Madelyn Beck
Madelyn Beck is a regional Illinois reporter, based in Galesburg. On top of her work for Harvest Public Media, she also contributes to WVIK, Tri-States Public Radio and the Illinois Newsroom collaborative.
Beck grew up on a small cattle ranch in Manhattan, Montana. Her previous work was mostly based in the western U.S., but she has covered agriculture, environment and health issues from Alaska to Washington, D.C.
Before joining Harvest and the Illinois Newsroom, she was as an energy reporter based in Wyoming for the public radio collaborative Inside Energy. Other publications include the Idaho Mountain Express, E&E News/EnergyWire, KRBD Rainbird Radio, the Montana Broadcasters Association, Montana Public Radio and the Tioga Tribune.
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Some campaign commercials and mailers in our region are mentioning the deadly drug fentanyl and border security. According to experts, though, that may be oversimplifying the deadly issue. -
A new study looked at livestock deaths in states like Wyoming, Montana and Idaho that were presumed to be from wolves. It found that the data was woefully inadequate. -
A newly identified sea monster from millions of years ago had a long, snaky neck and crocodile-like jaw. The critter was swimming around Wyoming some 70 million years ago, and was originally dug up in the mid 90s, before years of processing. It’s currently on display at the Glenrock paleontological museum near Casper, Wyoming. -
Last September, a woman found what is likely the first DNA-confirmed death cap mushroom in our region. The extremely toxic fungus is a concern for parents and pet owners, alike. -
The world of wildland firefighting has a lot of wonky lingo. But one key phrase is “fuel moisture” — and no, we’re not talking about oil and gas. -
The heat wave baking the West continues to increase wildfire dangers as we head into fall. This week, the National Interagency Fire Center increased its National Preparedness Level to 4, out of a possible 5. -
It’s called Bisticeratops froeseorum, part of a growing, diverse group of horned dinosaurs that lived in the Four Corners region. The paleontologists who identified it say knowing about these diverse dinosaur species and how they lived – or died – in the ensuing mass-extinction is an important lesson to modern-day humans. -
President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law last week. The massive piece of legislation funds programs ranging from electric vehicles, to advanced nuclear energy research. Specific to the Mountain West, it includes billions of dollars for forest lands and agriculture to fight climate change. -
People have always feared the unknown. And that fear transforms some animals into monsters in our minds — like sharks in the ocean, or rattlesnakes in the West. -
U.S. Senators talked last week about the costs of climate change, and potential costs of doing nothing. Some argued we need to focus efforts on local communities and governments. They’re often paying the price when floods take out roads, wildfires pollute waterways or towns run out of water.