Washington Post hires Grist’s Osaka to cover climate

Shannon comes to The Post after two and a half years at the nonprofit environment journalism outlet Grist, where she analyzed federal climate policy, the energy transition, and ideas about climate change. She covered everything from the concept of “degrowing” the economy to France’s attempt to give 150 randomly selected citizens power over climate policy. She has also explored the tricky politics around federal climate legislation in the U.S. and the accessibility of electric cars for low-income households.

Shannon is a two-time winner of the SEAL Award for Environmental Journalism and recently received the Covering Climate Now Award for Emerging Journalist. Last year, a piece that she co-authored on the planet’s seven possible climate “tipping points” received an Online Journalism Award for topical reporting on climate change.

Shannon was born and raised in San Jose, Calif. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, where she studied environmental science and environmental studies. After graduating, she was named Princeton’s Sachs Scholar at the University of Oxford, where she received a master’s degree in human geography and published academic papers on climate change perception and modeling.

Shannon lives in Washington, D.C. In her spare time she loves to rock climb, play board games, and follow the U.S. women’s elite gymnastics team.