Alaskan memories inspire climate change work
By Grace Finnell-Gudwien and Gabrielle Rancifer Medill Reports Every year as a child, oceanographer Joellen Russell watched the sea ice break apart and float out into the ocean off the shores of Kotzebue, Alaska, a native fishing village about 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle. “You could hear it and smell it before the […]
WATCH: Russian Immigrant shares poignant memories about the war
By Ivy Fan Medill Reports Ekaterina Korsounskaia, born in Moscow moved to the United States more than 30 years ago. She now teaches Russian as a clinical professor at New York University. Coming through several emotionally draining months since Russia invaded Ukraine, she speaks about the war’s impact on her home country, the complication of […]
WATCH: The journey of 2 adaptive rock climbers
By Ivy Fan, Gelsey Plaza and Lauren Turner Medill Reports John Freeland and Meaghan Cusack, who both have had amputations, use prosthetic limbs to rock climb. Coming to the sport during different seasons of their lives, they now compete in national and world competitions, breaking stereotypes and proving that anything is possible if you put […]
1 dating method, 3 ecosystems, many clues to pace of climate change
By Grace Finnell-Gudwien Medill Reports Inside caves, lakes and corals, small crystals dot the landscapes and scaffold into majestic pillars up to 4 meters high. These cream- to brown-colored crystal formations not only look beautiful, but they also provide paleoclimate scientists with a time capsule peering into the past — almost as far back as […]
Time-lapse, satellite imagery show how meltwater plumes trigger calving ice
By Kala Hunter Medill Reports As Greenland’s glaciers melt from an abruptly warming climate, scientists are studying how mammoth glaciers are losing their ice. The research is urgent to better predict the speed of global glacial retreat that leads directly to sea level rise across the globe. “You study Greenland because it’s the future of […]
Groundwater gases from 6 continents reveal more extreme land temperatures 20,000 years ago than previously known
By Kala Hunter Medill Reports How sensitive is the climate? This is the question that prompted marine and geochemist Alan Seltzer, a Ph.D. assistant scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and climate scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography to look at land temperatures at the end of the last ice age. While computational models have […]
Amid national attacks on trans athlete rights, Illinois policies can offer false sense of security
By Alyssa Haduck Medill Reports When rower Cillian Mullen competes, he tunes everything else out. From the first stroke of his oar on the water, the world falls away. He forgets about the river, the weather and the competition, settling into a focused zone and using all his energy to thrust backward and propel his […]
WATCH: What happened to the shotgun house?
By Almaz Abedje and MacKenzie Coffman Medill Reports Known for its vibrant culture and architecture, New Orleans has also faced rapid gentrification following natural disasters and the worsening effects of climate change. One of the city’s most famous architectural types, the shotgun house sits at the center of this change. Once affordable for everyone, shotgun […]
Medill Media Teens: Changes to CPS selective enrollment process lessen burden of travel, testing for students
As part of the Medill Media Teens program, Chicago Public School students received training and worked closely with Medill master’s students to report and write an article that covered an issue in their school community. The piece below was produced under the mentorship of Poonam Narotam (MSJ22). By Iliana Garner Medill Media Teens It was […]
Medill Media Teens: Guidance counselors say they see increased stress among CPS teens
As part of the Medill Media Teens program, Chicago Public School students received training and worked closely with Medill master’s students to report and write an article that covered an issue in their school community. By Karen Campos Medill Media Teens Juan Carlos Salinas felt he never had the mental health support from his school […]