During her 20 years in journalism, Sara has reported for newspapers and magazines, co-written a book, and practiced PR. Here are some highlights from her work in recent years.
“Dead zone pollutant grows despite decades of work. But who’s the culprit?,” Environmental Health News, July 9, 2012
For two centuries, the town of Hermann has been known for the Missouri River. But now the river is making Hermann known for an unexpected reason: It is a hot spot for nitrate. Despite three decades of costly efforts to clean it up, the levels at Hermann have increased 75 percent since 1980. From farm and urban runoff, nitrate throughout the vast Mississippi River basin funnels into the Gulf of Mexico, where it sucks oxygen out of the water and kills almost everything in its path. One of America’s most widespread and challenging environmental problems, this pollution continues to pour into the rivers – and ultimately the Gulf – at a growing pace. And no one has figured out exactly why. One theory is that more fertilizer is washing into the watershed because corn acreage has skyrocketed. But some old nitrate could be bubbling up from contaminated groundwater, and urban population growth could play a role, too.Like wildebeest on the Serengeti or salmon in the Pacific Northwest, monarch butterflies take part in an epic migration. Thousands of volunteers across the butterfly’s range are tracking the migration to help understand these elegant insects and understand why their numbers are declining.
“Slipping Away,” Defenders Magazine, Spring 2008
Amphibians—named for the Greek word for “double life”— are in trouble around the planet. A third of all amphibian species are considered threatened, making them the most vulnerable group of animals in the world. “The world hasn’t seen an extinction crisis like this since the dinosaurs died out,” says conservationist Kevin Zippel.
“Religious leaders challenge a polluter,” The Nation, July 9, 2007
It’s a long way from the thin air of an impoverished mountain village outside Lima, Peru, to the tony atmosphere of the Hamptons. But a group of religious leaders from Peru recently traveled to New York to tell billionaire industrialist Ira L. Rennert that even if he can sleep at night, comfortably ensconced in his 110,000-square-foot estate in Sagaponack, God is watching.
“City Adrift: New Orleans Before and After Katrina,” LSU Press, June 2007
Co-authored with Jenni Bergal and others
Hurricane Katrina was a stunning example of complete civic breakdown. Beginning on August 29, 2005, the world watched in horror as–despite all the warnings and studies–every system that might have protected New Orleans failed. How could all of this have happened in twenty-first-century America? And could it all happen again? To answer these questions, the Center for Public Integrity commissioned seven seasoned journalists to travel to New Orleans and investigate the storm’s aftermath.
“Lead Astray,” Mother Jones, November/December 2006
Co-authored with Marina Walker Guevara
Leslie Warden had been on a plane only once before traveling to Peru in April 2003 to testify about the Doe Run Co., one of the world’s largest lead producers, which operated a smelter in her hometown of Herculaneum, Missouri. The company now faced scrutiny over its smelter in La Oroya, a town high in the Andes Mountains where virtually every child had lead poisoning. The story of these two towns and how they found each other illustrates an increasingly common pattern: A company faced with mounting public pressure and environmental costs in the United States expands its dirty operations abroad, where regulations are lax, labor costs low, and natural resources abundant–and where impoverished people become dependent on the jobs and charity of the very business that causes them harm.
“Ancient herbal medicine boosts influenza arsenal,” The Boston Globe, Nov. 14, 2005
Slurp up a bowl of noodles at Pho Republique, a hip Asian fusion restaurant in Boston’s South End, and you’ll get a taste of the latest weapon in the world’s war against bird flu. Star anise, a fragrant, licorice-flavored spice used for centuries in Chinese cooking and medicine, forms the raw material for manufacturing Tamiflu, one of the few treatments for seasonal flu, and now a possible weapon against an avian flu pandemic.
“The Bayou Breaks,” Business Traveler magazine, October 2005
New Orleans commerce may have had its own near-death experience in Katrina. Although it may have seemed briefly that “The City That Care Forgot” might be forgotten for good,New Orleans’ vital role in shipping and tourism makes that unlikely. New Orleans already is beginning to recover, a process expected to take years.
“Study showed chemical was toxic,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Feb. 28, 2004
Former workers at a Missouri microwave popcorn plant are slowly suffocating from breathing a chemical that was known to be toxic long before most of them got sick, according to documents obtained by the Post-Dispatch. At least 31 people who worked at a popcorn factory in Jasper County have been diagnosed with severe lung disease linked to breathing vapors from a butter flavoring. Eight are on waiting lists for lung transplants.
“Is Snack Food Hurting the Workers Who Make It?” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 4, 2004.
MORGANTOWN,W.Va.— Federal health investigators warn that the threat of “popcorn workers’ lung” could go far beyond Midwestern microwave popcorn factories. Investigators at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health say that workers who make a wide variety of products, from candy to snack cakes to potato chips, could be at risk of developing a severe lung disease associated with breathing butter flavoring vapors.
“A Flood of Development: 10 Years Later,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 27-31, 2003
More than $2.2 billion worth of new development in the St. Louis area stands on land that was under water in the 1993 flood. The building boom has brought jobs, services and tax revenue to the region, but it could lead to a more costly disaster in the future. Flood plain development is a gamble against the river, and Missouri has rolled the dice on more land than any other state affected by the flood, according to an innovative satellite study done for the Post-Dispatch.