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Freelance Journalist | Specializing in science, the environment, and the American West | |
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Articles
September 01, 2010 A Crude Awakening in the Gulf of Mexico Published by Smithsonian Magazine. Scientists are just beginning to grasp how profoundly oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill has devastated the region. Category: Ecology and Conservation 
June 01, 2010A Puffin Comeback Published by Smithsonian Magazine. Atlantic puffins had nearly vanished from the Maine coast -- until a young biologist defied conventional wisdom to bring them back. Smithsonian's June 2010 cover story. Category: Ecology and Conservation 
May 01, 2010Balance of Power Published by Audubon Magazine. Green energy isn't necessarily harmless. But new efforts are underway to site renewable energy projects and transmission lines outside unspoiled landscapes and wildlife habitat. Category: Climate Change April 13, 2010 Shafted Published by The Atlantic. Runoff from abandoned mines poisons Colorado's rivers. So why are environmental groups trying to stop locals from cleaning it up? Category: Ecology and Conservation, Public Health 
February 05, 2010Prodigal Dogs Published by High Country News. On a huge ranch in northwestern Colorado, a wildlife biologist has found evidence that gray wolves may have returned to the state, and are here to stay. The Knight Science Journalism Tracker calls the story "epic" and "enormous in soul." Also see this update. Category: Ecology and Conservation December 21, 2009 Away in the Secular Manger Published by National Public Radio. For a secular science journalist, what does the story of Christmas really mean? A reflection on creches, Christmas, and motherhood. Category: Essays December 21, 2009 Life Along the Colorado River Published by High Country News. On the Colorado River, cheap, plentiful water is only a mirage. An essay accompanying Kasia Broussalian's photographs of the river and its people. See a slideshow of her work here. Category: Western Culture 
December 01, 2009Focus Group Published by OnEarth Magazine. On the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, the members of the "Seventh Generation" tell the story of their lives. A collaboration with photojournalist Lynn Johnson. Category: Western Culture 
September 14, 2009Township 13 South, Range 92 West, Section 35 Published by High Country News. Discovering a home of mysteries and restless souls. Winner of the 2010 First Person Narrative Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors. Category: Essays, Western Culture 
August 01, 2009River of Riches Published by Smithsonian Magazine. An unsung Alabama waterway is one of the most biologically diverse places in the nation, home to rare flora and fauna. With gorgeous photographs by Beth Maynor Young. Category: Ecology and Conservation 
July 20, 2009A Tenderfoot in Taos Published by High Country News. An exhausted mother. A lively baby. A compassionate drunkard. Category: Essays June 01, 2009 Is Bamboo for You? Published by Scientific American Earth 3.0. It's not just for tiki torches anymore, but does bamboo really make for greener floors and other products? Category: Ecology and Conservation March 30, 2009 Interview with Senator Mark Udall Published by National Geographic. U.S. Senator Mark Udall of Colorado is committed to renewable energy, but also to a role for nuclear power. One of four interviews with energy leaders for National Geographic's special energy issue. Category: Climate Change, Reviews and Interviews March 30, 2009 Paths to the Future: Interview with Amory Lovins Published by National Geographic. Energy expert Amory Lovins argues that efficiency improves our quality of life and strengthens our national security. One of four interviews with energy leaders for National Geographic's special energy issue. Category: Climate Change, Reviews and Interviews March 30, 2009 Energy in Our Lives: Interview with Jim Rogers Published by National Geographic. Energy industry executive Jim Rogers believes we must make the transition to a low-carbon world -- but in this interview for National Geographic's special energy issue, he says it's going to take time. One of four interviews with energy leaders. Category: Climate Change, Reviews and Interviews 
