A support group and a lab in the St. Louis area provide resources for people with the allergy to mammal products — and evidence that its effects can be reversed.
New Ag & Water Desk Assistant Director Irina Zhorov snapped this picture of artificial reefs being installed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida during a recent reporting trip. Credit: Irina Zhorov
I'm Irina, the new Assistant Director for the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk. I'm so pleased to find myself in this position and can't wait to get started.
I'm excited to get to know the reporters scattered around the Mississippi River basin and to help edit their stories for our dedicated readers. I'm also looking forward to growing our audience. The region we cover is enormous and diverse, yet many of the stories the Desk produces are relevant from Minnesota to Louisiana; I want the people who call various parts of the basin home to have access to the stories we tell.
A little about my background: I'm currently a freelance reporter based in Mobile, Alabama, telling stories from around the South. Previously, I worked as a public radio journalist at stations in Wyoming, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, focusing largely on environmental issues. I've produced pieces from the basin, too, and loved getting on the Mississippi River to experience its power.
Last year, I published my first novel, Lost Believers, about a group of Soviet geologists prospecting for iron who stumble on a family of Old Believers in an isolated corner of Siberia. I relish getting outside to hike and have been practicing baking bread.
I have big shoes to fill with Annie Ropeik's departure but I'm looking forward to connecting with you and putting out great new stories about our region. You can learn more about me here.
My inbox is always open to questions, suggestions, story ideas, and concerns: irina@agwaterdesk.org
Democratic National Convention coverage: Desk reporter Madeline Heim of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote about Sen. Amy Klobuchar's Mississippi River metaphor during her DNC speech, and former Desk reporter Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco covered the convention's carbon footprint for Grist.
