From Sarah Feldberg, Editor for Emerging Products and Audio:
The San Francisco Chronicle is delighted to announce the hiring of Hannah Hagemann as its new Weather Science Editor.
In this role, a new position at The Chronicle, Hagemann will lead a team covering the weather and climate of the Bay Area, including forecasts that serve our local audience and news stories about developing weather events. The team will also produce smart explainers that illuminate the science behind atmospheric rivers and fire tornadoes, and data stories that place the weather outside our windows in historical context.
“Increasingly frequent wildfires, multi-year droughts and historic rain storms have already changed life for Californians,” Hagemann said. “More than ever, we need data-rich science journalism that connects the dots between shifting weather patterns and climate change. I’m ecstatic to grow a team that will fill this gap.”
Hagemann comes to The Chronicle from Santa Cruz, where her reporting on the 2020 CZU August Lightning Complex fire for the Santa Cruz Sentinel and NPR earned awards and spurred regulatory investigations.
At the Sentinel, Hagemann documented the real-time impacts of climate change, reporting on extreme swings from drought and wildfires to atmospheric rivers and debris flows. She carved out a beat writing on the scientific how and why behind such events and covering the on-the-ground reverberations of major incidents. At NPR, Hagemann covered everything from agriculture to education and racial injustice as a Kroc Fellow, working on the network’s news and national desks.
“Hannah’s background and experience make her a great fit to develop this new team and grow The Chronicle’s coverage of weather and climate,” said Sarah Feldberg, Editor for Emerging Products and Audio. “Our readers consistently respond to coverage of the weather events that impact their days. Hannah and her team will enable us to do more robust reporting on the climate trends and weather patterns that affect our lives.”
Before entering journalism, Hagemann worked as a geologist, tracking toxic plumes with drill crews, railroad foremen and regulators. She received her master’s in science journalism from UC Santa Cruz.
Growing up, Hagemann’s family jumped from San Francisco, to Hawaii and Colorado, before moving to Newport Beach. Being immersed in vastly different natural environments as a child inspired her love of the outdoors from a young age.
She has lived off-grid in the Eastern Sierra high desert mapping rock formations, and in a van, traveling the U.S. and Canada.
When she’s not doing journalism, Hagemann is probably outside in the Santa Cruz Mountains — hiking, painting watercolors or seeing live music.
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