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 September 4, 2018 4:01 pm Warming temperatures are sapping the Colorado River, the water source for more than 40 million people in the southwest. A new study finds over the last 100 years the river’s flow has decreased by more than 15 percent.
- Originally published on January 14, 2019 2:12 pm The Colorado River is running low on water.
- Originally published on July 26, 2018 2:12 pm Stand near a river and you’ll hear a symphony of sounds: birds chirping, frogs croaking and water flowing. But what would it sound like if the stream itself could be transformed into classical music?
- Originally published on June 15, 2018 2:57 pm Reservoirs that store water along the Colorado River are projected to be less than half full later this year, potentially marking a historic low mark for the river system that supplies water to seven U.S. states and Mexico. Forecasters with the U.S.
- Originally published on June 5, 2018 2:56 pm The effects of climate change are already being felt at the headwaters of the West’s most important river system, according to a study released earlier this year.
- Originally published on April 24, 2018 10:43 am A quiet, rising tension over water in the southwest has burst into the public square. Agencies that manage and dole out the Colorado River’s water in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico are attempting to publicly shame an increasingly isolated water agency in Arizona.
- Originally published on March 29, 2018 10:04 am From the roof of Chuck McAfee’s adobe farmhouse in rural southwestern Colorado, you can see into three other states: Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Mountain peaks are just barely visible above the horizon.
- Originally published on April 4, 2018 4:30 pm The Colorado River Basin is likely to see one of its driest spring runoff seasons on record this year, according to federal forecasters.
- Originally published on March 26, 2018 4:38 pm The humpback chub, a fish native to the Colorado River and considered endangered since 1967, has turned a corner. In a recent analysis, scientists at the U.S.
- Originally published on March 15, 2018 4:38 pm How bad is 2018 snowpack in the southern Rocky Mountains, you ask? Let me count the ways.
- Originally published on March 12, 2018 9:11 am In 2014, the Colorado River did something it hadn’t done in decades. For a few short weeks that spring, the overdrawn, overallocated river reached the Pacific Ocean.
- Originally published on February 5, 2018 12:54 pm This winter in the southern Rocky Mountains is shaping up to be one for the record books. And not in a good way. Parts of the West are currently experiencing one of the driest and warmest winters on record.
- Originally published on February 5, 2018 12:53 pm When you’ve held on to something valuable for a long time, it can be hard to choose to give it up. When that something is water, it’s even harder — especially in the desert southwest.
- Originally published on March 20, 2018 11:29 am Pull out a map of the United States’ desert southwest and see if you can locate these rivers: Rio del Tizon, Rio San Rafael, or Rio Zanguananos. How about rivers named Tomichi, Nah-Un-Kah-Rea or Akanaquint? Having some trouble?
- Originally published on January 15, 2018 11:11 am In poll after poll, Americans make it clear: People working together is a good thing. Collaboration is a lofty goal touted by political and business leaders as a potential way forward on anything from climate change to healthcare to obesity.
- Originally published on January 15, 2018 11:11 am Update 10-23-17: The Colorado Attorney General’s Office has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Deep Green Resistance on behalf of the Colorado River ecosystem. The story has been updated to reflect this development.
