Melissa Sevigny
Melissa grew up in Tucson, Arizona, where she fell in love with the ecology and geology of the Sonoran desert. She has a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Arizona and an M.FA. in Creative Writing and Environment from Iowa State University. Her first book, Mythical River, forthcoming from the University of Iowa Press, is about water issues in the Southwest. She has worked as a science communicator for NASA’s Phoenix Mars Scout Mission, the Water Resources Research Center, and the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Melissa relocated to Flagstaff in 2015 to join KNAU’s team. She enjoys hiking, fishing and reading fantasy novels.
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Kids at a Flagstaff, Arizona, elementary school have been through a lot since 2019: the pandemic, and then wildfires and a big flood. Teachers are using horticulture therapy to teach them resilience.
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When a massive coal mine closed in 2019, thousands of Hopi people lost access to free coal to heat their homes. Grassroots efforts to replace coal with firewood have sprung up and are winning funding.
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As NASA prepares to return humans to the moon in 2025, it is testing a rover and other gear on a piece of land in Arizona where astronauts and engineers tried out Apollo mission gear 60 years ago.
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For a decade, artificial floods in the Grand Canyon have helped restore habitat for endangered fish, but the drought has put a stop to those. Ecologists and recreationists are worried.
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As Emory oak trees in parts of Arizona disappear, members of several Apache tribes are working on a collaborative plan with the U.S. Forest Service and researchers to preserve them.
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When the dam that created a major American reservoir was built decades ago, Native American cliff dwellings and artifacts were submerged. Now, they're emerging as drought lowers water levels.
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Thanksgiving myth tells us that the Pilgrims survived because friendly Native Americans helped them adapt their farming practices. Since then, it's been Native people who've been forced to adapt.
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It's easy to measure physical damage from natural disasters made worse by climate change, less so their lingering psychological impacts. But experts say they're no less real.
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Native Americans have had bad experiences with health research and care in the past, and that's coloring their feelings about COVID-19 vaccines. NPR discusses efforts to win back their trust.
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An Oklahoma man exploring his Cherokee roots discovered a forgotten variety of corn and revived it with help of heirloom seed savers. The revived Glass Gem corn now has 19,000 Facebook followers.
