Meet the Team

Lori has held a variety of senior leadership roles within a diverse set of industries during her 20+ year career. She has a broad array of experience in Technology, Financial Services, Organizational Development and Non-Profit management. She has had responsibility for P&L and most recently led a saas technology start-up from 10 people to over 200. When not working, Lori spends time at her home in Portland, Oregon with her partner and five animals. She enjoys travel, yoga, the outdoors, cooking, and spending time with her family.

Chip founded Grist in 1999 to lighten up a movement known for taking itself too seriously. He’s been honored with a Heinz Award for his media innovations and for making environmental issues relevant to new and broad audiences; and he’s been named a TIME magazine “Hero of the Environment.” Chip has been featured in such outlets as Vanity Fair, Newsweek, and Outside, and has appeared on broadcast programs including the Today show and PBS’s NOW. Before launching Grist, Chip was editor of Greenwire, the first environmental news daily.

A native of Massachusetts, Chip graduated from Brown University with an honors degree in environmental studies. (Yes, he is an obsessive Red Sox fan.) When Chip’s not pondering the future of online environmental journalism, he likes to spend his time with his wonderful wife and two kids at their home on Vashon Island, near Seattle.

Ben reports on environmental politics and policy for Grist, with a focus on climate change, energy, and cities, although he is better known for being one of the world’s leading pizza snobs and most antiquated old-school rap fans. He previously covered national politics at The Nation, Politico, and Newsweek, where he also served as national editor of Newsweek.com. He has also worked at The New Republic and the Center for American Progress. Ben was the first urban leaders fellow, and later the first federal policy correspondent, at Next City. His writing has also appeared in The American Prospect, Architectural Record, The Atlantic, Columbia Journalism Review, The Economist, The Guardian, New York, The New York Times, Salon, Slate, and The Washington Monthly. Ben grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., which he whined constantly about missing when he lived in Washington, D.C. He is now back in Brooklyn, where he whines constantly about gentrification.

Clayton is a bear masquerading as a human, so don’t tell the others. He has been pulling this ruse for about a quarter century, which is old for a bear. He has worked in health policy, computational neuroscience, and education. Clay holds a Master’s in Neuroscience and a Master’s in Public Policy from Oxford, where he was the first ursine Rhodes Scholar. He studied neuroscience at Brown. (Go Bears!) At Grist, he’s interested in climate governance, subnational climate action, and the social dimensions of climate change. Outside of Grist, he catches salmon, looks out over the water, and solemnly counts the hours until he returns to work.

Before coming to Grist as part of its inaugural class of fellows, Eve managed Food Tank’s editorial content and tried her hand at bilingual interpretation (¡hola¡) in Chicago. She majored in evil (economics) and fun (Spanish) at Vassar. She’s at her best when yelling about reproductive rights and sexual violence with a Chipotle burrito in hand, and at her worst when crying about reproductive rights and sexual violence with a margarita in hand. She does not particularly want to talk to you about your app, your band, or your novel, but she probably will if you’re not a jerk about it.

Aura is a writer who lives in her beloved city of Los Angeles. She’s worked with Colorlines and The Nation, and her work has appeared in The Guardian, Mother Jones, Salon, as well other outlets. She’s pretty into her windowsill garden during the day, and loves to look at stars and planets at night; when she has time, you can also catch her practicing Guarani beadwork. She writes about justice for Grist.

Katie Herzog is the world’s best Solowheel rider. She has more friends than there are stars in the sky and more money than there is salt in the sea. The first mountain she climbed was Everest. Herzog looks like the love child of Shiloh Jolie Pitt and a giraffe, and her interests include public radio, natural disasters, and cults. She was born and raised in the mountains of North Carolina.

Even though Kate was born, raised, and college educated in Indiana, she still doesn’t know the origins of the word Hoosier. She is best described as a crossword diva and worst described as a professional athlete. She studied art and writing at Goshen College, where she jumpstarted her career as a world traveler with a three-month stint in Cambodia. Since moving to Seattle and joining Grist in September 2015, Kate has big plans to participate in some sort of human blockade. (She’s still looking for a cause to get behind.) Her other hopes and dreams include becoming a solo accordion performer, baking pastries on par with the French, and remembering to floss occasionally.

Katharine has spent a decade at Grist in various roles including editor, writer, grantwriter, special projects manager, and spontaneous show tunes-belter-outer. Before Grist, she worked as an editor at several environmental publications in the Northeast, sneaking humor into their pages whenever possible. A native New Englander, Katharine escaped to Seattle for a couple of years before being lured back to the land of lobsters and lighthouses, and now works from a sparsely decorated bunker in the Boston area. In her spare time, she defends the merits of bowling to anyone who will listen. Which isn’t really anyone at all.

Amelia is a writer of, among other things, poems, essays, a math book, and this bio. She came to Seattle by way of Connecticut, and she came to science writing by way of the Yale English Department and supportive astrophysicist parents. (She came to her sense of humor by those same parents, so you can thank them for that.) Now she mostly writes about oceans and internet culture for Grist. When not exchanging cheese puns with other editors, Amelia enjoys shuffling commas, lipsyncing to podcasts, and cooing over other people’s pets.

