As KUNC’s reporter covering the Colorado River Basin, I dig into stories that show how water issues can both unite and divide communities throughout the Western U.S. I produce feature stories for KUNC and a network of public media stations in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, California and Nevada. I also host KUNC’s live community storytelling events.
I love public radio because I know the power of hearing someone’s story in their own words, using their own voice. You can get a much better sense of who someone is and what their motivations are just by listening to how they speak, and that’s a big part of why I love public radio reporting.
Before covering water at KUNC I covered the agriculture and food beat for five years as the station’s Harvest Public Media reporter. I’ve also reported for Aspen Public Radio in Aspen, Colo. and Illinois Public Radio in Springfield, Ill. My reports have been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Here & Now and APM’s Marketplace. I’m a proud graduate of the University of Illinois’ Public Affairs Reporting program.
My work has been recognized by the Society of Environmental Journalists, Radio Television Digital News Association, the Colorado Broadcasters Association and the Public Media Journalists Association.
When I’m not at the station you can usually find me out exploring the Rocky Mountains with either a pack on my back or skis on my feet (sometimes both at the same time).
- Originally published on January 15, 2020 9:00 am Every time thick, dark rain clouds move over the deserts that surround Las Vegas, there’s an anticipatory buzz. Flora and fauna alike begin preparing for the rare event, lying in wait for the first few drops.
- Originally published on December 19, 2019 11:03 am With short-term drought plans finished, water managers from across the Southwest recently gathered in Las Vegas to figure out what’s next.
- Originally published on December 12, 2019 10:41 am The West’s water security is wrapped up in snow. When it melts, it becomes drinking and irrigation water for millions throughout the region. A high snowpack lets farmers, skiers and water managers breathe a sigh of relief, while a low one can spell long-term trouble.
- Originally published on December 6, 2019 3:00 pm The federal government is now taking comments on alternatives to a project in western Colorado notorious for causing earthquakes. The Bureau of Reclamation is looking for replacements for the Paradox Valley Unit, located in a remote part of western Colorado’s Montrose County.
- Originally published on November 13, 2019 5:09 pm As climate change continues to sap the Colorado River’s water, some users face serious legal risks to their supplies, according to a new analysis by researchers in Colorado and New Mexico. Declining flows could force Southwest water managers to confront long-standing legal uncertainties, and threaten the water
- Originally published on October 9, 2019 4:48 pm Climate change has been called the new normal.
- Originally published on October 16, 2019 3:40 pm Music is blaring and grills are firing up at a parking lot awash in navy blue and orange outside Empower Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver. Todd Endicott of Lafayette stands outside an ambulance turned Broncos fan-mobile.
- Originally published on August 1, 2019 12:59 pm One hundred and fifty years ago, a group of explorers led by Civil War veteran John Wesley Powell set out to document the canyons of the Green and Colorado Rivers. It was the first trip of its kind.
- Originally published on July 26, 2019 3:02 pm Wells built to bring underground water supplies to the surface are being dug deeper to tap into dwindling aquifers, according to a new study. By compiling decades of records for nearly 2 million groundwater wells across the country, researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara
- Originally published on July 23, 2019 11:42 am Water managers on the Colorado River are facing a unique moment.
- Originally published on July 17, 2019 9:29 am The number of deaths and accidents on Colorado’s rivers is right around normal for a high flow year, according to data from the conservation group American Whitewater. Since early June, 12 people have died while rafting, kayaking and paddleboarding on Colorado’s rivers.
- Originally published on June 28, 2019 2:22 pm Nara Bopp was working at a thrift store in Moab, Utah the morning of March 4 when her desk started moving. “I immediately assumed that it was a garbage truck,” Bopp said. She looked out the window. No garbage truck. No construction nearby either.
- Originally published on June 19, 2019 4:48 pm One morning in mid-February, David Herz went to turn on the faucet in his farmhouse outside the small western Colorado town of Paonia, and nothing came out. “I thought, ‘Oh, f—. We got a problem,’” Herz said.
- Originally published on June 20, 2019 10:17 am Groundwater pumping is causing rivers and small streams throughout the country to decline, according to a new study from researchers at the Colorado School of Mines and the University of Arizona.
- Originally published on June 12, 2019 9:13 am The Colorado River is short on water. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at a slate of proposed water projects in the river’s Upper Basin states of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. The river and its tributaries provide water for 40 million people in the Southwest.
- Originally published on May 7, 2019 11:06 am Snowpack in every part of Colorado’s high country is sporting layers of dust, according to a new statewide survey of the state’s winter accumulation.
