Our 2021-22 Planet Forward Correspondents

(Photo by Ljubomir Žarković/Unsplash).

We are pleased to announce our 2021-2022 team of Planet Forward Correspondents! Get to know them below:

  • Ryan Bieber – Ithaca College. Ryan is a Journalism major with minors in Environmental Studies and Spanish.
  • Greer Blount – George Washington University. Greer is a senior majoring in Communications with minors in Journalism and Dance.
  • Helen Bradshaw - Northwestern University. Helen is a junior studying Journalism, Art History, and Integrated Marketing Communications.
  • Kaitlyn Copland – Eckerd College. Kaitlyn is majoring in Marine Science and minoring in Film Studies.
  • Skylar Epstein – George Washington University. Skylar is a senior majoring in Political Science with minors in Journalism and History.
  • Hannah Frankel – Middlebury College. Hannah is a senior majoring in Literary Studies.
  • Lexi Hernandez – Chapman University. Lexi is majoring in Environmental Science & Policy as well as Sociology while minoring in Art History.
  • Lily John – SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Lily is a sophomore majoring in Environmental Studies.
  • Halley Hughes – University of Arizona. Halley is a junior studying Natural Resources and the Environment with focuses on Global Change Ecology and Urban and Regional Development.
  • Clarice Knelly – SUNY Plattsburgh. Clarice is a senior majoring English: Writing Arts and minoring in Environmental Science and Canadian Studies.
  • Kai Lepley – University of Arizona. Kai is a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in Geography.
  • Diana Quintero – Arizona State University. Diana is a senior majoring in Journalism and Mass Communications with a minor in Business.
  • Carter Weinhofer – Eckerd College. Carter is studying in Environmental Studies and Spanish.

2021-22 Senior Correspondents:

  • Evan Barnard – American University. Evan is a graduate student pursuing a masters in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development.
  • Ali Wilt – Northwestern University. Ali is a senior majoring in Journalism and minoring in Environmental Policy and Culture.

All Correspondent work will be featured here. Check back frequently!

How do you move the Planet Forward? Tweet us @planet_forward or contribute to the conversation with your own story.

Hub Content

Untangling the web of plastic bag bans
White plastic bag floating in a body of water.

(Brian Yurasits/Unsplash https://unsplash.com/license)

Ryan Bieber
Planet Forward Correspondent | Ithaca College
So Long, Single-Use? | There’s plenty of confusion and debate around plastic bans on both the political and practical level. It’s easy to get lost in the logistics of it all –– but, at the heart of it, there’s one question: Are bag laws effective?
’It was never really just about plastic drinking straws’: Plastic elimination starts small
Yellow straws sit on the display case in front of a menu at a coffee shop.

Reusable "Simply Straws" for sale at Kahwa Coffee Roasting in St. Petersburg, Florida (Carter Weinhofer/Eckerd College).

Carter Weinhofer
Planet Forward Correspondent | Eckerd College
In the first piece in our "So Long, Single-Use?" series, St. Petersburg, Florida Councilmember Gina Driscoll said leading the way on single-use plastic started with "one simple object."
Bats are facing an epidemic of their own: White-Nose Syndrome
A white-gloved hand hold a tawny colored bat with a white substance on it's nose.

A tri-colored bat displays symptoms of white-nose syndrome at from Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia (National Park Services/ Flickr https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

Helen Bradshaw
Planet Forward Correspondent | Northwestern University
While much of the nation's human population has been able to take advantage of promising vaccines against their disease, the same can not be said for America’s dwindling numbers of bats.
On the verge of vanishment

Many species of reef-building corals, which are vital to the health of ocean ecosystems, face risk of extinction. (Joe Hoyt/NOAA)

Ali Wilt
Planet Forward Correspondent | Northwestern University
Each year, the International Union of Conservation of Nature is finding more and more plant, animal and fungus species threatened with extinction across the globe. What could be causing it?
Insights from the field: Bird banding documents avian populations and migration
Evan Barnard
Planet Forward Senior Correspondent | American University
Understanding birds is the first step toward avian species conservation, and bird banding improves our knowledge of birds' migration patterns and life histories.
Sustainable milpa farming: Preserving an ancient Maya tradition

On a traditional milpa farm, rows of agave are interspersed with other crops: pitaya-bearing cacti and ramón trees. (Evan Barnard/University of Georgia)

Evan Barnard
Planet Forward Senior Correspondent | American University
Milpa is a type of sustainable farming historically practiced by the Maya in the Yucatán and other parts of Mesoamerica. The milpas, planted with numerous crops for local consumption, are facing challenges from climate change.

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