Jacob Fenston
Jacob Fenston is WAMU’s environment reporter. In prior roles at WAMU, he was the founding producer of The Big Listen, interim managing producer of Metro Connection, and a news editor. His work has appeared on many national programs and has been recognized by regional and national awards. More importantly, his reporting has taken him and his microphone deep into muddy banks of the Anacostia River, into an enormous sewage tunnel, and hunting rats in infested alleys. His best story ever (as determined by himself) did not win any awards, even though it required recording audio while riding a bicycle the wrong way down the busy streets of Oakland, Calif.
Before coming to WAMU, Fenston was a reporter at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri, covering issues of health, wealth and poverty in the rural Midwest. In a previous life, he was a stage manager for a theater company in Portland, Oregon. While in Oregon, he got his start in radio, as a volunteer at community radio station KBOO. Fenston is a native of the great state of California, and holds a bachelor’s degree from Reed College and master’s degree in journalism from U.C. Berkeley.
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Spring is a busy time for the people charged with rehabilitating animals that are injured or orphaned. Right now, it's baby squirrel season across much of the country. -
Since before the political newcomer was inaugurated, there has been speculation that Maryland Gov. Wes Moore wants to run for higher office. The bridge collapse could be his first major test. -
Washington, D.C.'s famous cherry blossoms hit peak bloom this week. This will be the last season for about 150 of the famous flowering trees — they'll soon be cut down to adjust to sea-level rise. -
Most streets that were closed across the nation so people could get outside more have since reopened. But some permanent closures, such as in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, are wildly popular. -
National Hurricane Center data for Miami, Washington, D.C., and New York City show development happening in at-risk areas, even as climate change brings more frequent and intense storms. -
Hospital chaplain Matt Norvell has been praying with patients for more than a decade. But the last nine months during the coronavirus pandemic have been the most intense of his career.
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Michael Blackson was among the protesters outside the White House recently. The 17-year-old says he often feels invisible, especially to white people. -
Some cities are balking at spending big money on treatment projects to keep sewage out of waterways. Washington, D.C., considered canceling a project to protect the Potomac River.
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As the coronavirus sweeps the nation, 85-year-old Margaret Sullivan watches and records the changes from inside her retirement home in Virginia. -
Thirty miles from Washington, D.C., lies one of the largest collections of shipwrecks in the world. Now, these WWI-era vessels are attracting tourists and federal investment.
