Molly Enking
Molly Enking is a climate editor at Maine Public whose reporting traces how the climate crisis is changing everyday life in Maine, using specific institutions, communities and ecosystems to show impacts that are often abstract elsewhere.
Climate impacts on forests, crops and species
Enking spends significant time on how warming temperatures, shifting seasons and new pests affect working forests and agriculture, grounding broad climate trends in the realities faced by land stewards.
In coverage of reports on climate change and biological threats, she focuses on the spread of diseases and invasive species that endanger trees and crops, drawing out what these findings mean for people who depend on those landscapes.
Her climate newsletter work highlights ecological changes such as warming waters, shorter winters and migrating species, connecting those shifts to long-term questions about the future of Maine’s rural economies and natural systems.
Coastal resilience, infrastructure and federal funding
Enking’s reporting on coastal towns shows how sea-level rise and stronger storms translate into concrete decisions about public works and local budgets.
In coverage of York’s multimillion-dollar FEMA support for rebuilding a seawall, she follows the chain from federal climate resilience funding to local engineering choices and neighborhood protection, treating infrastructure as a frontline climate issue rather than a background detail.
Her broader climate desk work often ties ocean conditions and shoreline change to policy debates and community planning, situating coastal adaptation within the larger story of how Maine responds to the climate crisis.
Climate risk for businesses and the economy
Enking applies the same climate lens to the private sector, reporting on how companies assess physical and financial risks as weather patterns, supply chains and regulations shift.
In her coverage of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s work with Hannaford to assess climate risk, she follows a grocery chain’s collaboration with scientists to understand threats to operations and food systems, showing how corporate decision-makers now treat climate as a core business concern rather than a peripheral issue.
The environment and outdoors vertical lists her across climate and business coverage, reflecting a focus on where environmental change meets economic planning and investment.
Education, data and public understanding of climate
Enking’s work frequently returns to classrooms, educators and students, treating education as a crucial arena where climate knowledge is built and passed on.
In reporting on volunteers preserving climate data that teachers rely on, she spends time inside an advanced environmental science class, describing hands-on projects and the practical tools instructors need to translate climate science for young people.
Her Planet Maine newsletter introduces student climate action and offers concrete steps individuals can take, blending reported context with accessible suggestions that make climate engagement feel tangible rather than symbolic.
As a panelist and producer on programs about heat and re-use culture, she helps guide conversations that link personal habits, consumption, and local conditions to larger climate systems, reinforcing a through-line of everyday, actionable climate understanding.
Planet Maine and the climate desk
Enking anchors Planet Maine, a climate newsletter from Maine Public’s climate desk, using that format to stitch together reporting on science, policy, community stories and practical guidance.
She describes the desk’s mission as covering how the climate crisis shapes Maine and the wider world - from shifting seasons and migrating species to the ups and downs of clean energy development - giving a clear statement of scope that informs her story choices.
Her author biography notes that she previously covered national news and then climate and environmental stories at other outlets, bringing that broader experience to a role that now centers on sustained, locally grounded climate coverage.
Across broadcast segments, newsletters and reported pieces, Enking’s work is distinguished by its focus on how climate change shows up in specific Maine settings - schools, coastlines, forests, and businesses - and by a consistent effort to tie those scenes back to larger systems and decisions.
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.