116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Olivia Cohen
I serve as the Gazette’s Energy and Environment reporter, focusing on water quality, conservation efforts, agriculture and beyond. I have joined the Gazette as a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to cover under-reported issues. I am also a contributing writer for the Mississippi Ag & Water Desk, an independent collaborative newsroom that focuses on environmental issues along the Mississippi River Basin. Before coming to Iowa, I reported in Chicago and Washington, D.C. I attended Columbia College Chicago and earned a degree in journalism. Outside of work I enjoy traveling, reading and spoiling my dog.
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Latest Articles by Olivia Cohen
Environmental News Nov. 20, 2024 9:26 am388d ago
Experts recommend delaying travel when snow squalls — the result of snow and gusty winds — occur.
Environmental News Nov. 18, 2024 8:15 am390d ago
Aided by more than $11 million in grant funding, researchers plan to build a huge drilling rig and determine whether carbon dioxide can be permanently stored underground in Iowa.
Environmental News Nov. 13, 2024 8:01 am395d ago
Meteorologists are favoring a “weak La Nina” pattern, which would mean a colder, snowier winter than last year.
Environmental News Nov. 11, 2024 7:49 am398d ago
In Iowa, about 10 percent of the energy workforce is comprised of veterans.
Environmental News Nov. 11, 2024 8:16 am397d ago
Iowa Department of Natural Resource’s Erika Billerbeck is working on a second book and writing more magazine articles about her work as a conservation officer.
Environmental News Nov. 11, 2024 9:53 am397d ago
Some advocates worry federal incentives could change, impact state’s economy
Environmental News Nov. 8, 2024 7:39 am401d ago
Between Oct. 29 and Nov. 7, severe drought conditions dropped by 37.9 percent, according to Thursday’s Drought Monitor,
Curious Iowa Nov. 4, 2024 11:03 am404d ago
About 90 percent of Iowa’s population receives water that has been treated with fluoride. But what is it? What does it do? And why do some cities not treat their water?
Environmental News Nov. 4, 2024 8:36 am404d ago
Thousands of the prehistoric fish have died in fish kills caused by shallow, warm water. One piece of the study seeks to understand why shovelnose sturgeon aren’t swimming to deeper, cooler water in the summer months.
Business News Nov. 2, 2024 5:30 am407d ago
Four Iowa business groups are advocating for a reform of how both residential and business electric rates are set in the state.
Campaigns & Elections Oct. 31, 2024 12:17 pm408d ago
Republican incumbent Brad Sherman is not running for re-election in the district that represents Tiffin, Swisher, Oxford and all of Iowa County.
Environmental News Oct. 23, 2024 7:56 am417d ago
No one has found a rusty patched bumblebee nest in Iowa since at least 2017, when the species was listed as federally endangered. That changed when a Johnson County Conservation employee heard a buzzing sound while doing yard work this summer.
Environmental News Oct. 22, 2024 8:58 am417d ago
McLoud Run has seen more than a dozen fish kills since 1997, more than half due to water main breaks that released treated drinking water into the stream. Now, Cedar Rapids is planning to install water pressure sensors to monitor for breaks that could kill fish in Iowa’s only urban trout stream.
Environmental News Oct. 21, 2024 8:08 am418d ago
Inflation Reduction Act boosting that sector in Midwest
Environmental News Oct. 20, 2024 4:22 pm419d ago
The invasive insect was first found in Iowa in 2010.

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