Courtney Flatt
ReporterCourtney Flatt is a Richland-based multi-media correspondent for Northwest Public Broadcasting and the Northwest News Network focusing on environmental, natural resources and energy issues in the Northwest. She began her journalism career at The Dallas Morning News as a neighbors editor. There, she also wrote articles for the Metro section, where she reported on community issues ranging from water security to the arts. Courtney earned her master’s in convergence journalism at the University of Missouri and developed a love for radio and documentary film. As a producer at KBIA-FM she hosted a weekly business show, reported and produced talk shows on community and international issues. Her work took her from the unemployment lines, to a Methamphetamine bust, to the tornado damage aftermath in Joplin, Mo.
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New research shows stronger heat domes could happen more often as the climate changes.
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After decades of courtroom drama, a document leak and years of negotiation, federal officials agreed with six Northwest tribes to restore salmon, build-up clean energy and begin studying how to replace services the Lower Snake River dams provide.
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After leaked documents suggested the Biden administration could be making moves to help remove Washington’s four Lower Snake River dams – congressional Republicans said they needed answers.
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People eating bass out of the Snake River should be wary: depending on where smallmouth bass are caught in Idaho and Oregon, the fish could have higher levels of mercury.
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Scientists in Washington recently used NASA satellites to learn more about snow in the mountains.
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It’s hard to know exactly how many Western gray squirrels are in Washington – but the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife says it’s safe to say there aren’t many. Most are isolated in Okanogan and Klickitat counties and in the South Sound area.
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After wildfires, it can be hard for native plants to come back. That’s why volunteers are planting them and spreading seeds this fall in southeastern Washington, helping sagebrush and wildflowers take root again.
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Fast-spreading invasive aquatic mussels are hitching rides on boats, kayaks and jet skis. So, people are working to keep them out of the Columbia River Basin, the only major river basin in the U.S. without an established quagga mussel population.
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Federal leaders are considering bringing grizzly bears back to the North Cascades. Some Northwest tribes say doing that would restore harmony to areas where their ancestors lived.
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Researchers in the Northwest are studying dirty snow – and how cleaner snow could someday help with water resources around the world.