March 30, 2009The Price of Power Published by National Geographic. "A decade ago, when I first moved to a small town in western Colorado, coal kept me warm at night." An essay from National Geographic's special energy issue about the environmental and human costs of energy booms. Category: Ecology and Conservation, Essays March 30, 2009 Our Energy Challenge: Interview with Steven Chu Published by National Geographic. The nation's new Secretary of Energy talks about nuclear power, his switch from research to politics, and his plans for the next four years in this interview for National Geographic's special energy issue. One of four interviews with energy leaders. Category: Climate Change, Reviews and Interviews March 02, 2009 U.S. Energy Secretary: Change Can Happen Fast Published by National Geographic. Energy Secretary Steven Chu talks about nuclear power, his switch from research to politics, and his plans for the next four years in these excerpts from a recent interview. Category: Climate Change, Reviews and Interviews 
December 01, 2008What's Killing the Aspen? Published by Smithsonian Magazine. The signature tree of the Rockies is in trouble, and scientists say climate change is the likeliest culprit. Category: Ecology and Conservation 
November 10, 2008The Doc is In Published by High Country News. Rural residents find common ground at the vet's office. See JT Thomas' photos and hear a reading of the essay in this slideshow. Category: Western Culture September 19, 2008 From Dog Bowl to Dinner Plate Published by Grist Magazine. An interview with author and nutritionist Marion Nestle about the culinary connections between pets and people. Category: Reviews and Interviews 
August 27, 2008A Proudly American Company Ships Jobs to China Published by The Christian Science Monitor. Chaco Sandals in Paonia, Colo., succumbs to market forces and lays off 45 full-time workers, silencing a factory -- and a town. Photos by JT Thomas. Category: Western Culture 
August 26, 2008Friend or Foe? Crows Never Forget a Face, It Seems Published by The New York Times. Crows can recognize, and remember, individual human faces -- including yours. (This story inspired a Listener Limerick Challenge on NPR's "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!") Category: Ecology and Conservation 
August 15, 2008A Western Primer for the Next Administration [120k PDF File] Published by The Rocky Mountain Land Library. A passel of Western writers (including yours truly) create a regional reading list for the president-elect. Category: Reading Lists August 11, 2008 Under the Asphalt, a Rumor Thrives Published by High Country News. A team of investigators look for a safe under a Grand Junction, Colo., parking lot -- and end up finding not treasure, but a busted myth. Category: Essays 
July 22, 2008Where Research and Tourism Collide Published by The New York Times. At long-term research sites, ecologists must decide whether to study human impacts, or fight them. Category: Ecology and Conservation 
July 18, 2008Water on the Brain Published by Grist Magazine. Author Elizabeth Royte talks about the bottled-water boom -- and its backlash. Category: Reviews and Interviews July 03, 2008 Take a Page Out of My Book Published by Grist Magazine. Seven green leaders reveal their favorite late-night reads. Category: Reading Lists July 02, 2008 Macaws and Effect Published by Grist Magazine. Environmental journalist Bruce Barcott talks about his book Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw. Category: Reviews and Interviews 
July 01, 2008Let's Talk About You and Me Published by Grist Magazine. Mary Roach talks about her book Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex -- and why rats in polyester skivvies have lower sperm counts. Category: Reviews and Interviews June 30, 2008 Green Books You Can Actually Read at the Beach Published by Grist Magazine. 15 page-turners perfect for stuffing in your hemp beach tote. Category: Reading Lists June 30, 2008 James and the Giant Breach Published by Grist Magazine. An interview with author James Kunstler about prophesying -- and preparing for -- life after Wal-Mart. Category: Reviews and Interviews 
