Ashley Ahearn

Ashley Ahearn is the host of the podcast Terrestrial, produced out of KUOW in Seattle. She also rides vintage motorcycles, snowboards, and hikes in the Pacific Northwest.

Ashley Ahearn is the host of terrestrial, a national podcast on the environment, produced out of KUOW in Seattle.

Ashley brings more than a decade of experience covering the environment at the local and national level. Her stories have appeared on Marketplace, Morning Edition, Here and Now, The World and other NPR and PRI shows.  She holds a masters in science journalism from the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California.

Check out terrestrial at: http://kuow.org/terrestrial

“I don't want to have to do this,” Victoria Barrett says. “It's just I feel like it obviously needs to be done. It's frustrating... Sometimes I feel like people my age are fighting the hardest when we didn't even start this in the first place."

This 18-year-old from New York is suing the Trump administration over climate change

When it comes to setting climate change policy in the US, kids don't have much of a voice because they can't vote. But they can go to court. So a group of 21 young people are suing the Trump Administration for failing to adequately tackle the climate crisis.

This 18-year-old from New York is suing the Trump administration over climate change
Dave Rank was the top US diplomat in China when President Trump announced he would pull the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement. His refusal to help implement that decision ended his 27 years in the foreign service.

How climate change and Donald Trump brought an end to this diplomat's career

How climate change and Donald Trump brought an end to this diplomat's career
Orca leaping

Calling over boat noise is making endangered orcas hungrier

Calling over boat noise is making endangered orcas hungrier
Easton Glacier, Mount Baker

How will the Pacific Northwest change when its glaciers are gone?

How will the Pacific Northwest change when its glaciers are gone?

Calling Over Boat Noise Is Making Orcas Hungry

Calling Over Boat Noise Is Making Orcas Hungry
Scott Pattee, a water supply specialist with the National Resources Conservation Service, checks snow levels at Stevens Pass ski resort in Washington's Cascade Mountains.

Record-low snowpack in Pacific Northwest could be ‘dress rehearsal’ for climate change

Low levels of snow melt in California and the Pacific Northwest could be harbinger of things to come, but one expert says the silver lining is that it gives officials a way to examine and prepare for global warming.

Record-low snowpack in Pacific Northwest could be ‘dress rehearsal’ for climate change

What a Record-Low Snowpack Means for Summer in the Northwest

Snowpack is important for summer life in the Northwestin the winter, it accumulates on mountaintops and as temperatures rise, snowmelt recharges water systems and generates hydropower throughout the region. This year, snowpacks are at record lows and many fear that this supply wont be enough to last throughout the drought season. But as EarthFixs Ashley Ahearn reports, its not time to hit the panic button just yet.

What a Record-Low Snowpack Means for Summer in the Northwest

Hormone Disruptors Linked to Genital Changes and Sexual Preference

Scientists continue to sound the alarm about some chemical exposures that may effect reproductive health and development. The endocrine disrupting chemical, atrazine has been found to feminize male frogs and is linked to an increased incidence of homosexual behavior.

Hormone Disruptors Linked to Genital Changes and Sexual Preference

Climate Change & Pacific Northwest Glaciers

Glaciers set the Pacific Northwest apart and are essential for the regions drinking water, hydropower and salmon survival. But as EarthFixs Ashley Ahearn reports, disappearing glaciers make the region uniquely vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Climate Change & Pacific Northwest Glaciers
Scientists with the US Geological Survey gather samples near coal train tracks in the Columbia Gorge near Washougal, Washington. Little research has been done on how coal interacts with the environment.

Scientists dig into booming coal exports and their effects on wetlands

While the US is using less coal than we have in the past, we plan to export more coal to Asia. That means transporting it by trains, as we’ve done for decades. But there’s very little research on the effects coal has on the environment when it escapes from coal hoppers bumping along the rails.

Scientists dig into booming coal exports and their effects on wetlands

Mercury in Coal Dust Poses Wetland Threat

With a proposals to bring coal by rail through the Pacific Northwest for export, some scientists worry that coal dust containing mercury might contaminate Washingtons wetlands, threatening wildlife. Reporter Ashley Ahearn treks through mashes and muck near railways with USGS scientists as they look for coal dusts potential impacts on wetland ecosystems.

Mercury in Coal Dust Poses Wetland Threat

Rafting down the Unbound Elwha

The National Park Service has finally removed two dams that blocked the Elwha River for over a century in Washingtons Olympic Peninsula. The river now flows freely, opening it up for salmon, otters, bears and rafters. Ashley Ahearn of EarthFix takes us for a ride down the river.

Rafting down the Unbound Elwha
BNSF train on trestle

Ex-employees claim a major US freight railroad company has ignored key safety checks

Highly flammable and explosive crude oil from the Bakken Shale of North Dakota is shipped by rail, much of it by BNSF Railways. An investigation by Oregon Public Broadcasting unearthed charges that the railroad carrier mishandles safety issues for its trains.

Ex-employees claim a major US freight railroad company has ignored key safety checks

BSNF Railways Workers Forced To Ignore Oil Train Safety

One of the largest freight railroad networks in North America, BNSF, transports much of the countrys oil supplies, so safety is paramount. However BNSF management has forced workers to skip critical safety checks, and has fired employees for not complying. Ashley Ahearn reports from the State of Washington.

BSNF Railways Workers Forced To Ignore Oil Train Safety
Dying sea star

What's killing all the sea stars?

On the Pacific coast, the largest documented marine epidemic in human history is unfolding — and some beloved ocean-dwellers are in serious trouble.

What's killing all the sea stars?