Luminaries Watershed Edition: Caitlin Scarano with Lynda Mapes

About this episode

Caitlin Scarano interviews Lynda Mapes about her environmental journalism and the connections between people and nature.

W elcome to the first episode of a special four-part edition of our Luminaries series that focuses on creative work about watersheds. This special edition has been curated by Caitlin Scarano , a recipient of the 2024-25 Public Humanities Collaboratory Watershed Fellowship. Caitlin is a writer and poet whose current project explores cultural, political, and ecological interrelationships within the Skagit River watershed, from the dams of its upper reaches out to the Salish Sea. During this four-part series, she interviews four writers and artists whose work on watersheds are luminaries for her. Today, Caitlin speaks with author and longtime environmental journalist, Lynda Mapes. Over the course of her 27-year career as a reporter at the Seattle Times, and as the author of seven books, Lynda has earned numerous awards, including the Kavli Gold Award for Science Journalism from the American Association for the Advancement of Science , a National Outdoor Book Award, and the Washington State Book Award for nonfiction. In her work, Lynda centers connections between people and the natural world. Following a confluence of storylines about one of the largest dam removal projects in the…

People in this episode

Host: Caitlin Scarano

Guest: Lynda Mapes

Topics covered

• watersheds
• environmental journalism
• creative work
• ecological interrelationships
• interviews
• nature writing

Keywords

• watershed
• environment
• journalism
• interview
• nature
• Skagit River
• Elwha River
• Caitlin Scarano
• Lynda Mapes

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Spring Creek Project

Books & works: Elwha: A River Reborn

Places: Skagit River, Salish Sea, Elwha River

More episodes of Spring Creek Podcast

• Luminaries Watershed Edition: Caitlin Scarano with Christian Murillo · April 7, 2026 · 25 min
• Luminaries Watershed Edition: Caitlin Scarano with Amy Gulick · January 6, 2026 · 27 min
• The Art of Reconnection: Daniela Naomi Molnar and Danielle Vogel · December 6, 2024 · 1h 7m
• The Art of Reconnection: Lee Emma Running and Ben Goldfarb · October 24, 2024 · 41 min
• The Art of Reconnection: Daniela Naomi Molnar and Marcia Bjornerud · October 11, 2024 · 58 min
• The Art of Reconnection: Lee Emma Running and Daniela Naomi Molnar · October 4, 2024 · 55 min