June 23, 2008Shifting Sands in Navajoland Published by High Country News. As drought persists on the Navajo reservation, massive dunes steamroll toward houses. Geologist Margaret Hiza tracks the changing terrain. Category: Climate Change June 16, 2008 Michelle's Reading List Published by Orion Magazine. My pile of summer reading. Category: Reading Lists June 10, 2008 Taking Wildness in Hand Published by Orion Magazine. While scientists debate how to save species from a changing climate, a small group of gardeners and researchers is taking matters into its own hands. Are they irresponsible mavericks, or farsighted pioneers? Featured in the anthology Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009. Listen to a brief interview about the article here or a longer conversation, aired on KVNF Public Radio, here. Category: Climate Change May 19, 2008 The Doubt Makers Published by Miller-McCune Magazine. Can scientists and journalists learn to beat the doubt industry before our most serious problems beat us all? Winner of an honorable mention in the 2009 American Society of Journalists and Authors Reporting on a Significant Topic award category. Category: Climate Change 
May 19, 20082008 Commencement Address at Reed College Unsolicited advice for the most recent graduates of my alma mater in Portland, Oregon. Category: Miscellany 
May 15, 2008Creative Writing for Extraterrestrials Published by The Christian Science Monitor. A writing class at the University of Wyoming contemplates the problems and pleasures of extraterrestrial conversation. Category: Miscellany 
April 18, 2008The Spore Against Terror Published by Grist Magazine. A biologist explains what security experts can learn from nature. Category: Reviews and Interviews 
April 01, 2008Village Green Published by National Geographic. An essay about community and corporation efforts to kick the carbon habit. Part of Changing Climate, a special report from the magazine. Category: Climate Change 
February 21, 2008Stranger than Fiction Published by Grist Magazine. A conversation with sci-fi author Paolo Bacigalupi about the overlapping worlds of science journalism and science fiction. Category: Reviews and Interviews 
January 08, 2008Sweet Fifteen in Sonora Published by The Christian Science Monitor. In the desert of northwestern Mexico, the traditional quinceañera is a chance to be a princess for a day. Category: Western Culture November 26, 2007 Beetle Warfare Published by High Country News. What happens when an exotic beetle is used to fight an exotic weed? Winner of the 2008 Media Award from the American Institute of Biological Sciences. Category: Ecology and Conservation October 29, 2007 Bloodied but Unbowed Published by High Country News. The paperback Western rides on. Category: Reviews and Interviews October 29, 2007 The Last Ride Published by High Country News. One hitchhiker's oral history. Category: Miscellany, Western Culture October 01, 2007 A Downside to Downing Dams? Published by High Country News. Freeing stopped rivers isn't always the panacea conservationists expect. Category: Ecology and Conservation October 01, 2007 Teaming Up With Thoreau Published by Smithsonian. One hundred fifty years after the publication of Walden, Henry David Thoreau is helping scientists monitor global warming. Category: Climate Change September 01, 2007 Dead End Published by Audubon. What border barriers mean for wildlife. Category: Ecology and Conservation August 20, 2007 Bonfire of the Superweeds Published by High Country News. In the Sonoran Desert, good intentions combust. Winner of the 2008 Media Award from the American Institute of Biological Sciences. Category: Ecology and Conservation August 15, 2007 Wildfires Ignite Worries Published by All Things Considered. On living with fire. Category: Essays, Western Culture July 01, 2007 Everybody's Doing It Published by Orion. What your credit card says about your social conscience (and your bathroom habits). Category: Miscellany June 01, 2007 High and Dry Published by High Country News. The award-winning series on climate change in the American West, collected in a fancy booklet. Available as a PDF download. Category: Climate Change May 31, 2007 Luau in the Desert Published by The Christian Science Monitor. Descendants of Polynesian pioneers throw a party in Utah. Category: Western Culture May 01, 2007 Of Murder and Microscopes Published by Sierra. How botanist Jane Bock became a crimefighter. Winner of the 2007 Best Profile Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors. Category: Profiles April 24, 2007 Places in the Heart Published by Grist Magazine. Interviews with an Icelandic vodka maker, a defiant Irish farmer, and the other winners of the 2007 Goldman Prize, environmentalism's highest honor. Also see Goldman 2006, Goldman 2005, Goldman 2004, and Goldman 2003. Category: Reviews and Interviews March 05, 2007 Wish You Weren't Here Published by High Country News. Quagga mussels -- a relative of the ferociously invasive zebra mussel -- have a new home in the West. Dealing