Former Raven Radio reporter and John Alexander “Above the Fray” Fellow Emily Kwong’s long awaited 3-part series on climate migration in Mongolia airs July 29 – 31 on NPR’s Morning Edition (NPR/Claire Harbage)

Former Raven Radio reporter Emily Kwong’s 3-part series on climate migration in Mongolia airs this week on NPR Morning Edition. Listeners in Sitka can tune in July 29 – 31 to catch all three parts, set in the country’s grassland steppe, crowded cities, and semiarid deserts.

The series focuses on how climate change, migration, and economic factors are driving a rural-to-urban transformation in the rapidly changing country.

Emily first came to Raven Radio in 2014 as our Post-Graduate Fellow in Community Journalism. She was hired as our full-time reporter in 2015, taking over for Rachel Waldholz. 

Last year, Emily won the prestigious international reporting fellowship through National Public Radio and the John Alexander Project. She spent the first five months of 2019 working on this series, telling the story of a nomadic population adapting to change. 

“We ask how a warming, globalizing planet is disrupting traditional lifestyles and creating new, fraught possibilities for Mongolians,” Emily says. “I credit all this reporting to the translators, Ganbat Namjilsangarav and Р. Болормаа, we worked with there.”

From left: Goat and John Alexander Fellow Emily Kwong.

Emily says she and photographer Claire Harbage worked with a team of visual journalists and editors to create a visual narrative experience that will be released on August 5.

Part One (Aired Monday, July 29, 2019): “The Deadly Winters That Have Transformed Life For Herders In Mongolia”

Part Two (Aired Tuesday, July 30, 2019): Mongolia’s Capital Banned Coal To Fix Its Pollution Problem. Will It Work?

Part Three (Aired Wednesday July 31, 2019): Mongolia’s Long Road To Mining Wealth