Monica Samayoa
Monica Samayoa is an award-winning climate and environmental journalist.
Her work has covered how communities in Southern Oregon continue to recover from wildfires, as well as the decades of groundwater pollution in Eastern Oregon and its impacts to the communities. She's also closely examined how urban planning in Portland makes heat domes particularly deadly for marginalized communities. Recently, she’s been covering the clean energy transition, climate solutions & adaptations and environmental justice.
Before OPB, Monica was an on-call general assignment reporter at KQED in San Francisco. In 2017 she studied abroad in Sydney, Australia, where she attended the University of Technology Sydney to finish her degree. There, she was able to get her first taste of radio while producing and hosting for 2SER, Sydney Educational Radio.
Monica holds a bachelor's degree in broadcast and electronic communication arts from San Francisco State University.
In her free time, Monica likes to spend time with her family and friends and travel to the world. So far she has traveled to 17 countries.
Latest Stories
Portland approves 5-year, $750 million climate action plan
The Portland Clean Energy Fund’s Climate Investment Plan aims to reduce carbon emissions and ensure residents are better prepared for climate change, with a focus on helping communities of color and low-income residents.
Oregon electric vehicles are selling fast but barriers remain, report finds
Oregon's electric vehicle sales have doubled in the past two years.
Oregon awarded more than $58M to reduce extreme heat risks with trees
Oregon received $58.2 million through the Inflation Reduction Act to increase tree canopy in neighborhoods that most need it to reduce the impacts of extreme heat.
Oregon youth climate activists plan strike to demand governor declare a climate emergency
Students from across the state — including Portland, Bend, Florence and Salem — will be protesting for meaningful climate action on Friday. Youth organizers in each city have set demands specific to their communities as well as general demands across the state.
Pumped storage hydropower is the greenest renewable energy technology, study says
A new study from the National Renewable Energy Energy Laboratory says closed-looped storage hydropower has the lowest carbon footprint than other renewable energy storage technologies like lithium-ion batteries.
Oregon DEQ selects nonprofit to distribute millions from climate investment program
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality announced Seeding Justice will run the agency's Community Climate Investment program.
Oregon sets ambitious goal for testing nitrates in Umatilla Basin groundwater
State officials aim to contact all domestic well users in the Lower Umatilla River Basin by the end of September.
Portland Clean Energy Fund unveils 5-year plan, $750M projected spending after overhaul
The plan increases focus on community resilience, transparency and accountability. That’s after the Portland City Council voted for a major overhaul of the fund after a series of setbacks last year.
Extreme heat stresses Oregon utilities trying to keep people cool and prevent fires
Oregonians are bumping up their air conditioning units or heat pumps to find relief from the triple-digit heat and keep cool. But that extra electricity use can cause problems for the power grid.
This small town in Oregon embraces green energy after fossil fuel disaster
The small town of Mosier, located along the Columbia River, will be getting a completely clean energy facelift — thanks to federal and state grants aimed at climate action and energy efficiency.