About

I help environmental and food-system organizations turn complex issues into stories and campaigns that move people to act.

I started as a science journalist and editor, at MIT Technology Review, Scientific American, Discovery Channel, and Seeker, with features in Nature, National Geographic, and Discover. Along the way I learned how to take dense research and make it clear, human, and worth caring about. Over the last several years I’ve put that skill to work for causes I believe in.

Today I write content for Sustain Rural Wisconsin Network, a statewide coalition protecting rural communities from industrial factory farming. I’m also leading a Sierra Club campaign to encourage people to avoid eating factory farm food, and I chair the Climate Committee Mitigation and Resilience at the Urban Ecology Center. Before that, I spent three years as executive director of the Uptown Crossing Business Improvement District in Milwaukee, which taught me how to manage budgets, partners, and strategy from the inside.

My work includes:

• Campaign communications: press releases, newsletters, action alerts, fact sheets, infographics, and video scripts
• Grant writing: proposals and RFPs, including work that helped secure about $12 million for tree planting and maintenance in Milwaukee and $2 million in federal funding for the Urban Ecology Center
• Narrative storytelling: profiles of farmers, neighbors, and scientists that put a face on policy issues
• Research translation: plain-language briefs and summaries for groups like Faunalytics

If you have a story to tell or a campaign to build, I’d love to hear about it. I’m especially interested in working with organizations advancing climate, water, and sustainable food systems, on a part-time, contract, or project basis.

Contact me at tracy@tracystaedter.com