Elizabeth Earl

Journalist/Editor

Kenai, AK

I write about science, people, the environment and where they intersect.

Elizabeth Earl

Journalist/Editor

Kenai, AK

I write about science, people, the environment and where they intersect.

Practical matters
Jane Stein, the president of Bridges Community Resource Network’s board of directors, stands for a portrait at the organization’s office Friday, Sept. 22, 2017 in Soldotna, Alaska. Stein, a longtime volunteer in the community, was recognized for her service at the annual Industry Appreciation Day with the Donald E.
Peninsula Clarion
Longtime Habitat for Humanity board member, volunteer Bill Radtke steps down
The house on Second Street in Kenai is still bare boards and concrete floor, but that doesn’t stop Bill Radtke from seeing it as the home it will become. The longtime Central Peninsula Habitat for Humanity board member and volunteer can rattle off the details of the house off the top of his head: square footage, insulation, windows.
Peninsula Clarion
After 3 decades, Gary’s Auto Electric to close
A mismatched collection of items welcomes visitors to Gary’s Auto Electric. A dog the size of a black lab puppy but with grey hair around her muzzle and paws comes scampering out of the back, energetically chasing a ball. Car batteries line the front window display and alternators stretch along a table toward the back bay.
Peninsula Clarion
Personal attacks muddy mayoral runoff race
A candidate for borough mayor has threatened legal action over comments regarding a 2000 court case, while his opponent says the comments did not come from her or her campaign. On Wednesday, a lawyer representing Charlie Pierce served Linda Hutchings with a cease and desist letter, asking that she and her representatives stop talking about claims of domestic violence.
Peninsula Clarion
After tragic death, Soldotna man gives life through organ donation
There’s a scene that William Dooley remembers about his son Jeremy as a child. On a family visit to the Detroit Zoo, a luminous blue butterfly landed on the boy’s nose. Because they weren’t supposed to touch the butterflies, he waited patiently for the creature to fly off. And waited. And waited.
Peninsula Clarion
A matter of trust
Some homestead families look to conserve land from development. Step by step, a father outlined the edge of his land every morning. His daughter rode on his shoulders, taking in the sight of the animals in the creek and the trees around their field. Some of the beavers she could call by name, she remembered.
Peninsula Clarion
Soldotna father and daughter prepare to climb 2 highest African peaks
Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion Avery Walden, 9, stands before an ice wall her father set up in the back yard of their home on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2016 near Soldotna, Alaska. Her father, Chris Walden, had to custom-make her ice cleats from a larger set. "Mountaineering gear for kids doesn't exist, so a lot of times you have to fabricate stuff, weld stuff, make stuff," he said.
Peninsula Clarion
Satanic assembly invocation sparks protest, possible changes to invocation
Rain began to fall just before a huddled group of Catholic Church members began praying on a sidewalk in Soldotna. Some held rosaries or icons; one held a wooden cross more than five feet tall. They prayed in front of the Planned Parenthood clinic on Redoubt Avenue, objecting to abortion services offered there.
Peninsula Clarion
State pink salmon record broken twice in one day
After 42 years, the Alaska state record for a sport-caught pink salmon was broken — twice. Thomas Salas hauled a monster pink salmon out of the Kenai River near Big Eddy in Soldotna on Monday night. The California resident, who said he visits the Kenai every other year or so, was originally going to throw it back when a friend told him to hang on to it.
Peninsula Clarion
Keep out: Kenai Peninsula land managers work together to curb invasive species
Wearing a pump-powered backpack sprayer, long yellow gloves and protective goggles, Jen Peura looked more like she was out hunting ghosts than killing flowers. The seasonal biotech for the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge pointed to a thin, leafy sprig near the narrow Egumen Lake trail. The innocuous-looking plant blended in with the grasses around it, bearing only a small knot of a bud at the top.
Peninsula Clarion
Great Pacific Seafoods' Alaska plants closed
Several industry sources and a former plant manager have confirmed that the seafood processor Great Pacific Seafoods has shut down its Alaska operations. Representatives from the company had not returned calls for comment as of press time, but Nick Barrie, former Kenai plant manager, confirmed the plant will not operate for the summer.
Peninsula Clarion
'Above and beyond'
The eagles waited for the man every morning. From the high dark trees around the lake, they swooped in gracefully when they saw him walk to the end of the dock and huddled around him, beaks clacking. He stooped for a moment to work. When he finished, he stood and turned back toward the house on the shore.
Peninsula Clarion
Peninsula doctors wrangle with access, treatment for opioid addicts
Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series on opioid addiction on the Kenai Peninsula. For the first part, check the Dec. 31 edition of the Peninsula Clarion. It might have been a pretty standard process to treat the patient’s infection except that the doctors had to work around her heroin addiction.
Peninsula Clarion
Opioid addicts face stigma even while seeking treatment
Editor's note: This is part one of a two-part series on opioid addiction on the Kenai Peninsula. For the second part of the series, check the Sunday Jan. 3, 2015 edition of the Peninsula Clarion. If he hadn’t fallen off a ladder, Tom’s life might have been completely different. The fall led to a serious injury, and the serious injury led to the narcotic painkiller Vicodin.
Peninsula Clarion
Mentors offer gift of guidance to students
Michael Johns’ phone frequently lights up with GroupMe texts from former Olive-Harvey College students. His first question: How are your grades? Johns, mentoring coordinator at the South Side college, directs D.R.E.A.M. and Men of Distinction mentorship programs. Directing Results through Educational Academic Mentoring (D.R.E.A.M) was launched in 2007.
Hilcorp still ready to buy assets as it looks to cost control
As other oil and gas companies seek to trim expenses with layoffs and stalling development, Hilcorp Alaska has no plans to stop acquisitions. The company will continue to buy properties in Alaska, said Chad Helgeson, the Kenai area operations manager, in an update to the public at the annual Industry Outlook Forum in Kenai on Jan. 28.
Alaska Journal of Commerce

About

Elizabeth Earl

Journalism

Research

Editing

Photography

Blogging

Social Media

Spanish

Italian

Feature Writing

Opinion Writing

Science Writing

Environmental reporting

Political reporting

I graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a BA in journalism in December 2014.

I spent three years working for The Columbia Chronicle and freelancing for Chicago Talks and various other news organizations in the Chicago area, including the Kankakee Daily Journal, Marketplace Radio, WBEZ , and The ABA Journal. I've worked with several health care trade publications as well, giving me a glimpse into the complicated issues in the medical industry. Over the years, my work has also appeared in The Atlantic, The Associated Press, the Alaska Journal of Commerce and the Anchorage Daily News.

In July 2015, I took a job as a government and resources reporter with the Peninsula Clarion in Kenai, Alaska. One of the things I love about journalism is the incredible diversity that telling stories entails. I've covered the highly political fishing industry, our changing environment, local, state and federal government, digging through documents in preparation for an interview with a senator. I've ridden in the back of a float plane to reach a remote river where salmon are colonizing empty lakes and sat on bench at a state fair and listened to the life story of a career sword swallower. What it boils down to is that journalism is about people, and people never fail to fascinate me.

I'm available for freelance work, both editing and writing. As mentioned above, I have freelanced for multiple organizations in a variety of fields and am open to collaborations and ongoing professional relationships.