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Articles by Claire Thompson

Claire Thompson used to be Grist's editorial assistant. After disappearing into the wild for a while, she is now attempting to reenter society.

All Articles

  • Incredible shrinking farmland

    Photo: Alicia Guy Joel Huesby comes from a long line of conventional farmers, but in 1994, he had what he calls an epiphany that led him to switch to organic farming. He’s of the mind that we’ll drive ourselves to extinction if we drive our farmlands that way first. “Conventional commodity agriculture, to my way […]

    Claire Thompson Food and Agriculture

  • Why prison inmates make great conservationists

    Kelli Bush, project manager for Washington state’s Sustainable Prisons Project, works with an unlikely group of conservationists: prison inmates. In collaboration with scientists, students, community groups, and prison staff, inmates at four Washington correctional facilities play an integral part in habitat and species restoration efforts. They raise Oregon spotted frogs (endangered in Washington), Taylor’s checkerspot […]

    Claire Thompson Science

  • What can trick-or-treaters tell you about the health of your neighborhood?

    When my brother and I were little, around this time of year we loved to watch The Halloween Tree, an animated feature based on a Ray Bradbury book of the same name. The movie opens with Bradbury himself narrating: It was a small town by a small river and a small lake in a small […]

    Claire Thompson Culture

  • Scare trade: Halloween candy you can feel good about

    Photo: Nina HaleFor most of us, Halloween has a strong association with candy. When you’re little, you get to dress up and run around your neighborhood collecting it for free. When you’re a bit older, you get to dress up, get drunk, and buy it steeply discounted on Nov. 1. And when you’re a parent, […]

    Claire Thompson Food and Agriculture