Cassandra Profita
Cassandra Profita is a reporter, producer and editor for OPB's Science & Environment unit.
Cassandra worked for The Daily Astorian newspaper before joining OPB and launching the Ecotrope environmental news blog. She produced radio and television stories as part of the EarthFix public media collaboration that covered the environment in the Pacific Northwest.
Cassandra is a fellow with the Institutes for Journalism and Natural Resources and the Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environment Reporting. She’s gone out to sea to cover fisheries and marine heat waves and floated down the Klamath, Columbia and Willamette rivers to report on dam removal, sea lions and salmon. She’s ventured into active wildfires and flown over burned forests to investigate post-fire logging.
Her stories have won awards from the National Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Radio Television Digital News Association and the Society of Professional Journalists.
Cassandra grew up in Chicago and holds degrees in journalism from the University of Missouri and the University of Oregon.
Latest Stories
How ‘carbon farming’ could help Oregon reach its climate goals
Changing farming and ranching practices to store more carbon in the soil could be a promising strategy for reducing climate change in Oregon and beyond.
For Grand Ronde tribes, reclaiming land is a way of healing
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde are buying back some of the land that was lost to broken treaties and U.S. termination policy.
For victims still recovering from Oregon’s 2020 Labor Day wildfires, millions in legal damages offer hope
Wildfire victims and their advocates say the PacifiCorp ruling is a lifeline after nearly three years without enough insurance money, emergency funding or government support for people who lost everything and are struggling to start over.
Jury finds PacifiCorp owes more than $73 million for causing 2020 Oregon wildfires
Oregon’s second-largest electrical utility, PacifiCorp, played a significant role in the Labor Day wildfires that ravaged parts of the state in 2020, according to a Multnomah County jury.
Jury selection in 2020 Oregon wildfire lawsuit against PacifiCorp begins Monday
A $1.6 billion class-action lawsuit that accuses the utility PacifiCorp of failing to shut off its power lines during extreme fire danger in September 2020 heads to trial Monday. It is likely the first time a utility has taken such a class-action case to a jury trial.
Oregon reaches nearly $700M settlement with Monsanto over PCB contamination
Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said compounds in Monsanto's products continued to pollute Oregon's land and waterways many decades after the company knew its compounds were highly toxic.
Oregon’s Elliott research forest will be North America’s largest
The State Land Board at long last approves the creation of the Elliott State Research Forest, meant to end years of debate over what to do about a state forest that no longer generates enough money for education.
Oregon state forests deliver more than $97M in timber revenue
Generating money from logging state forestland has been hotly debated. Environmental groups are pushing for more habitat protection while counties want Oregon to meet legal obligation to maximize timber revenue for their benefit.
New boating restrictions on Portland’s Willamette River reduce complaints, create new problems
Rules limit wake surfing and other water sports to ease congestion, safety risks and property damage in crowded areas.
Here’s why the West Coast Dungeness crab season has been delayed
The opening of Oregon's most valuable commercial fishery will be delayed after testing showed some crabs don't have enough meat in them and others have elevated levels of the toxin domoic acid.