Recent Graduate, Professional Master's of Journalism
School of Journalism & Mass Communication
University of Wisconsin–Madison
WRITING FOR A BETTER PLANET.
SELECTED WRITING.
Here's a selection of my favorite writing, ranging from full length magazine feature, scientific features, and newspaper guest commentary.
As the World Burns
for CURB Magazine
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Wisconsin is almost as far as can be from the parts of the U.S. where the effects of climate change are most visible. But remnants of a tropical storm fell here in June for just the fourth time in recorded history and by September, plumes of smoke from the western fires drifted into the state. The crisis is at our doorstep, with no way to pause it.
Thinking in Circles
in Q Magazine
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On Jan. 1, 2018, the People’s Republic of China stopped accepting shipments of used waste plastics from around the world. Though it made some headlines, this about-face didn’t turn the world as we know it on its head – or at least it hasn’t yet. As far as most of us knew, in the first week of 2018 we dropped our garbage in the trash can, and our recyclables in the recycling bin, and they went to the same places as the week before.
Bigger electricity menu means smaller grids
for Wisconsin Energy Institute
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When Hurricane Sandy caused the power to go out in parts of New York City in 2012, the lights stayed on in one building on lower Fifth Avenue. The building—The Brevoort—was able to provide electricity, heat, and water to 1,500 people during the emergency thanks to microgrid technology developed in part at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
In defense of the eastern gray squirrel
in The News-Gazette
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The afternoon was sunny and bright, but briskly cool in the way that only November days are. With me I had an old friend visiting from home, and one-third of a can of Planters NUTrition Heart Healthy Mix. As we set off for the UI's main Quad, my friend was skeptical of our mission.
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"Where," she asked, "are we going to find a squirrel?" I looked at her, incredulous, and managed to remember that she is not very familiar with Champaign-Urbana, just in time to stop myself from laughing. As calmly as I could, I told her the honest truth: "Well, probably just about anywhere we stop to look."
Allison Bender inspires energy learning beyond campus
for Wisconsin Energy Institute
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Researchers at the Wisconsin Energy Institute (WEI) work every day to develop the knowledge and technology to transition society to clean energy systems and solutions. It’s Allison Bender’s job to make sure that knowledge doesn’t stay behind campus doors.
2020 KidWind Challenge prepares Wisconsin students for wind energy careers
for Wisconsin Energy Institute
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As a wind energy technology instructor at Lakeshore Technical College, Justin Barrett is used to handling questions about jobs in the fast-growing wind turbine industry. But at a recent presentation, those questions came from a somewhat unusual audience: middle schoolers and their parents.
Gracielou Klinger wins GLBRC early career award
for Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center
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Gracielou Klinger likes to describe the chemicals she uses in her research at Michigan State University (MSU) as “smelly.” Klinger, a biochemistry graduate student in the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), studies how smelly chemicals such as sulfur can be used to break apart lignin and turn it into valuable products like biofuels.