Membership meeting open to all at Anchor Properties, 6pm Friday, February 2nd – it’s a potluck / election of board members
RACHEL
Rachel Cassandra first came to Alaska to can salmon in Naknek. A decade later, she fished out of Sitka, trying her hand at trolling, longlining, and shrimping. She then got her master’s degree from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and returned to Sitka as a summer intern for KCAW—working with Rob Woolsey and Emily Kwong.
She’s been a journalist for eight years and has reported for the Atlantic, VICE, TONIC, GOOD, KQED, KALW, Atmos, and YR Media. She’s reported on health, mental illness, gun violence, addiction, psychedelic therapy, queer culture, and street art. She likes to get to the heart of the story. When she’s not writing stories, she loves running, embroidering, playing games, eating cheese, and reading in her hammock. She lives with her silver tabby cat, Indigo Lefty Double-Rainbow.
SHELBY
The first time Shelby came to work in Alaska, she carried a pulaski hand tool instead of a microphone. At the time, she worked on a trail crew in Denali State Park. Shelby also taught English in South Korea and wrote local news stories for the Gunnison Country Times and the Sandhills Sentinel. During the early months of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Shelby was evacuated from her Peace Corps service in Gulmi, Nepal. This event catalyzed her return to a career in journalism.
Shelby got her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Nevada, Reno, where she worked as a fellow of the Hitchcock Project for Visualizing Science. She cut her teeth in radio through her internship with KUNR in Reno, Nevada, reporting on wildlife, wildfires, and labor issues. She has also reported with Climate Central and the Mountain West News Bureau. Shelby hosted a couple of environmental podcasts: Discover Science and [biota]LKS. In her spare time, she enjoys birdwatching and writing poetry.
