Environmental Reporting at WNIJ
The Mississippi River Basin spans nearly half of the continental United States. Millions of residents rely on the river system for drinking water, commerce and recreation.
More than 90% of America’s agricultural exports are grown in the Mississippi River Basin, including more than three-quarters of the world’s exports in feed grains, and most of the country’s livestock. More than 70% of nitrate pollution in the Mississippi River comes from agriculture, which harms human health and aquatic life and contributes to the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. As the impacts of climate change become more severe, residents can expect more extreme weather, including flooding.
By making resources available on this beat, we support more complete coverage of these critical topics. As our reporters build deeper knowledge, they tap into a network of newsrooms, experts, and support that will help them tell more equitable, impactful and interconnected stories.
Harvest Public Media reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues through a collaborative network of reporters and partner stations throughout the Midwest and Plains. Our goal is to provide in-depth and unbiased reporting on complex issues for a broad, diverse audience, often connecting the Heartland to the rest of the country. Primary topics include, but are not limited to, agribusiness, biofuels, climate change, farming and ranching, food safety, rural life and public policy.
Below you will find reporting from reporters across our collaborations.
Locally, Jess Savage reports on clean air, water, and agricultural systems in northern Illinois for WNIJ, part of the Mississippi River Basin Project and Harvest Public Media. They recently graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Jess was awarded the Pulitzer Center Campus Consortium Fellowship, where they reported on landscape-scale ecological restoration in England and its effects on local farmers. They studied ecology at the University of Vermont as an undergraduate.
Jess focuses on access and policy related to clean air, water and agricultural systems for northern Illinois residents. This includes storytelling that gives voice traditionally underserved communities and the impact of climate change on local communities. The beat is a solutions driven approach to reporting related to efforts to improve the quality of rivers and groundwater, policies and processes in agricultural practices and food systems, and overall access to healthy living.
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Algae is a 'little vacuum' for microplastics. Midwest scientists think it could clean up the problemTiny shards of plastic called microplastics are all over the environment and even inside human bodies. Researchers have found a type of bioengineered algae that can clean up these pesky particles. -
More than 1,600 plants and animals are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, but out of all of those, only one is a moss. A new effort seeks to protect these often overlooked plants. -
La consolidación en la agricultura, los precios más altos de los insumos, los problemas de acceso a los terrenos y otros obstáculos están dificultando que los agricultores jóvenes se afiancen en la agricultura estadounidense -
The Trump administration's federal workforce cuts shrunk U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies that inspect produce, provide conservation resources and collect data on crops and livestock. It's creating longer wait times for farmers seeking federal services and programs, people working in agriculture say. -
Farm aid promised last December is still months away from being paid out to fruit and vegetable growers. But industry groups say it won't be enough to get them through tough market conditions. -
As companies launch an array of protein-rich products and new federal dietary guidelines advise Americans to prioritize protein, nutrition experts have mixed feelings about the new emphasis on protein. -
Residents of Canton, Miss., say traffic and dust have already made life a ‘mess’. And they worry what will happen when hundreds of backup diesel generators go online. -
Reaching a goal of 1,000 buffalo will require more land and fencing. An alliance of tribal nations may help. -
Since its launch in 2022, the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline has responded to nearly 13 million calls. But many states have been slow to spend their own dollars on the program. -
Biofuel leaders say the shipping industry could be a golden goose for ethanol and soy-based biodiesel. One of the big barriers is the Trump administration, which torpedoed a global agreement to reduce pollution.
