Caitlin Looby covers the Great Lakes for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Previously, her work appeared in GQ Magazine, The New York Times, Mongabay and on Southern California Public Radio. As a freelancer, she’s also edited books, dissertations, poetry collections and even restaurant menus. A former scientist, Looby spent 12 years hiking through tropical cloud forests to study soil microbes and climate change. She holds a master’s degree from Kean University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine. In her free time, Looby heads outdoors, paddling, hiking, camping and playing with her two dogs. Fun fact: she’s lived in every time zone in the continental U.S.
Beat: Great Lakes environmental coverage
This reporter advances our daily and enterprise coverage of the environment and the Great Lakes. They’re part of an expanded environmental team that serves 11 newsrooms in Wisconsin. The reporter will concentrate on myriad issues affecting Lake Michigan, the Great Lakes and land and water use in the watershed that drains into the lakes. Stories might examine wind farms, groundwater contamination, toxic algae blooms in Lake Michigan and Green Bay, federal farm and land management policies, wetland renewal projects, green roofs and other infrastructure to reduce runoff pollution in cities. The beat includes coverage of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and various advocacy groups active on Great Lakes issues.