Nathan Rott
Nathan Rott is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk, where he focuses on environment issues and the American West.
Based at NPR West in Culver City, California, Rott spends a lot of his time on the road, covering everything from breaking news stories like California's wildfires to in-depth issues like the management of endangered species and many points between.
Rott owes his start at NPR to two extraordinary young men he never met. As the first recipient of the Stone and Holt Weeks Fellowship in 2010, he aims to honor the memory of the two brothers by carrying on their legacy of making the world a better place.
A graduate of the University of Montana, Rott prefers to be outside at just about every hour of the day. Prior to working at NPR, he worked a variety of jobs including wildland firefighting, commercial fishing, children's theater teaching, and professional snow-shoveling for the United States Antarctic Program. Odds are, he's shoveled more snow than you.
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Temperatures topped triple digits in parts of the state, and the weather is expected to remain blistering well into next week, likely putting more pressure on the electric utilities.
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Visits to Yellowstone National Park are higher than last year as Americans look to escape their pandemic confines. Their business is welcome relief, despite worries they'll also bring coronavirus.
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Power shut-off moratoriums imposed at the start of the pandemic are beginning to expire. Customers and utilities face a backlog of missed bills that may eventually be passed on to ratepayers.
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Scientists say accelerating deforestation and development may increase the risk of pandemic diseases. The current economic crisis may also make that trend worse if more people cut down trees for fuel.
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A new study finds rising temperatures and climate-driven disasters are helping transform the very makeup of the world's forests. This has major implications for biodiversity and more warming.
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Medical examiners are now screening for possible coronavirus connections in late January. Emerging evidence suggests it spread far earlier and more widely than initially believed.
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Health officials are urging Americans to cover their faces to try and slow the coronavirus outbreak. Given shortages and stay-at-home orders, people are getting creative.
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If a major hurricane, flood or wildfire happens during the pandemic, evacuation shelters could be dangerous and cross-state aid impossible. So disaster response experts are planning new strategies.
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The Trump administration is replacing Obama-era fuel economy standards with weaker ones that will allow for more air pollution. Groups are already lining up to challenge the new rule.
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Australia's unprecedented fire season scorched sections of rare, ancient rainforests. It's another signal that climate change is intensifying and expanding wildfires globally.