In a memo to staff on Monday, Global Climate and Environment News Director Peter Prengaman announced two new hires to AP’s Climate and Environment team:
I’m thrilled to welcome two talented colleagues to the Climate and Environment team. Reporter Melina Walling and video journalist and photographer Joshua Bickel will be covering the intersection of agriculture and climate change, with a focus on the Midwest.
Melina and Josh will allow our team to cover, in a big way, the role of agriculture in climate change and what many people are doing about it, from farmers developing techniques that use less water and better preserve soil health, to companies that are further developing cell and plant-based meats.
Josh has worked for various newspapers, and in several roles, over the last 15 years. Those have included multimedia journalist for the Casper Star Tribune in Wyoming, chief photographer for ThisWeek news in Ohio and staff photographer and later assistant photo editor for the Columbus Dispatch in Ohio. He has won numerous awards for photography, including National Headliner Awards for spot news and single day photography, and Pictures of the Year International’s Award of Excellence for a portrait series. Josh has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. He will be based in Cincinnati and began May 1.
Melina will be joining us from The Arizona Republic, where she spent the majority of her time as a biosciences reporter. In that role, she has covered myriad aspects of COVID-19, along with stories on health, technology, agriculture and drought. She has also helped produce a podcast on biosciences called The Lab at azcentral. Before joining the Republic, she was based in Boyd, Kentucky, where she covered agriculture, rural life and environmental issues as a writing fellow for nonprofit Boyd's Station in partnership with the Cincinnati Enquirer. Melina has a master’s degree from Stanford University in Environmental Communication. She is based in Chicago, and will begin June 5.
Please join me in welcoming them to our team.
