Celia Llopis-Jepsen
Reporter, Harvest Public MediaI'm the creator and host of the environmental podcast Up From Dust. I write about how the world is transforming around us, from topsoil loss and invasive species to climate change. My goal is to explain why these stories matter to the Midwest and Great Plains, and to report on the farmers, ranchers, scientists and other engaged people working to make the region more resilient.
I previously covered environment and other beats for the Kansas News Service.
I have a master's in journalism from Columbia University and a master’s in bilingualism studies from Stockholm University in Sweden. Before coming to Kansas, I spent a decade living and working in Sweden, Germany and Taiwan, including several cherished years working for the Taipei Times.
Email me at celia@kcur.org.
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Box turtles are cute and an absolute delight to spot while walking in the Midwest or Great Plains. But scientist Benjamin Reed wants us to know that these creatures are complex and widely misunderstood. Reed is a box turtle superspy, spending the last 13 years following the animals with radio equipment as they face daunting challenges like roads, lawnmowers, poachers and more. Reed has a laundry list of ways we can all help prairie turtles survive in a difficult world. -
Ornate box turtles and their kin face steep challenges in today’s world, but people can help out by raising the deck height on their mowers, allowing turtles to cross the road and not taking them home as pets. -
Across the central U.S., nitrate from crop fertilizer and livestock facilities is seeping into water underground. Many family wells are no longer safe to drink from without pricey treatment. -
Climate change is altering the land we live on, and Indigenous communities are on the frontline. In this episode, we bring you to Alaska, where rapid permafrost thaw is threatening the Native village of Nunapitchuk. Then, we head to Louisiana, where the Pointe-Au-Chien Indian Tribe is watching their land disappear underwater due to sea level rise. These threats are forcing these tribes to make the difficult decision: to stay and adapt, or to leave their ancestral home. (This episode comes to us from the podcast Sea Change.)
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Places such as Minnesota and Austin, Texas, already use green infrastructure like rain gardens to absorb stormwater and keep pollution out of streams and lakes. Now communities across the Kansas City area could get on board. -
A Texas pecan farmer spent years rethinking whether he needed so many chemicals to grow food. He cut back on things like weedkillers, but when it came to ditching insecticides, crop pests posed a challenge. That’s what brought him together with a famous bat scientist — who helped him build an insect-eating army of bats.
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Restoring woodlands and protecting undeveloped areas near the Blue River and its creeks are a few of the steps that could mitigate pollution and flooding. -
Astronomers need your help! And you don’t have to be an expert, because it’s as easy as stepping outside your home and taking a good look at a constellation like Orion. For 20 years, the citizen science project Globe At Night has helped advance our understanding of light pollution – as scientists figure out how fast stars are disappearing from our sky.
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More people participating in the citizen science project Globe At Night could help fill gaps in what astronomers know about the extent of skyglow. -
The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation is one of the first hemp fiber processors in Kansas, and wants the investment to benefit both the tribe and the environment. The new products include insulation and compostable cutlery.
