Hi! 👋 My latest story digs into the high demand for skilled tradespeople in the rural mountain towns of Colorado... and why these jobs are a crucial part of the climate workforce of the future. It aired on Marketplace by APM yesterday afternoon. www.marketplace.org/story/2025/1...

Wow. I can't believe it's over. Yesterday I was told that my job as rural and small communities reporter at KUNC is being eliminated because of the federal government's cuts to the CPB.

Last month the USDA ended all efforts to level the playing field for minorities & women in agriculture, declaring they've already "sufficiently addressed" discrimination. Mission accomplished. BIPOC farmers in Colorado might have a bone to pick. My latest for KUNC. www.kunc.org/news/2025-08...

The EPA under President Trump wants to scrap the $7 billion Solar For All program that makes solar accessible for moderate-to-low-income families. In Colorado, the $156 million grant would have expanded solar to 20K families in the next 5 years. My latest for KUNC. www.kunc.org/news/2025-08...

We often think of extreme heat as a problem in our cities - seethe "urban heat island effect." But a new study points out the risks are just as relevant - maybe just a little different - in rural areas. My latest story for KUNC. www.kunc.org/news/2025-08...

Burn scar mushrooms cause a craze among foragers in the mountains of the West. They're prolific. They're delicious. And they only pop up after wildfires burn through a forest. My latest story for KUNC: www.kunc.org/news/2025-07...

KGNU, Boulder’s flagship public radio station for more than 40 years, expects to lose 15.5% of its operating budget after Congressional Republicans eliminated federal funding for public media for the next two years // Story by @bamesjurky.bsky.social

Public Media will thrive despite the rescission vote because we provide a unique, beloved and vital public service. To wit: My story about federal cuts to sustainable ag research airs on @npr.org this afternoon. Take time to love on your local public media today! www.npr.org/2025/07/21/n...

Farmers and ranchers are feeling the cuts to federal climate spending. One of the most long-reaching impacts might be the cancelation of funding for ag science research into how producers can most effectively adapt to the changing climate. My latest story for KUNC. www.kunc.org/news/2025-07...

Almost 3 months since a major blowout at a Chevron well in Galeton, Colorado. The company has finished investigating the root cause of the accident. But questions linger about the public health impact and how the company will be held accountable. My latest for KUNC. www.kunc.org/news/2025-06...

Why are summer reading lists a thing? As if we don't read any other time? But... since it is a thing, KUNC has one! Our lovingly hand-crafted Summer Reading List has all the non-AI generated book recs you'll need for, uh, reading season? (seriously, it's a great list) www.kunc.org/news/summerr...

My story on @npr.org Morning Edition today: Rural water systems are scrambling to get PFAS out of the water supply. The Trump admin just softened some PFAS regs, but fed funding for decontamination is under threat. Rural water users could be left holding the bag. www.npr.org/2025/06/17/n...

Here it is! My #climatesolutionsweek story for @npr.org Don’t touch that wrecking ball! Dismantling buildings piece by piece and reusing the parts can shrink the bloated carbon footprint of the built environment www.npr.org/2025/06/13/n...

My latest story for KUNC is part of @npr.org 's #Climatesolutionsweek! It's about how taking buildings apart piece by piece is a climate solution that's happening here in Colorado. Local version of this story here: www.kunc.org/news/2025-06...

My latest story for @marketplace.org Morning Report is out - on the impact of Trump energy policies on the rural solar industry. www.marketplace.org/story/2025/0...

I co-hosted this episode of Knowledge Unbound with the inimitable @dewsbury.bsky.social About an extraordinary educational collab btwn descendants of the Sand Creek Massacre & Amache, the Japanese incarceration camp in SE Colorado. Thanks for letting me share the host seat, Bry!

We talk to Indigenous Studies teacher Greg Spottedbird Lamebull and Mariko Rooks. I cohosted this episode with Rae Solomon of KUNC, NPR's affiliate in Northern Colorado. You can catch all our episodes at knowledgeunbound.transistor.fm, youtube.com/@SEASProgam, and Spotify.

🐑 My story on the sheep industry's optimistic, tentative embrace of tariffs aired on @npr.org yesterday morning. 🐑 Were you were too busy eating hot dogs to tune into public radio? Psshh I got you 😉: www.npr.org/2025/05/26/n...

My story on rural entrepreneurship aired on @marketplace.org yesterday. Fun stuff! Definitely not one of those bummer stories. www.marketplace.org/story/2025/0...

Braggadocio alert! The KUNC newsroom won 6 regional Murrows! I got the nod for work on a youth homelessness series. My work was also part of our awards for continuing coverage (wildfires) and the biggie: overall newsroom excellence! So damn proud of this newsroom! www.kunc.org/station-news...

Got my steel-toed boots on this morning to go on location at a deconstruction site in Boulder

I visited the Library of Congress recently. It is a cathedral to free thought and scholarship. Incredibly moved that our country, at one point, valued those things so much that it built this incredible, beautiful, ornate monument to knowledge. We are losing so much. apnews.com/article/dona...

