RACHEL PARSONS
International multimedia journalist
Pulitzer Center Grantee
Uzbek farmers battle to save cotton, wheat crops from mortal enemy: salt – Nikkei Asia, May 7, 2024
Growing salinization crisis bites as cotton exports to Bangladesh skid 80% in 5 years
Rewetting peatland is good for the climate. Here's why Europe is very slow at it – Euronews, August 25, 2023
Rewetting drained land could help in the fight against climate change but the EU's agricultural subsidies scheme currently favours the use of drained land.
Bill Cosby Loses Sex Assault Lawsuit and Faces a $59 Million Judgment – The New York Times, March 23, 2026
A California jury found that Mr. Cosby had abused Donna Motsinger in 1972 after inviting her to attend one of his comedy shows.
With no help in sight, Ghana’s coastal farmers are drowning in salt – The Africa Report, October 7, 2024
Salt water is killing crops. In the runup to COP, The Africa Report looks at how it is affecting farmers in Africa. Produced with support from the Pulitzer Center.
U.S. hurricane forecasters losing critical access to government data – Context,
August 1, 2025
With the Atlantic hurricane season underway, U.S. Defense Department does about-face on ending data from three meteorological satellites.
Rachel Parsons won Best Feature Photo and Best Photo Essay for the Malheur Enterprise at the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Awards, September 2021.
As Americans Celebrate Independence Day, Some Protest the Trump Administration – The New York Times, July 4, 2025
While demonstrations from Washington to Los Angeles were largely festive, with food trucks and live music, protesters were determined to speak for their cause.
Undocumented renters caught between fire and ICE in LA burn zone – Context, August 22, 2025
Undocumented renters still recovering from Los Angeles wildfires have become targets for ICE raids.
In one Utah county, redrawing voting maps led to the historic shift for Navajo lawmakers - PBS News, November 12, 2018
A historic shift took place in San Juan County, Utah, on Tuesday, when more than 100 years of control by white conservatives on the county commission came to an end.
Long-form with photography for Anthropolitan, a publication of the Anthropology Department at
University College London.
This work was the foundation for
Rachel's 2021 MSc dissertation on
identities and exclusion in urban
environmental movements in London.
Stay or go? Rising seas threaten to chase people from UK coasts – Context (Thomson Reuters Foundation), August 2, 2023
Britain's coastal communities face growing climate threat as sea level rise speeds up erosion - and poses dilemma over relocation
How is Bangladesh preparing farmers for increasingly salty soil? - Context, April 29, 2025
Tens of thousands of Bangladeshi farmers are being trained to farm on soils getting saltier due to climate change.
Los Angeles residents build aid network for immigrants living in fear – Context,
August 7, 2025
Amid Trump administration's immigration crackdown, Los Angeles volunteer network offers aid, food delivery to fearful residents.
Is my house still there? Are my relatives safe? – The New York Times, September 12, 2024
Fire evacuees worry, and wonder what comes next.
After LA wildfires, lead contamination threatens residents – Context, May 7, 2025
Los Angeles wildfire fallout prompts county to offer free blood tests over fears of lead contamination among local residents.
Fear of deportation grips undocumented women on California's farms – Context, September 2025
Women who are undocumented farm workers in California fear for their families amid the government's immigration crackdown.
Anthropology Association Apologizes to Native Americans for the Field’s Legacy of Harm – Scientific American, March 28, 2022
For decades anthropologists exploited Indigenous peoples in the name of science. Now they are reckoning with that history.
Climate Lawyers Take Aim at ‘Green’ Heating Scheme Fed by Incinerator – DeSmog, September 21, 2022
The government has handed tens of millions to similar projects around the country in recent years.
How mixing farms with forests can help the UK reach net zero – Context (Thomson Reuters Foundation), November 3, 2022
From lower emissions to happier chickens, agroforestry is making a comeback as farmers benefit from adding trees to their land.
Is the U.S. prepared for the wildfire season? – Context, June 25, 2025
With wildfire season threatening the western United States, alarms are sounding over understaffed weather forecast agency.
