsin, The Associated Press in South Dakota, and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. She earned her master’s in journalism at UW-Madison.

Fellowship project: Six reported pieces on farm and forest carbon sequestration in the St. Cloud Times:

• Minnesota farmers are getting paid to fight climate change by cultivating a new cash crop: carbon

• 5 ways Minnesota is ramping up efforts to combat climate change in forests and fields

• This startup uses AI and satellite imagery to preserve trees, moose habitat in Minnesota

• How Minnesotans are helping trees in the north woods adapt to climate change

• Check out 6 Minnesota farms with different styles of environmental stewardship

• Conservation practices are on the rise on Minnesota farms and across the U.S. Here's why

Nora also published a short explanatory video on "How plants can help combat climate change through photosynthesis," and the six-episode podcast series "Future-Facing Farms."

Awards and recognition: Nora's reporting on carbon sequestration in Minnesota was featured in the Best of Gannett 2021 journalism awards, and her series "Solutions in the Soil" was the first place social issues story in the Minnesota Newspaper Association's 2022 Better Newspaper Contest.

Melba Newsome is an award-winning independent journalist with over 20 years of experience contributing news, health and investigative features to some of the country’s most widely-read publications. In the past decade, her reporting has focused primarily on education, health and issues of social justice. Thanks to a grant from Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, she has reported extensively on the physiological, emotional, and societal impact of the novel coronavirus on the Black community. That reporting revealed the role environmental racism has and continues to play in the pandemic.

Fellowship project: A two-part series in NC Health News:

• Unchecked growth of industrial animal farms spurs long fight for environmental justice in Eastern NC
• Decades of legal battles over pollution by industrial hog farms haven't changed much for eastern NC residents burdened by environmental racism

Alex Schwartz is an environmental journalist and Report for America corps member at the Herald and News in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Originally from Central Florida, he has traded subtropical swamps and beaches for the mountains and high deserts of Southern Oregon and Northern California. Alex earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in science journalism from Northwestern University, and his freelance work has appeared in Popular Science, Gizmodo and Atlas Obscura. His current position focuses on water issues, research on endangered species and the largest dam removal effort in U.S. history.

Fellowship project: An interactive website, "Project Klamath: Saving a watershed in an era of climate change," produced with the Herald & News

Awards and recognition: Alex's Project Klamath was recognized with an Eric and Wendy Schmidt Award for Excellence in Science Communication from the National Academies.