Dean Russell
Science and investigative reporter
Dean is a reporter covering the environment and health. His work has been published by NPR, The Guardian, Mother Jones, Grist, Center for Public Integrity, The Texas Tribune, and others. He was a '20 Columbia Journalism Investigations fellow and a producer for NPR's Here & Now and On Point.
In 2019, he earned a Master of Arts in science reporting from Columbia Journalism School.
Stories, Investigations, Essays
A selected collection of work on science, the environment, health, and other issues.
NYC Nursing Home Gave Dozens of Veterans Experimental COVID-19 Treatments. Some Families Had No Idea
The New York State-run facility in St. Albans, Queens, administered a cocktail of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, despite safety warnings and doubts about efficacy.
By Dean Russell
Feb. 8, 2021
From climate-fueled storms to COVID-19, mounting catastrophes are sowing stress and trauma. The country’s one program to help reaches only a fraction of survivors.
By Dean Russell & Jamie Smith Hopkins
August 25, 2020
How a decade of neglect and politics undermined the CDC’s fight against climate change.
By Dean Russell, Elisabeth Gawthrop, Veronica Penney, Ali Raj & Bridget Hickey
June 16, 2020
A federal hotline received 27,000 calls and texts after COVID-19 was declared a national emergency
By Dean Russell & Jamie Smith Hopkins
April 2, 2020
The effort to bring Mexican gray wolves back to the Southwest is complicated by the fuzzy line between science and politics.
By Dean Russell
October 21, 2018
Untreated inmates are 12 times more likely to overdose in the first two weeks after release. One drug may offer a solution
By Dean Russell
March 30, 2017
Kansas' Republican governor boasted his conservative tax plan would deliver a "shot of adrenaline" to the state economy. But then the opposite happened.
By Jeremy Hobson, Dean Russell & Samantha Raphelson
October 25, 2017
An estimated 4% U.S. inmates did not commit the crime for which they've been convicted. Few have their convictions reversed. Lamonte McIntyre is one of them.
By Dean Russell
November 22, 2017
Mount Washington sits at the center of three major storm tracks coming from the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific Northwest. Its summit is about 2,000 feet above tree line, providing no resistance to the wind. A perfect place for an impromptu hike.
By Dean Russell
August 15, 2015