Introducing: Sharon✨

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Published on Friday, 05 October 2018 11:40

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Introducing: Sharon✨ r1 We're excited to introduce our newest Narwhal to you. ...

Meet Sharon

Back in July, you may recall we asked you to donate to help us hire an investigative reporter in Alberta.

Well, nearly 100 of you stepped up to help make it happen (thank you!!), and today we’re thrilled to announce the newest member of our team: Sharon J. Riley.

Sharon was born and raised on a small goat farm near Kingman, Alberta — the aspen forests and prairie sunsets just south of the boreal are her idea of paradise. Her other idea of paradise is in the Rocky Mountains of Waterton Lakes National Park, where she worked for five seasons as a naturalist, guiding hikes and teaching about bears and birds and wild things.

Sharon graduated from the University of Alberta with a degree in Environmental Economics and from Lunds Universitet (in Sweden) with a Master's in Economic History. In other words: she doesn’t shy away from databases or statistics (music to our ears).

For the past five years, she’s been making a name for herself in the extremely challenging world of freelance journalism. She’s worked as a researcher and fact-checker with The Investigative Fund in the U.S. on big features for publications such as Politico, Reveal and The Washington Post magazine. And in 2017 she earned herself an honourable mention from the National Magazine Awards in the best new writer category for this article about wildfires, published in Maisonneuve. Last year, she wrote the cover story for the December issue of The Walrus about how automation is poised to put millions out of work.

“I have never been interested in writing fluff pieces for the sake of accumulating bylines, but am motivated by being involved in big stories and projects that I feel are of importance to our social discourse,” Sharon wrote to us in her cover letter.

“I strongly believe that the truth can speak for itself and does not need to be twisted or distorted to serve an agenda. If the facts don’t speak for themselves, more reporting needs to be done.”

She had us at “raised on a goat farm,” but she sealed the deal with her steadfast commitment to investigative reporting, fact-checking and passion for public interest journalism.

Aside from being a really impressive journalist, Sharon has also led a pretty interesting life. Her adventures include a motorcycle trip across the U.S., a 2,000-kilometre canoe trip down the Mississippi River and skipping law school in favour of cycling from Edmonton to Mexico.

When it comes to joining The Narwhal team, Sharon is over the moon.

“The Narwhal is a plucky, exciting voice in Canada's media landscape, and I'm absolutely delighted to join the team — especially since this opportunity gives me the chance to double down on reporting on my home province,” Sharon told us. “I'm beyond excited to dig into so many of the untold stories in Alberta.”

Sharon starts with us full-time on Sept. 4th and you can reach her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

In the meantime, read her feature this week on the psychological impacts of wildfire smoke.

And keep on reading for more in-depth stories from our team this week.

Emma Gilchrist
Editor-in-Chief

‘The lost summer’: the emotional and spiritual toll of the smoke apocalypse

By Sharon J. Riley

It's not just breathing difficulties and watery eyes that impact people living in smoke-affected areas. For many, it’s the unsettling feeling of living under a thick cloak of smoke, one that obscures the sun, wipes out the blue sky and hides the landscape in a disconcerting brown-grey veil. The emotional toll of wildfire smoke is something doctors are now trying to understand better. Read more.

U.S. efforts to feed starving young orca stymied at Canadian border

By Mark Leiren-Young

An international effort is underway to save J50, also known as Scarlet, the youngest member of the endangered southern resident killer whale population. U.S. officials are trying to feed antibiotic-packed salmon to the starving youngster — but when she crosses into Canadian waters, the operation runs into a brick wall. Read more.

As Western Canada chokes on smoke, it’s time to get real about climate change

By Emma Gilchrist

While the media often fails to connect the dots between wildfires and climate change, could there be a more visceral reminder of what we’re doing to our planet than having to stay inside because the air is too dangerous to breathe? Read more.

This small branch of Trans Mountain could derail Canada’s pipeline purchase

By James Wilt

The vast majority of oilsands crude moving to the West Coast passes through the little regarded Puget Sound Pipeline, which is now heavily entangled in troubled Canada-U.S. relations. Read more. Word of the week: "Smogust"
Smogust is the new word on the streets of Western Canada and the U.S. where simple, sunny August no longer seems to make the cut thanks to perpetual smoky skies. Smogust. Not to be confused with #Smaugust on Twitter, which um, has to do with dragons and fan art and stuff. Maybe check that out too. Meet Brittni. She is an American living in Alaska and is sporting that delicious t-shirt because she decided to become a Narwhal.

We asked Brittni what inspired her to sign up: "I started funding The Narwhal because I’ve been admiring friends and family who have been contributing to a greater cause lately."

Brittni discovered The Narwhal through our reporting on the Arctic. "I love what you’re doing and what your mission is: Independent investigative journalism. We need more of that in this day and age!"

"I signed up to donate $25 CAD a month to The Narwhal because I believe in honest, unbiased, science-based and authentic journalism," she said, adding, "I love my Canadian neighbour and secretly wish I were Canadian all of the time."

Don't worry, Brittni. We'll adopt you. Welcome to our blessing (yes, a pod of narwhals is actually called a blessing).

Join hundreds of other readers and become a member of The Narwhal by giving whatever you can each month. Together, we're making reader-funded public interest journalism a reality.

Be like Brittni

Feds appeal freedom of expression ruling for charities

By Emma Gilchrist

In 2015 the Trudeau Liberals campaigned on a promise to free charities from 'political harassment.' Now the government says it will present legislation this fall to “allow charities to pursue their charitable purposes by engaging in non-partisan political activities and in the development of public policy.” But in the same breath, the government is fighting a recent court ruling that found restrictions on charities represented an unjustified infringement of freedom of expression. What's up? Read more.

What the Trudeau government’s scaling back of the carbon tax means

By Jimmy Thomson

Despite recent polling that shows a majority of the public is on board, the federal government is watering down the country's carbon tax. The proposed changes to the rules would mean more breaks for big polluters. Read more.

Ontario watchdog urged to investigate political advertising by oilpatch during election campaign

By Fatima Syed

Ontario’s electoral watchdog has been asked to probe whether Canada’s largest oil and gas lobby group broke the law during the recent election campaign. Read more. A video from The Narwhal: Downstream Canada is filled with awe-inspiring landscapes — so many that it feels impossible to visit them all. Join The Narwhal on a journey into Canada's Wood Buffalo National Park, a place named a World Heritage site for its "outstanding universal value." More cowbell! And...triangle? Bring the whole orchestra along for the fun by sending this newsletter signup link to your friends in the string section. r33 Copyright © 2018 The Narwhal, All rights reserved.
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