with them will be anything but a vacation. Endorsed by the Knight Science Journalism Tracker. Category: Ecology and Conservation March 01, 2007 Scarface Published by Audubon. Photographer Cameron Davidson skims above the Appalachian landscape, and zooms in on mountaintop coal mining. Category: Ecology and Conservation, Essays January 17, 2007 Powder Day Published by All Things Considered. We expected a ski trip. We got something else. Category: Essays November 27, 2006 This Dog Believes Published by High Country News. Pika takes on global warming. Category: Essays October 12, 2006 Wrestling on a Mountain in Turkey Published by The Christian Science Monitor. It's all true. Category: Miscellany September 11, 2006 Science's Glacial Strides Published by The Christian Science Monitor. A two-part tale about the pleasures and perils of research on Alaska's Juneau Icefield (part two is here). Category: Climate Change September 01, 2006 Selling the Wind Published by Audubon. Dissecting the controversy over wind power and wildlife. Category: Ecology and Conservation August 21, 2006 The Lure of the Lawn Published by High Country News. Turfgrass is the largest irrigated crop in the United States. What's behind its persistent appeal? An abridged version of this story appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. Category: Ecology and Conservation, Western Culture June 01, 2006 Wrecking the Rockies Published by OnEarth. Colorado hunting guide Laura Amos wonders if her health is an uncounted casualty of the natural-gas boom. Cited as a notable story in the Best American Science and Nature Writing of 2007, edited by Richard Preston. Category: Ecology and Conservation, Public Health May 29, 2006 Dust and Snow Published by High Country News. In the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado, tiny particles carry big implications for spring snowmelt -- and Western water supplies. Category: Climate Change May 29, 2006 Between the Body and the World Published by High Country News. Pondering plasticized human remains at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Category: Essays May 01, 2006 Family Values Published by Sierra. Born in Cambodia, Bernie Barlow lives and works on a remote Wyoming ranch, where she and her family have spent decades fighting the region's energy booms. Category: Profiles March 06, 2006 Hot Times: Save Our Snow Published by High Country News. Can Aspen and other Western towns put a dent in global warming? The fifth and final part of the "Hot Times" series. Category: Climate Change March 05, 2006 Forgiving Dalton Trumbo Published by The San Francisco Chronicle. Dalton Trumbo, the blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter, outraged his Colorado hometown with his first novel. Seventy years later, that town is giving Trumbo another chance. Category: Miscellany, Western Culture November 01, 2005 Arctic Chill Published by Audubon. A review of Silent Snow by Marla Cone. Category: Public Health, Reviews and Interviews November 01, 2005 Between Hoofprints Published by Orion. The Quivira Coalition searches for true common ground in the West's grazing wars. A feature with lovely photographs by Lisa Hamilton. Contact me for full text. Category: Ecology and Conservation, Western Culture October 31, 2005 The End of Something Really Big Published by High Country News. Notes of a "carcass tourist." Category: Essays October 17, 2005 Hot Times: The Ghosts of Yosemite Published by High Country News. Scientists from the past bring us a message about the future. Part four of the Hot Times series. An abridged version of this story appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. Category: Climate Change September 01, 2005 Madame Butterfly Published by Sierra. I made a foray to Florida to profile MaVynee Betsch, a savvy activist who passed away in September 2005. Winner of the 2005 Best Profile Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors. Category: Ecology and Conservation, Profiles August 08, 2005 The American Dream, Sans Gasoline Published by High Country News. An essay about the joys of biodiesel. Category: Ecology and Conservation, Essays April 18, 2005 Hot Times: What Happened to Winter? Published by High Country News. Global warming and the end of winter as we know it. Part three of the Hot Times series. Category: Climate Change March 01, 2005 The Accidental Wetland Published by Orion. A journey into the Colorado River Delta of northern Mexico, with gorgeous black-and-white photographs by John