Published journalist writing about water issues, outdoor recreation, and ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
“The water quality, it’s kind of weird. But we’re local people who were raised next to steel mills. It’s been normalized to us.”
— Steve Matushek, Lake Michigan Surfer
More stories.
How Tiny Bath, IL, Turned an Invasive Species Into a National Tournament
MEDILL CLIMATE: Randy Stockham turned the throttle, his left arm braced as he dodged an airborne fish and steered around a fallen tree to catch the lead boat. With 10 minutes left in the first heat of this year’s Redneck Fishing Tournament, his team was on track to bring home the gold.
A 21st Century Gateway to Castle Rock State Park
BAY NATURE MAGAZINE: Jiménez and I hike through filtered sunlight in a forest of madrones—those smooth, red-barked trees—plus tanoaks that fill in the understory and shaggy evergreen Douglas firs. Jiménez points out California blackberries, coyote brush, and the leaves of a few wood roses that dot the banks of Kings Creek, the flowing stream that runs along the trail.
2019 Youth Engagement Hero Tina Cuevas Inspires Trail Outings
BAY NATURE MAGAZINE: When Tina Cuevas quit her tech marketing job, her dad said: “Well, you tried it, that’s good. Now what do you want to do next?” She wanted to pursue her passion for people and the outdoors.
Read the rest of my Youth Hero Award profiles here.
Where to Find Redwoods Close to Home in the Bay Area
BAY NATURE MAGAZINE: A sanctuary just steps from the road, Roy’s Redwoods Preserve is a study in Northern California habitats including an old-growth coast redwood grove, framed by an active creek that passes through madrone, manzanita, and bay and Douglas fir forests, and grassy hillsides replete with coyote brush.
Shell stuff: Monitoring the health of California’s shellfish amid climate change
MEDILL REPORTS: In the world of shelled invertebrates, researchers handle their subjects carefully, especially the babies who are hypersensitive to change and tend to die quickly and without warning, a habit that make them more difficult to study than their more resilient parents.
Black Gold
MEDILL REPORTS: Ed Hubbard has been dreaming up worm businesses since before he could drive. Now the 54-year-old has turned that passion into a business, transforming Chicago’s food waste into valuable soil one crawler at a time.