Lindsay Shachnow
Lindsay Shachnow connects fast-moving weather, health and civic developments to their practical impact on everyday life in and around Pittsburgh. She is a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, covering trending news and other topics as part of the masthead’s express and general assignment coverage. Her environment and weather reporting focuses on translating complex patterns such as a historically strong El Niño into clear expectations for local conditions. In public professional bios she describes her role as an express reporter, with earlier reporting experience in Boston.
Weather, climate and extreme events
Shachnow regularly leads coverage of severe weather systems in the Pittsburgh area, including “unusually strong” storms that trigger alerts across the region.
She tracks rare flooding events described as “1 in 100 year” episodes, following both the initial watches and the point at which flood and thunderstorm warnings are called off. Her reporting on heat advisories explains “feels-like” temperatures expected to exceed 100 degrees, emphasizing the practical thresholds at which residents face heightened risk. In coverage of a wet September that overlaps with major football weekends, she lays out how persistent rain will shape the start of the season and what to expect heading into fall. Together with her work on a historically strong El Niño, these stories show a consistent focus on giving readers clear, time-sensitive guidance about extreme weather and longer-term climate patterns.
Public health and everyday risk
Beyond atmospheric conditions, Shachnow covers infectious disease and public health stories that have direct consequences for families in Pennsylvania. Her reporting on measles includes coverage of an infant who was one of two measles-related deaths in Lancaster County and separate reporting on people who tested positive for measles after visiting a children’s hospital, framing these developments through official statements and public health responses. She also follows how disease concerns ripple through the local food system, documenting how cyclosporiasis fears have boosted sales for lettuce producers and exploring whether that surge in demand will endure. In that piece she profiles long-running growers operating out of an old elementary school turned greenhouse, connecting consumer anxiety about contamination to the fortunes of pesticide-free lettuce and microgreens businesses. Across these health stories, she keeps the focus on concrete risks, institutional actions and the ways they intersect with daily routines.
Local economy and business shifts
Shachnow’s general assignment work often looks at how major events and corporate decisions translate into economic change for the region.
In coverage of a Steelers playoff game, she reports on how the matchup “scores millions” for Pittsburgh’s economy, quantifying the scale of impact rather than treating the game solely as a sports story. Her business reporting extends to retail, including news that Zara is slated to open its first location in Pittsburgh, signaling how national brands choose to enter the local market.
She links health concerns to business outcomes in her cyclosporiasis coverage, showing how a spike in worry drives increased sales for local lettuce producers and raises questions about the durability of that trend. This mix of event-driven economic analysis and business openings underscores her interest in how money moves through the city in response to news.
Education, politics and community stories
Shachnow also covers education and community narratives, often centering how national events are experienced in local classrooms.
She reports on a 9/11 survivor who escaped the World Trade Center’s South Tower and later told Shaler students “exactly what I saw,” bringing a historic catastrophe into a contemporary educational setting. In another education-focused piece, she writes about making the transition to college seamless, offering guidance tailored to students navigating that change.
Her politics reporting includes coverage of the Pennsylvania primary, where she details the official nominations of figures such as Gov. Josh Shapiro and Treasurer Stacy Garrity, situating statewide results within the broader political landscape. She connects national science and technology milestones to local communities through a story on a Seneca Valley graduate who served as the voice of NASA’s historic mission, highlighting regional ties to high-profile space exploration.
Taken together, these assignments show a reporter who moves easily across education, politics and science while keeping the community’s experience at the center.
Across environment, weather, health, business and civic beats, Shachnow’s work is defined by quick, clearly structured stories that explain why a development matters now and what it changes for people in and around Pittsburgh. Her coverage leans on timely alerts, measurable impacts and local voices, giving communications teams a sense of how she frames news that touches daily life.
4 more environment journalists.
Alan Halaly
Alan Halaly is a water reporter at the Las Vegas Review-Journal who treats the Colorado River as a working system, not a backdrop, making its governance, infrastructure and risks central to his beat. He covers how policy decisions and infrastructure projects shape the region’s water future, linking high-level choices on the Colorado River, dams, mining and data centers to everyday consequences under mounting heat and growth pressures. He reports deeply on new laws, lawsuits and regulatory shifts, focusing on on-the-ground impacts. His coverage spans Colorado River cuts, Hoover Dam operations, extreme weather, heat and parks, septic system rules, workplace and public health risks, lithium and gold mines, protected landscapes, data centers, AI infrastructure and public funding. Previously he reported for metropolitan dailies, digital outlets and public media, including the Miami Herald, WUFT, The Daily Beast and Miami New Times, with work recognized by Hearst, ONA and the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Alejandra Borunda
Alejandra Borunda reports on how climate change affects human health for NPR. Her work treats global warming as a direct cause of physical and mental health risks. She covers extreme heat, including undercounted deaths, lost sleep and local efforts to track heat-related fatalities. She also reports on wildfire smoke, hurricanes, disease spread such as dengue fever, trauma, stress and unequal health impacts. Her stories examine how communities protect themselves and recover, as well as practical solutions involving climate-resilient crops, agriculture and diet. Before NPR, she wrote about climate science and environmental issues for National Geographic, including glacier retreat, shade and heat inequity, and shrinking ice-fishing seasons. A former climate scientist, she combines field reporting with scientific data to connect atmospheric research to everyday risks, choices and people’s lived experiences.
Alex Lubben
Alex Lubben is an environment reporter at The Times-Picayune/The Advocate who connects climate risk to policy, industry and community change. He covers Gulf warming, flood protection, coastal restoration, wetlands litigation, industrial projects such as SpaceX’s possible expansion, invasive species and local ecosystems. His reporting tracks how law, politics and corporate decisions shape levees, drainage, marshes and long-term resilience. He also examines climate relocation, housing and labor, showing how hurricanes, floods and wildfires displace vulnerable communities and expose gaps in government systems. He works on a small environment team and brings an investigative background to document work, data analysis, legal and policy research, and field reporting. His work has appeared in VICE News, The Center for Public Integrity, The Nation, Jewish Currents and NBC News.
Alex Wigglesworth
Alex Wigglesworth reports on how climate, land use and public policy shape California communities. She covers the Inland Empire and Mojave Desert for the Los Angeles Times and is part of its environment team. Her beat includes wildfires, megadrought, extreme weather, desert development, conservation, wildlife, industrial hazards, aging infrastructure and regulatory enforcement. She has covered Western Joshua trees, desert tortoises, beaver-led restoration, toxic lead pipes, air-quality concerns after industrial fires and the effects of nuclear war on food systems. Earlier, she was a general assignment reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com. She combines breaking news with detailed reporting grounded in scientific studies, modeling and expert interviews. Her work connects fires, drought and other hazards to climate change, while examining how agencies, companies and land-use decisions affect people and ecosystems.