Heather covers the intersection of technology and the environment for Grist. At various points, she has been a city reporter, a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT, a contributor to the atlas Infinite City, and a vegetarian who also happened to be an editor at a magazine called Meatpaper. Current obsessions: insects, bison, bicycles, quantitative easing.

Darby is a fifth-generation Montana rancher and a first-generation vegetarian. (Although she still holds a place in her heart and diet for grass-fed steak.) She graduated from Gonzaga in 2009 and has spent most of her post-college time drinking copious amounts of coffee and talking about her cat.

Andrew began his career as a music journalist. He was an editorial assistant at Rolling Stone, a deputy managing editor at VIBE, and the managing editor at Complex Media. In 2008, he switched his focus to sports and joined ESPN The Magazine as a senior editor. (For Andrew, it’s not so easy being green: the Jersey native and former Brooklynite is a fan of the hapless New York Jets.) In 2012 he became a senior editor at Fast Company, where he oversaw editorial franchises like Fast Talk and the Most Creative People in Business. He is co-author of the book Racing While Black: How an African-American Stock Car Team Made Its Mark on NASCAR.

Having grown up in the golden prairies of Kansas, Daniel has a distinct appreciation for well-baked bread, pick-up basketball, and avoiding traffic. After studying history and multimedia at Goshen College (in Indiana), he headed West, for an internship at Grist. After a brief stint filming in Ghana, he’s back, creating quality videos for all your doom, gloom, and humor needs.

Nathanael is a journalist who lives in Berkeley with his wife and daughter. He has contributed to magazines such as Harper’s, New York, and Conservation, and to National Public Radio and “This American Life.” His first book is All Natural: A Skeptic’s Quest to Discover If the Natural Approach to Diet, Childbirth, Healing, and the Environment Really Keeps Us Healthier and Happier — it is also a quest for the world’s longest subtitle. He worked at a small-town newspaper in Idaho before going to study with Michael Pollan at the UC Berkeley School of Journalism. He writes the “Thought for Food” column at Grist.

Lisa cofounded Grist in 1999 and now serves as senior editor. She’s also worked at Greenwire, an online environmental news service; Island Press, an environmental book publisher; Tomorrow, a sustainable business magazine; and ONE/Northwest, a nonprofit capacity builder for environmental groups in the Pacific Northwest. When not obsessing over news and politics, she’s likely to be found running, hiking, reading edifying books or trashy magazines, whipping up vegetarian delights in the kitchen, or planning her next international escapade.

Anne came to Seattle many years ago for a visit and never left. After working in retail for far too long she came to her senses and decided to use her ‘skills’ for good, not evil, and landed in the world of non-profits. When she takes her Grist hat(s) off at the end of the day she loves walks on the beach, romantic nights in front of the fire a good glass of wine, hanging with family and friends, baseball, camping and watching her garden grow – pretty much in that order.

Jeff does everything, but write his own bio. From what his fellow co-workers can perceive, Jeff is a tech whiz who enjoys EDM, likes all types of beer, does not like the idea of sushi but is willing to try it, will never let you take a shot alone, and can always be relied upon for anything and everything at Grist, except to write his own bio.

Four years ago, Kirby decided it was time to move from Small Town, FLA, to Big City, USA. She wrote down 10 of her most beloved places, put them in a bag, drew Los Angeles (sh*t), put it back, drew a second time: San Francisco (a winner!), but never made it there. Instead, she flew to Seattle, fell in love with the Emerald City, and like all great love stories, the rest is history. Kirby couldn’t resist when the opportunity to join Grist came along — she’s a big fan of humor, sustainability, and keeping Florida above sea level (if not for the headlines alone). Now you can find her running around Grist HQ, keeping Chip hip and always on time.

Born in CA, raised in WA, Mandy went on to live in various places learning to say hello in ten different languages. Mandy is back in Seattle, where she is trying to debunk the Seattle Freeze and doing quintessential Seattleite things like hike, run, kayak, and make gluten-free sugar-free vegan granola, and is always on the lookout for stylish shoes she can walk to work in. Please contact her if you know of any or would like to advertise on Grist.

In (the North) West Philadelphia (suburbs), born and raised, exploring the media industry is how Matt has spent most of his days… After a long run with Digital First Media where he learned near every aspect of the business — culminated by running the company’s national food and health content operations for Project Thunderdome — Matt decided to summer in Seattle. And he still hasn’t left. When he’s not geeking out the media biz, he’s geeking out on baseball, Wilco, cooking, and loving life with his family in the Pacific Northwest …yo, homes, to Pioneer Square!

After eight years in Business Development, Corporate Sales Training, and Digital Media Planning for accounts across the country, Tatiana found her true joy and passion working solely with socially responsible businesses. With the goal of creating lasting partnerships with companies that share the drive to create a better, cleaner planet, Tatiana joined Grist in June 2015. In addition to her enthusiasm to make Grist’s advertising partners succeed, Tatiana enjoys cruising around Santa Cruz, CA on her bike, “Frank Yankee,” watching breathtaking sunsets, training her lemon tree, and attempting to make the world a better place through her love of art, music, and dance.