Trotter. Please contact me for full text. Category: Ecology and Conservation January 24, 2005 Hot Times: Written in the Rings Published by High Country News. Ancient trees have a lot to tell us about our warmer and drier future in the American West. Part two of the Hot Times series. Category: Climate Change November 29, 2004 Send the Coyotes to Congress Published by High Country News. New representation for the West on Capitol Hill. Category: Ecology and Conservation, Essays October 01, 2004 For Sale By Owners Published by Smithsonian. A tiny town in Wyoming bands together to save its Main Street department store. Category: Western Culture July 19, 2004 Hot Times: Attack of the Bark Beetles Published by High Country News. Global warming is transforming Western forests. Part one of the Hot Times series and runner-up in the 2004 National Press Foundation competition for young science journalists. Category: Climate Change January 01, 2004 New Mexico's Strange Love Published by Mother Jones. Carlsbad, New Mexico's quest to host a nuclear bomb plant. Category: Western Culture December 10, 2003 What's in Your Body's Chemical Cocktail? Published by Salon. Biomonitoring shows how humans soak up their environment. Category: Public Health November 03, 2003 Extreme Canning Published by High Country News. An essay about trying out for a new sport. Category: Essays November 01, 2003 Tribal Talk Published by Smithsonian. An immersion school on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana strives to restore the tribe's ancestral language. Category: Western Culture September 01, 2003 Courting the Bomb Published by High Country News. The hardscrabble desert town of Carlsbad, N.M. is brushing aside the fears of environmentalists and arms-control advocates in its eagerness to host a new nuclear bomb plant. Category: Western Culture August 19, 2003 Down on the Pharm Published by Salon. Colorado farmers rebel against genetically modified "pharmaceutical" crops. Category: Ecology and Conservation, Public Health April 13, 2003 Change Comes Slowly to Escalante Country Published by High Country News. How one woman paid the political price for Utah's newest national monument. Category: Ecology and Conservation October 28, 2002 Shadow Creatures Published by High Country News. Urban critters reflect who we are, and what we've lost. Included in the Best American Science Writing 2003, edited by Oliver Sacks. Category: Ecology and Conservation July 11, 2002 Life in the Stupid Zone Published by Grist Magazine. What it's like to wait for your house to burn down. An essay that also appeared in The Denver Post and elsewhere. Category: Western Culture May 13, 2002 Where Free Trade is More than an Acronym Published by High Country News. An essay about picking onions along the Mexican border. Also appeared in the Denver Post and other regional newspapers. Category: Essays, Western Culture January 21, 2002 Finding the Words Published by High Country News. Native Americans are working to revive vanishing tribal languages, using their elders and language-immersion schools to try to gain fluent speakers. Category: Western Culture February 26, 2001 Return of the Natives Published by High Country News. In Idaho, the Nez Perce have become the first tribe to oversee the statewide recovery of an endangered species, the gray wolf, an experience that is energizing the tribe's own political and spiritual recovery. Category: Ecology and Conservation, Western Culture July 03, 2000 A River Resurrected Published by High Country News. The Colorado River Delta gets a second chance. Category: Ecology and Conservation June 19, 2000 Accidental Refuge Published by High Country News. The Salton Sea became the Salton Sea in 1905, when human accident flooded the desert; now its survival is uncertain. Category: Ecology and Conservation May 24, 1999 The Last Weird Place Published by High Country News. Eccentric desert rats and clean-cut park rangers meet in a culture clash over how to manage one of the hottest, driest and strangest places in North America -- Death Valley National Park. Category: Ecology and Conservation |
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Follow me on Twitter Listen to my interview with the founder of conservation biology, Michael Soule, on wolves and Colorado Watch a slideshow and hear an interview based on my High Country News essay "Township 13 South, Range 92 West, Section 35." Listen to my 2008 commencement address at Reed College
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