Sam Brasch
Sam Brasch reports on climate and the environment for Colorado Public Radio, tracing how warming temperatures, energy policy and local decisions reshape daily life in Colorado communities. He covers fast-moving events like wildfires and storms alongside longer-term shifts in snowpack, energy systems and environmental justice, grounding statewide trends in specific places and people. His work stands out for the way it links technical climate science and policy debates to vivid scenes and voices, making complex environmental issues accessible without losing nuance.
Wildfire, Water and a Changing Climate
Brasch regularly documents Colorado’s wildfire seasons, tracking how clusters of major fires force evacuations and leave residents uncertain about their homes. He explains the role of weather patterns, detailing how monsoon rains can simultaneously bring flood risk and relief to fire-ravaged landscapes. His coverage of record-low snow levels in the Rocky Mountains sets day-to-day observations against the backdrop of climate research, showing how diminished snowpack alters water supplies and heightens fire danger.
Across these stories, he moves between on-the-ground reporting and scientific context, using interviews with affected communities and researchers to show how climate change is reshaping risk, resilience and the rhythms of life in the region.
Energy Systems, Regulation and the Low-Carbon Shift
Energy transition and regulation are a core thread in Brasch’s reporting, especially where federal decisions collide with local plans.
He has covered efforts by power plant owners to close aging coal facilities, focusing on cases where federal emergency orders are used to keep plants running despite utility plans to shut them down. His reporting follows the implications of tax credits for electric vehicles, showing how expiring incentives drive consumer behavior and highlight tensions between climate policy and household budgets.
He has also examined pushes for restaurants to switch from gas to electric appliances, profiling chefs who are weighing cost, performance and health concerns as they consider induction and other electric options. In Denver, he writes about programs that pay residents to prepare for climate-friendly careers, treating workforce development as part of the broader infrastructure of the energy transition rather than a separate economic story.
Taken together, these pieces show him tracking policy instruments, regulatory moves and market signals as they filter down to utilities, small businesses and individual consumers.
Community Stories, Indigenous Perspectives and Environmental Justice
Brasch often centers communities that sit at the intersection of environmental change and cultural identity. His reporting on an urban bison herd describes how animals once displayed as a frontier attraction now help Indigenous residents connect with heritage, using a local park setting to explore questions of land, history and ecological restoration.
In a related radio segment, he follows efforts to revive Indigenous bison harvest traditions in the West, showing how species recovery, cultural practices and city policy overlap within an environmental story.
He has covered environmental justice grants that lose funding, treating the cancellation not only as a budget change but as a setback for communities that rely on federal support to address pollution and climate impacts. These pieces reflect a consistent approach: he uses environmental reporting to surface questions of equity, representation and who benefits or loses as climate policy is made.
Reporting Format and Background
Brasch’s work spans daily news hits and more expansive feature pieces for Colorado Public Radio and national programs, often in audio form with companion digital stories.
He files dispatches that combine field tape, interviews and explanatory narration, whether he is describing smoke and evacuation routes near active fires, rain hitting parched ground during monsoon storms, or the hum of electric kitchen equipment in a busy restaurant. His stories on coal plants, electric vehicles and bison herds appear in national newscasts and environmental shows, extending regional reporting to a wider audience while retaining a strong Colorado focus.
Brasch’s background includes a news fellowship at Colorado Public Radio, where he built data projects to support energy and environment coverage and reported on the coal industry, experience that reinforces his comfort with complex policy and industry stories. Earlier work for a food and farming magazine gave him familiarity with agriculture and rural economies, which now surfaces in his attention to how climate and energy decisions affect land use and livelihoods.
His current environment beat brings these strands together: detailed reporting on climate impacts, energy transition and environmental justice, delivered in clear, grounded narratives that highlight specific people, places and decisions rather than abstract trends.
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.