Leah Borts-Kuperman
Leah Borts-Kuperman is an environmental journalist whose reporting for The Narwhal focuses on the intersection of contamination, policy and community health, with a particular emphasis on northern Ontario. She also freelances for a range of outlets, with work appearing at Canada’s National Observer, The Walrus, Future of Good and other publications covering environment, agriculture and public health. Her coverage links industrial projects, military and municipal decisions, and chemical exposures to the lived experience of workers and residents, rather than treating pollution as an abstract issue. Alongside these investigations, she reports on Indigenous stewardship and ecological restoration, including work on rebuilding northern forests with climate change in mind and First Nations-led efforts to heal damaged lands.
Contaminated military sites and housing
A core strand of Borts-Kuperman’s work examines how military infrastructure and housing policy intersect with contaminated land. In one major investigation, she reported for The Narwhal on National Defence’s plan to ease its housing crunch by building new homes on contaminated sites, probing what it would take to make those properties safe for families.
That reporting grew out of months of work on a Canadian Forces base in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, where current and former staff described clusters of cancer and other illnesses they linked to environmental contamination. The Narwhal later highlighted that she spent eight months on this investigation and noted that the story was named a finalist for best investigative article at the Canadian Online Publishing Awards, underscoring the depth and impact of the work.
Across these pieces she combines detailed document review with interviews from affected workers and experts, translating technical contamination and cleanup standards into clear narratives about risk, responsibility and the adequacy of official responses.
Industrial pollution and everyday exposure
Borts-Kuperman frequently reports on industrial facilities embedded in neighbourhoods and the often invisible health risks they pose. Her portfolio includes a National Observer feature warning that a local gas station could be making nearby residents sick, situating a familiar urban fixture within a broader conversation about air toxics and regulatory oversight.
For The Narwhal, she has covered a factory in Mississauga using a known carcinogen, reporting on how residents were unaware of the substance and examining the decision to site the plant in a largely immigrant community. In a separate collaboration, she and a co-author reported for Environmental Health News on North Bay’s close ties to a plastics factory near Lake Nipissing, detailing how city officials helped secure public funding despite unease over potentially hazardous chemicals and incomplete environmental permits. These stories share a pattern: she traces the path from corporate decisions and government approvals to the daily exposures of neighbours, highlighting gaps between assurances of safety and the scientific evidence around carcinogens and other toxic substances.
Her work in this area reinforces that environmental reporting can be as much about zoning, subsidies and political relationships as it is about smokestacks and effluent.
Water contamination, road salt and ‘forever chemicals’
Water systems and persistent chemicals are another recurring focus of Borts-Kuperman’s coverage.
She has reported on a PFAS “forever chemicals” hotspot in Ontario for Circle of Blue, breaking down why these contaminants are so difficult to remove and what they mean for local drinking water. In related work, she wrote an Environmental Health News explainer summarizing The Narwhal’s reporting on chemicals near Lake Nipissing, outlining how a new industrial facility is opening in an area where water is already contaminated.
Her reporting also extends to more ubiquitous pollutants: for Great Lakes Now, she documented how winter road salt is threatening Lake Simcoe and surrounding watersheds, noting that a small freshwater stream in Newmarket was saltier than the ocean and exploring the cumulative impacts of runoff from roads and parking lots. Across these pieces she treats chemical footprints as infrastructure stories, showing how choices about de-icing, industrial siting and monitoring regimes accumulate in watersheds and aquifers that communities depend on. The emphasis is on clarity around risk and accountability, with technical details translated into straightforward explanations of exposure pathways and regulatory limits.
Indigenous stewardship and land repair
Borts-Kuperman also devotes significant attention to Indigenous-led conservation and environmental remediation.
Her Narwhal feature on Shawanaga First Nation profiles how the community is protecting a key endangered species, using local knowledge and treaty rights to shape conservation on their lands. In another widely recognized story for The Narwhal, she reported on Nipissing First Nation’s efforts to heal environmental damage, describing how leaders used data, legal tools and persistent advocacy to push for cleanup and more responsible resource management.