“The economy is in pretty uncertain shape right now,” Weiler said. “I'd like to believe that rural entrepreneurs can be a bright spot again in pulling us out of a potential downturn.” The high drama of a rural pitch competition: my latest story for KUNC: www.kunc.org/news/2025-05...

The tariff situation has been chaotic, and for most farmers, economically frustrating. But there's a sector of the industry that's pretty pleased. Hint: it's small, white and wooly. My latest story for KUNC. www.kunc.org/news/2025-04...

The tariff situation has been chaotic, and for most farmers, economically frustrating. But there's a sector of the industry that's pretty pleased. Hint: it's small, white and wooly. My latest story for KUNC. www.kunc.org/news/2025-04...

Great reporting by Natalie Skowlund here on the mental health impacts of deportations and deportation rhetoric.

My colleague KUNC Emma VandenEinde took to the open skies in an actual *helicopter* (😳) to bring you this story on preparations for wildfire season. 🚁⛑️👨‍🚒 www.kunc.org/news/2025-04...

Just stumbled on a stash of my mom’s old love letters from the 1970’s… before she met my dad. And the blend of emotions I’ve got right now…! 🤭 🤫😱🥲 🧐🫨

Respectfully, who are these people who have *75 minutes* to absorb a NYT columnist chat podcast? 😳 And in what world is that an improvement on a tight 800 words?

Deportations and deportation rhetoric take a tremendous toll on the mental health of immigrants in our communities. Story by Natalie Skowlund for @kffhealthnews.org kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Trader Joe’s the only store in Denver with any matzah left. PSA

A blowout at a Chevron well in Galeton, CO took 4 days to contain. Evacuations since Sunday & the local elementary school lost a week. Residents described oily droplets raining down from the sky, settling on their property. My latest for KUNC. www.kunc.org/news/2025-04...

Tariff hikes could hit outdoor recreation brands hard, industry warns. From the Mountain West News Bureau's Rachel Cohen - www.kunc.org/regional-new...

KUNC cleaned up at the Colorado Broadcasters Association Awards on Saturday night! I won for best social media (Lol) and for my reporting on a series on youth homelessness. My colleagues won for newscast, feature reporting, hosting, website. etc. And KUNC won station of the year! 🍾🎉

As a Jewish Xennial, this story resonated deeply. Thank you @taffyakner.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/m...

Seen at the Library of Congress last week: Hannah Arendt's Affidavit of Identity in Lieu of Passport. "I wish to use this document in lieu of passport which I, a stateless person, cannot obtain at present" Notarized in NY state in 1949.

Proud to share that I am part of the 2025 cohort of Higher Ed Media Fellowship with the with Institute for Citizens and Scholars! So excited to meet my fellow fellows in NC in just a few weeks! citizensandscholars.org/spring-2025-...

Took the kids to DC last week for spring break. The Holocaust Museum was packed. History of the rise of Fascism must be resonating with folks for some reason.

Billions of federal dollars were set to come to rural Colorado for solar development. With the Trump administration‘s hostility towards renewable energy those projects are now in jeopardy. Ag producers, and small businesses are feeling it. My latest story for KUNC. www.kunc.org/news/2025-03...

The Trump administration cut funding for local food programs, including over $13 million in Colorado. Here's what that means for your community. (Hint: unfortunate news for farmers, schools and foodbanks alike) My latest story for KUNC: www.kunc.org/news/2025-03...

Working on a story about how cuts to the USDA’s local food programs are playing out in northern Colorado. But man! Trying to get a farmer on the line in early springtime is no easy task!

Coloradans who live near oil and gas wells feel like collateral damage even though the state has the globe's strictest air quality regs for the industry. My latest for KUNC. www.kunc.org/news/2025-03...

I haven't seen too much conversation around the fact that the many federal agency websites have been scrubbed of past press releases. Erasing primary sources. Erasing the record. Erasing history.

Love it! But… we all know Johnson’s is over. The future is beaver.

Kirana Bergstrom was among a mass of NOAA researchers the Trump admin fired last week. Hundreds met in front of her former office building in Boulder this morning to protest the firings. My latest story with my KUNC colleagues Emma VandenEinde and Beau Baker. www.kunc.org/news/2025-03...

I just spoke with a (former) NOAA scientist who worked at the David Skaggs Research Center and was terminated on Thursday. She worked on AI models that make weather data more granular and easily accessible. She has lost her dream job and looking for work in industry.

Just finished reading You Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro Enrigue This was the book ending I desperately needed on this particular day at this particular moment in history.

This is deeply unsettling. We should all be terrified. www.nytimes.com/video/us/pol...

Good morning! Are you fired NOAA employee in Colorado who is willing to speak with public radio? Please DM me. KUNC wants up hear your story.