Louisiana is experiencing an unprecedented fire season with tens of thousands of acres burned throughout the state. Experts and state officials say that wildfire seasons like this one could become more normal as the state gets hotter and drier due to climate change. And as more wildfires burn, smoke from those fires will likely blanket […]
Drew Costley
Veteran journalist Drew Costley (they/them/theirs) is joining Verite News to cover a variety of topics with a focus on health, climate and environmental inequity. Before coming to Verite, they reported on climate and environmental justice, health inequities, science and the transgender community for The Associated Press.
At the AP, they covered several stories in Greater New Orleans, including a documentary about children who grew up in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, how disabled New Orleanians are left out of disaster planning, new plans for carbon capture facilities along the chemical corridor and the HBCU Climate Change Conference. Before the AP, they worked for Future Human, OneZero, SFGate, ESPN the Magazine, USA Today and the East Bay Express.
They attended Howard University as an undergrad, earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of the District of Columbia in 2014 and a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism in 2019. They’ve also taught journalism at UC Berkeley and Laney Community College.
In 2018, they were a Logan Science Journalism Fellow. They have won multiple awards for their journalism, including from Howard University’s The Hilltop, The HBCU National Newspaper Conference and National Association of Black Journalists.
