My name is Elena and I am an award-winning writer and journalist based in Houston, Texas. I typically cover environment, health and climate, but I’ve been known to jump around topics and pursue a variety of stories.

Some of my more recent (and favorite) work includes water funding in small town Texas, gaps in petrochemical regulations and ecological issues at the U.S.-Mexico border. I am a 2026 Metcalf Institute Fellow, a 2025 recipient of a MIT Environmental Journalism Solutions Fellowship and 2020 Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow. More of my work can be found here, here and here.

I studied creative nonfiction writing and literature through the University of Iowa, and hold a master’s degree in health, science and environment journalism from Northwestern University.

You can contact me at elena dot bruess at gmail dot com.