Elizabeth Shogren
Elizabeth Shogren is an NPR °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ Science Desk correspondent focused on covering environment and energy issues and news.
Since she came to NPR in 2005, Shogren's reporting has covered everything from the damage caused by the BP oil spill on the ecology of the Gulf Coast, to the persistence of industrial toxic air pollution as seen by the legacy of Tonawanda Coke near Buffalo, to the impact of climate change on American icons like grizzly bears.
Prior to NPR, Shogren spent 14 years as a reporter on a variety of beats at The Los Angeles Times, including four years reporting on environmental issues in Washington, D.C., and across the country. While working from the paper's Washington bureau, from 1993-2000, Shogren covered the White House, Congress, social policy, money and politics, and presidential campaigns. During that time, Shogren was given the opportunity to travel abroad on short-term foreign reporting assignments, including the Kosovo crisis in 1999, the Bosnian war in 1996, and Russian elections in 1993 and 1996. Before joining the Washington bureau, Shogren was based in Moscow where she covered the breakup of the Soviet Union and the rise of democracy in Russia for the newspaper.
Beginning in 1988, Shogren worked as a freelance reporter based in Moscow, publishing in a variety of newspapers and magazines, including °µºÚ±¬ÁÏweek, The Dallas Morning °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The Washington Post. During that time, she covered the fall of the Berlin Wall and the peaceful revolution in Prague.
Shogren's career in journalism began in the wire services. She worked for the Associated Press in Chicago and at United Press International in Albany, NY.
Throughout Shogren's career she has received numerous awards and honors including as a finalist for the 2011 Goldsmith Prize for investigative reporting, the National Wildlife Federation National Conservation Achievement Award, the Meade Prize for coverage of air pollution and she was an IRE finalist. She is a member of Sigma Delta Chi and the Society of Professional Journalist.
After earning a Bachelor of Arts in Russian studies at the University of Virginia, Shogren went on to receive a Master of Science in journalism from Columbia University.
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A federal appeals court rules that the Environmental Protection Agency acted illegally when it issued new air-pollution rules for power plants and factories. The three-judge panel says the rules allowing plants to modernize without installing pollution-control equipment violated the Clean Air Act.
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Workers are cleaning up more than 200,000 gallons of oil that leaked last week from a pipeline in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. It's the largest oil spill ever on Alaska's North Slope, and it has added fuel to debates over the wisdom of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
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Experts disagree on whether Katrina's floodwaters are the source of the high levels of contaminants in New Orleans' soil, or if the contaminates were there before the storm. What's not in dispute is that the lead, arsenic and other hazardous chemicals found in older neighborhoods needs to be cleaned up. -
Five years ago, the Supreme Court blocked the federal government from regulating small, isolated wetlands and streams and returned those powers to the states. In some areas, such as the Houston suburbs, there is no effective regulation and thousands of acres are being filled in with dirt.
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New Orleans has reopened an old garbage dump to handle the hundreds of tons of debris left in Hurricane Katrina's wake. But some toxic waste experts and environmentalists fear the landfill lacks environmental safeguards and protections against toxic waste. -
The federal government says the grizzly bear has recovered in and around Yellowstone National Park. In 30 years since it was put on the threatened species list, the grizzly has tripled in numbers. Now, protections for them are expected to give way to rules for hunting and trapping.
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The political saga around whether to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of tricky legislative maneuvers, late-night votes and passionate lobbying. -
Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) has campaigned for years against the Endangered Species Act. The House of Representatives recently approved a rewrite of the law that would make it more friendly to landowners. The roots of Pombo's passion to protect private property lie in the ranch town where he grew up.
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As millions of gallons of floodwater are pumped out of New Orleans and into Lake Pontchartrain, state and federal officials grapple with questions about what contaminants are in the water and how they'll affect people and the environment.
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The Environmental Protection Agency says the floodwaters in New Orleans are full of sewage and dangerous bacteria. Initial testing has revealed not only bacteria but lead and other toxic elements.
