Graycen Wheeler
Water ReporterGraycen Wheeler is a reporter covering water issues at KOSU. She joined KOSU in June 2022 as a corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative that places emerging journalists in newsrooms across the country.
Wheeler grew up in Norman and attended the University of Oklahoma, where she studied biochemistry. She started writing and podcasting about science news while she was a graduate researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder. Wheeler realized that becoming a journalist would allow her to combine her love for her local community with the puzzle-solving penchant that had drawn her to science. So, after earning her doctorate in biochemistry, she completed a master’s in science journalism at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
While in Santa Cruz, Wheeler wrote about science and technology for outlets including Science, Symmetry Magazine and Mongabay. She also covered local news, particularly housing and environmental issues, for the Monterey Herald, San Jose Mercury News and Santa Cruz Local.
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Cleanup is underway after about 42,000 gallons of mud containing crude oil and other drilling waste spilled out of a pit and into a northern Oklahoma creek. -
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot enforce the Clean Water Act on wetlands that aren’t physically connected to lakes and rivers, even if they feed into those water bodies. The decision in Sackett v. EPA invalidates the EPA’s recently expanded definition of the Clean Water Act’s scope.
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The OKC-County Health Department says mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus are back in central Oklahoma for the summer.
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A $5.6 billion refinery is coming to Cushing. Southern Rock Energy Partners, the company behind this facility, promises it will be more eco-friendly than existing refineries.
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Oklahoma legislative committee picks projects for the last of the state's ARPA pandemic relief fundsTwo years and nearly $2 billion later, the Oklahoma Legislature is set to assign the last of its money from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
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Bartlesville’s city pools won’t open this summer due to ongoing water shortages.
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While much of Oklahoma has received consistent rainfall over the past week, the most drought-stricken areas of the state are still parched.
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Oklahoma City and the city’s Water Utilities Trust have settled a lawsuit against an oil company for stealing water and harming protected lands at the Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge.
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A measure to prohibit water rights protests passed both chambers, but its author says it’s still awaiting revisions that aren’t likely to meet deadlines, according to reporting from the Tulsa World.
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After hearing nearly three hours of public comment, the Oklahoma City Council voted not to approve an application to build 655 homes on an area residents say is environmentally important.
