In a column published last week, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel formally welcomed two new reporters who have been covering environmental issues since June through the national Report for America program.

Madeline Heim, who previously covered health and science for the (Appleton) Post-Crescent, has a special focus on the Mississippi River basin.

So far, she has written about how the watershed has long lacked the organized support that the Great Lakes have had, about a proposed international “dark sky” park in the Driftless Region and how Wisconsin cities are part of an international effort to rank heat waves based on risk.

Caitlin Looby, a former freelance journalist who holds a doctorate in biology from the University of California, Irvine, is focused on the Great Lakes.

She worked on a Mississippi River vs. Great Lakes story, as well as pieces about what algae blooms in cold Lake Superior are telling us, how there is more support for addressing climate change than people think, and the voice behind Lake Superior (or at least the lake’s noted Twitter account). 

Report for America is a nonprofit national service program for journalism that partners with newsrooms to help cover under-reported topics and under-covered communities. RFA pays up to $30,0000 toward a reporter’s salary and host newsrooms are required to raise local dollars to match its donations.

The organization is currently accepting applications from newsrooms. The deadline to apply is Oct. 3.