Celia Llopis-Jepsen
Reporter, Kansas News ServiceI'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 Kansas, and to report on the farmers, ranchers, scientists and other engaged people working to make Kansas more resilient.
Before joining the Kansas News Service, I covered education and the Statehouse for the Topeka Capital-Journal.
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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The White House wants the aviation industry to switch to renewable fuel by 2050, but factories that produce it are rare.
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At least three states have banned these trees outright, and others discourage the public from adding them to their yards.
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A changing climate looks poised to increase wildfire conditions significantly. That would compound other growing risks, such as the aggressive spread of eastern red cedars.
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College students are testing private wells in south-central Kansas. The results are prompting families to install treatment systems to reduce nitrate levels.
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The USDA has access to thousands more weather stations now than in the past. That, combined with 30 years of new data, led to big changes in its hardiness map of cold winter temperatures in Kansas.
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North American oak-hickory canopies are powerhouses for feeding wildlife. Without periodic understory fires, they wane.
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States like North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana will have to deal with toxic blue-green algae blooms already common in Kansas. Utility companies will have to act fast to treat drinking water and keep it safe.
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Quivira's marshes have a legal right to water. Kansas has never enforced it, because doing so would hurt farmers who use the water for crop irrigation.
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Wildfires have become more common in Great Plains states. City outskirts and rural areas where cedars spread aggressively face some of the highest risks.
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A Republican lawmaker sparked ethics concerns after he threatened to cut at least a million dollars from the agency if it bans deer baiting. And he said another lawmaker that owns a hunting lodge would help him.