About Me

I’ve been covering energy and climate for more than 15 years. Most recently, I was the founding executive editor of Cipher News where I spent nearly four years delivering clear, solutions-focused journalism on climate and energy.

Before launching Cipher, I covered energy and climate for Axios, The Wall Street Journal and National Journal.

I believe seeing energy infrastructure up close and interviewing people directly affected by it is paramount to ensure a well-rounded story. I’ve toured everything from an underground coal mine in West Virginia to a wind farm in Australia to a carbon capture facility in Norway. I’ve interviewed some of the most well-known leaders in this space, and at the same time, I bridge the gap between what leaders say and what everyday people care about.

I began my career at National Journal, a Washington, D.C.-based publication. While there, I traveled the United States covering the rise of fracking and the oil and natural gas boom throughout the 2010s, talking to concerned residents and company executives alike about the opportunities and drawbacks of this type of energy production. I was then recruited by The Wall Street Journal to lead its Washington, D.C. coverage, where for over three years I broke news multiple times regarding the Obama administration, including about the Keystone XL pipeline and climate regulations.

In 2017, Axios hired me as one of their first two energy reporters when it launched that year, and I began writing my Harder Line column with a concerted focus on climate change and clean energy. While there, I quickly fortified my leading journalistic voice on climate change before it had become broadly mainstream. I also interviewed newsmakers on the “Axios on HBO” show.

I was the inaugural journalism fellow for the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago for the 2018-2019 school year, where I moderated events and took part in other university initiatives. Breakthrough Energy, a network of initiatives supporting clean energy, recruited me in early 2021 to launch an independent news outlet helping to educate people on complex climate technologies.

This ultimately became Cipher News: First launched in September 2021 as a newsletter platform with expansion to a full website in September 2023. I led a global team of journalists reporting on everything from nuclear power in Japan to solar power in Pakistan to fusion research in California, as just a snapshot of Cipher’s recent coverage. Cipher ceased publication in July 2025.

I’ve appeared on PBS NewsHour, CSPAN, MSNBC, CBS, and NPR, among many other media outlets. I am regularly sought out to speak and participate in events, including moderating and participating in panel discussions, and giving speeches around the country and the world.

Originally from Washington State, I moved back in 2020 after a dozen years in the other Washington. I received a BA in journalism with honors from Western Washington University.

I love running and cross-country skiing the Pacific Northwest’s trails. Honoring my love of nature and spirit of giving back, I joined the Board of Trustees at The Washington State chapter of The Nature Conservancy in summer 2024, lending my journalistic expertise to salient local and regional environmental issues.

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