That Nipissing feature went on to win a Gold medal at the Canadian Online Publishing Awards for Best Feel Good Story, reflecting her ability to pair rigorous reporting with narratives centered on agency and solutions. Beyond strictly environmental beats, she has written for Future of Good about Canada’s first cultural land trust purchase, showing how community ownership models can protect beloved arts spaces and connecting land stewardship with cultural continuity.
In these stories she foregrounds local voices and practical strategies - endangered species protection, land trusts, data-driven claims - making Indigenous governance and community initiatives central to the wider climate and conservation conversation.
Across outlets, Borts-Kuperman works in a mix of formats: long investigations, reported features, and accessible explainers.
Her pieces are often grounded in months-long reporting and have received national awards and nominations, including recognition from the Canadian Online Publishing Awards for both investigative work and solutions-focused storytelling. What distinguishes her coverage from a generic environment beat is the consistent link between environmental hazards and specific communities, along with a focus on how policy, funding decisions and local organizing shape both exposure and repair.
4 more environment journalists.
Adam Kovac
Adam Kovac is a breaking news reporter at Scientific American who explains fast-moving stories where science, climate and public policy intersect. His beat spans climate-driven extremes, El Niño, energy, infrastructure, space, mathematics and public health. He has written about super El Niño, extreme weather, ozone recovery, diesel prices, electric rain, peeling paint, wine chemistry, lunar craters, space missions, NASA telescopes, vaccines, IVF treatments, TikTok remedies and AI-created viruses. He also covers regulation, political campaigns and pressures on scientific institutions. His stories are fast-turn news features and explainers. He uses expert quotes and clear descriptions of underlying mechanisms to show why developments matter. He connects technical details to practical stakes, including risks to ecosystems, economies, patients, public safety, technology and long-term scientific work.
Angela Capobianco
Angela Capobianco stands out for reporting how policy, infrastructure and environmental decisions translate into concrete effects for workers, residents and vulnerable communities. She is a digital broadcast journalist at Global News and works as a general assignment video journalist with a focus on environmental reporting, municipal affairs, housing and labour. Her stories cover labour protections, municipal governance, environmental conflicts and social policy. She reports on how land use, climate and regulatory choices affect communities, from glyphosate spraying fears in Bear River to extreme heat and support for people sleeping rough. She also covers workers’ rights, long-term care strikes, municipal budgets, ferry service delays, heritage designation, housing reuse, and bridge replacement plans, with close attention to negotiations, official decisions and on-the-ground impact.
Arrthy Thayaparan
Arrthy Thayaparan is a CBC News reporter who shows how government decisions affect daily life. She covers climate, transportation, education, community issues, trade, tariffs and the cost of living. Her reporting examines how policy changes affect prices, public services, employers, workers, consumers and families. She has written about Ontario businesses facing tariff pressures, ticket resale rules, tariff support funding, transit changes after the Scarborough RT derailment, highway speed limits, education union talks and mandatory school platforms. She also covers public-service work rules, community-service funding, municipal campaigns, tenant protections and the economic effects of major events. Thayaparan reports through concrete numbers, program details and timelines. She gives space to governments, unions, workers, businesses and residents, and traces decisions from political debate to their effects on commutes, classrooms, budgets, workplaces and neighbourhoods.
Bianca McKeown
Bianca McKeown stands out for reporting the everyday consequences of climate change, infrastructure decisions, social policy and Indigenous governance in northern communities. She reports for CBC North across television, radio and digital. Her work focuses on how weather shifts, wildlife changes and development projects affect daily life, travel, safety and local economies. She covers large infrastructure and energy proposals, foster parent payments, cost of living, vulnerable families and Indigenous leadership. She also reports on national reconciliation efforts and the role of Inuit voices in decision-making. Her stories rely on practical details, community voices, interviews and clear descriptions of what residents, officials and advocates face on the ground. Her coverage is direct and descriptive, and it connects policy decisions to lived reality.