Brian skipped a beat from the heartland of America and arrived in Seattle via Columbus, Ohio. He received his bachelor’s degree in Communications from The Ohio State University. Since moving to Seattle he has consumed more coffee in a little under a year than he has in his entire life. When he isn’t fiddling with the ads on Grist you can find Brian on the golf course, cheering on his Buckeyes or on his quest to find the best chicken wings in the city.

Jamie has dedicated her career to fundraising on behalf of worthy causes and institutes of higher learning including EDF, IRC and Stanford University. At Grist she manages the day to day fundraising operations. When not thinking about Grist she can usually be found riding her bike around Portland with her husband and two young boys. A fifth-generation Californian with a BA in Gender/Feminist Studies from Pitzer College, she’s delighted to call Portland home.

A Big 10 football-loving Midwestern guy at heart, John grew up on the east side of Detroit. He’s otherwise played the part of a pinball over the last 20 years, moving from Michigan to California to Minnesota and now to Seattle. His professional hats in the environmental world have included airport development consultant, wetlands restoration planner, ranch manager, farmers market organizer, and land trust director. He has a natural resources degree from the University of Michigan and a masters in public affairs from the University of Minnesota and loves [read: dorks out over] all things nonprofit organizational development-related. He’s leveraging that nerdy passion to keep Grist’s grant funds rolling in.

Patrick is a recovering archaeologist who left his trowel for the livelier world of nonprofit fundraising. While still a fan of the past, he now focuses his energy on raising the cold, hard cash Grist needs to stop the world from becoming a temple of doom. A Seattle transplant, Patrick hails from the great state of Wisconsin.

Cody Permenter is Grist’s social media manager. Before joining Grist, Cody managed social media at Cheezburger.com where he learned a great deal about cats, butts and clickbait. Cody is also a freelance writer and journalist. His writing has appeared in Thrillist, The Daily Dot, The Texas Tribune, USA Today, The Huffington Post and The New York Times. For the last two years, he has served on the entertainment and media nominating board for The Shorty Awards, an awards show honoring the best in social media around the world. Cody graduated from the School of Journalism at The University of Texas at Austin in 2013, and is originally from a small town you’ve never heard of near Houston, Texas. When he isn’t tending to his fish tank or teaching himself to crochet, Cody’s on a mission to find quality BBQ in Seattle—won’t you help him?

Gabriel believes robots will eventually make all humans obsolete. He’s preparing for that day by stockpiling everything needed to create a fast rising electromagnetic pulse primarily oriented towards disrupting systems built with integrated circuits — as well as unlocking the best kalua pork recipe of all times.

In (the North) West Philadelphia (suburbs), born and raised, exploring the media industry is how Matt has spent most of his days… After a long run with Digital First Media where he learned near every aspect of the business — culminated by running the company’s national food and health content operations for Project Thunderdome — Matt decided to summer in Seattle. And he still hasn’t left. When he’s not geeking out the media biz, he’s geeking out on baseball, Wilco, cooking, and loving life with his family in the Pacific Northwest …yo, homes, to Pioneer Square!

Having lived in Arkansas, Indiana, Florida, and now Washington in pursuit of both his career (a degree in computer science from Indiana University) and his lifelong love of music (his other degree in music education from the University of Central Arkansas), Ben spends most of his waking hours involved in one, the other, or both. When he isn’t in Seattle, Ben travels between his native Arkansas and his wife’s native Japan, where he happily plays the part of bumbling tourist and dutiful son-in-law. Although he started his coding life a Schemer at IU, he dabbled in Perl and Python land for a time, went low level with C and ARM assembly, before going back up the stack with PHP, WordPress, and JavaScript (and the many, many ever-evolving libraries that come with that domain). He still loves playing his saxophone, even if his altissimo chops are sorely in need of some work.

Nathan was born as a small recursive script in the Programming Republic of Pascal. His subroutines have grown vast and innumerable, with a life of their own. He is a Seattle transplant and the the leader of Grist’s product team. His pursuits include amateur cooking and open-source coding in the pursuit of happiness. He suspects Google can provide more than you ever would want to know about him.

Mignon’s life on the dub began with Salon.com where she was a co-founder. She is happiest when buried in work and is thankful she is allowed to indulge in this depravity at Grist. She also has great hair.

Artist and budding organic farmer, Amelia Bates, hails from Wisconsin. After graduating from Columbia College with a BFA in Illustration, she served as a WWOOFer in New Zealand for three months. When she isn’t drawing, she likes to cook, read, and talk about her dream of someday running an organic farm. If you aren’t careful she will tell you in great detail about her experience butchering chickens.

Cory is Grist’s frontend developer. That means he handles things like how the site looks and optimizes it for speed. He’s written a book, writes for TutsPlus and CSS Tricks, and has worked on some really big sites. His open source projects, like Jeet, are used all over the world by some of the biggest companies.