Politico hires von Kaenel to cover California environment

Politico deputy managing editor of states coverage Ryan Hutchins sent out the following:

Good morning,

 We are excited to announce Camille von Kaenel as our new California environmental reporter. Camille will take on this critical beat as the state grapples with a yearslong drought and braces for yet another intense wildfire season. 

 Camille joins us from nonprofit newsroom inewsource, where her investigative reporting in San Diego County unearthed a problem with wildfire insurance that helped lead to a new state law and uncovered deals a developer made to advance its solar farm over local objections. Before that, she wrote for the Chico Enterprise-Record, covering the aftermath of a wildfire that killed 85 people in the town of Paradise.

She got her start at E&E News in Washington, D.C. 

Camille earned a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of Geneva. As a child, she immigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area from Switzerland, to which she attributes her love of mountain sports. She speaks French and Spanish.

She will be based in Sacramento and report to California editor Katy Murphy and California politics editor Ben Fox. Please help us welcome her to the team.