Oregon’s McKenzie River Valley recovers from the Holiday Farm Fire of 2020
In early 2021, I finished my coursework at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism & Communication’s graduate program in Journalism. Most rewarding, I assisted professor of practice Torsten Kjellstrand during his two-term “UO Science Story” course. Tailored to undergraduate multimedia students interested in science journalism, Science Story gave students the guidance and support to find and tell multimedia stories about humanist and environmental implications of the 173,393-acre wildfire that conflated much of the McKenzie River Valley in Oregon’s western Cascade Range in September, 2020.
As managing editor, I worked closely with the science writers to ensure crisp, clear prose and accurate reportage. I also liaised between students working on photographic, illustrative, and audio components to arrive at a smooth synthesis of story elements. All the while, I handed down direction from Kjellstrand (whose documentary work was recently published by The New Yorker), Brian Bull (reporter and producer at KLCC) and Dennis Dimick (former executive environment editor at National Geographic Magazine and co-founder of Eyeson.Earth).