As the Planet Warms, a Humble Sea Bean Is Proving to Be a Promising Superfood – Smithsonian Magazine,
March 10, 2026
Known as samphire, sea beans, glasswort or pickleweed, Salicornia thrives in high-saline environments, like coastal marshes, and has a lot of nutritional and medicinal properties
Too Much Salt in the Soil Is No Problem for These Crops – Scientific American, February 18, 2025
Halophytes that thrive in increasingly saline soils could help feed people and livestock
Produced with support from the Pulitzer Center. This article also appears in the March issue.
How Indigenous Groups Are Using 3-D Technology to Preserve Ancient Practices – Scientific American, June 29, 2022
To safeguard fragile cultural objects, some groups are replicating them with digital models
Rising seas complicate Los Angeles wildfire rebuilding – Context, May 29, 2025
As seas rise, California coastal communities damaged by wildfires debate if they should remain on the shoreline.
Bangladesh’s Shift Toward Salt-tolerant Agriculture Offers Lessons in Climate Resilience – Earth Island Journal, December 17, 2024
Low-tech solutions have brought thousands of acres of farmland back into production. This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
Melted shoes, migraines: Street vendors battle Los Angeles’ worsening heat – Climate Resilience for All, October 2025
Extreme heat threatens women's livelihoods around the world. The U.S. is no exception.
Family Still Seeks Answers After Deadly Railroad-Crossing Accident – Fort Worth Magazine, September 7, 2021
On May 29, 1980, Joe Parsons was killed by a train at a railroad crossing. Forty years later, there are still questions left unanswered.
Long-form feature with photography.
More heat, no air-con: At-home workers face new threat as temperatures soar – Climate Resilience for All, February 2026
Worsening extreme heat is making working hours less comfortable - and in some cases even dangerous - for more home-based workers around the world, whose numbers have surged since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marines, in a Rare Move, Briefly Detain Man in Los Angeles – The New York Times, June 13, 2025
The man, who said he was a veteran, was soon released. But the incident calls attention to the operation of troops in a police-like domestic function.
‘We are not animals’ — Why this Altadena apartment remains unlivable 15 months after the Eaton Fire – The LA Local,
May 11, 2026
Tenants of a close-knit Altadena complex say Regency Management ignored toxic contamination and basic repairs long before the Altadena fire.
Shock and Sadness Hang Over the Reiners’ Neighborhood – The New York Times, December 17, 2025
Neighbors said a pall had fallen over the wealthy Los Angeles area where Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, were found stabbed to death.
Holocaust researchers appeal for Nazi deportation images to document 'where it started' – Euronews, January 27, 2023
An international group of Holocaust researchers is asking for the public’s help to find forgotten photos of deportations from Nazi Germany.
Q&A: HIV vaccine funding cuts in U.S. 'devastating' – Context, June 16, 2025
Trump's decision to gut medical research funding will undermine efforts by U.S. scientists to develop an HIV vaccine.
Strange methane leak discovered at the deepest point of the Baltic Sea baffling scientists – LiveScience, October 11, 2023
A huge methane leak discovered in the Baltic Sea spans 7.7 square miles, with masses of gas bubbles rising almost all the way to the ocean surface.
‘I have to risk it’: Street vendors bake outside steamy World Cup stadiums – HERA, June 2025
Women working on the fringes of the FIFA World Cup games risk their health as players gain greater heat protections.
In a Dark Year, Los Angeles Basks in the Dodgers’ Glow – The New York Times, November 5, 2025
Scars of wildfires and immigration raids won’t soon fade, but like the city itself, the Dodgers persevered and gave Southern California residents the rally they needed.
Climate-hit wetlands lay bare Britain's biodiversity struggle – Context (Thomson Reuters Foundation), April 26, 2023
As Britain tries to achieve nature-protection goals despite climate change, The Broads National Park is providing a testing ground.
Device that stores liquid sunshine could one day power your phone – New Scientist, May 13, 2022
A system for trapping sunlight as thermal energy within molecules and then converting it to electricity could be a portable replacement for batteries.
What the Campaign Against a North London Waste Incinerator Teaches Us About the Green Movement’s Diversity Problem – DeSmog, December 15, 2021
Activists opposing the rebuild of an incinerator in the London Borough of Enfield ... have been forced to confront environmentalism’s white, middle-class dominance.
Vance Flexes Marines’ Might as Mass Protests Against Trump’s Agenda Take Place – The New York Times, October 19, 2025