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Sam Harrington

Sam Harrington is a freelance climate reporter from Middleton, Wisconsin.

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Sam's Latest Articles

Photo of a "living" art gallery space. The installation includes slim steel beams that are interconnected and arranged in an upright formation above three large potted plants underneath. A bright fluorescent light is centered on the plants, while the remainder of the gallery space is more dimly lit.
“Eat My Words” offers much-needed time to reckon with environmental impact
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Culture
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September 10, 2025

Take a quiet hour, and explore the mixed-media exhibition in the James Watrous Gallery at Overture Center through October 12.

A photo shows a large city bus pulling up to a station in the middle of a wide road. The bus is blue and white, and a grey accordion section in the middle joins its two halves. A figure is visible walking down the concrete platform of the station. Sky, tree, and a local coffee shop are visible in the background.
We set out in search of rapid on Metro Transit
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Politics
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September 30, 2024

Ground-level views from the long-awaited arrival of BRT.

A misty photo of the mountains is overlaid with text of a modified quote, in imitation of inspirational-quote memes: "'The mountains are calling and I must go [be really racist]' —John Muir." Text in the bottom left-hand corner reads "EnviroQuote.com."
Reckoning with the racist legacy of Wisconsin’s conservation heroes
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Microtones
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April 28, 2023

What our trite celebrations of Earth Day tend to erase.

A photo taken from the perspective of an ice skater looking downward shoes a pair of skates and the frozen lake ice below it.
Skating on changing ice, in a shifting climate
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Microtones
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February 10, 2023

In the future, we'll get less time to enjoy our frozen lakes.

In Dane County’s oak savannas, fall projects clear the way for a new year
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A Year On The Oak Savanna
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November 8, 2022

Volunteers seed the prairie and savanna restorations that will take root on oak-time

An illustration shows seven people sitting around a colorful table while knitting, with a clothesline of mittens, socks and shirts in the background.
Shout out to the sweater curse
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Culture
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November 4, 2022

Celebrating one year of knitting at Fiddlesticks.

An illustration shows painterly views of oak leaves and savannas, divided into vertical strips.
On Wisconsin’s oak savannas, there’s some relief from climate-change impacts
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A Year On The Oak Savanna
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July 27, 2022

Trees in the white oak family are expected to thrive and could create oases for species in southern Wisconsin.

A crewmember sets a controlled fire on the oak savanna at the UW-Madison Arboretum. Dense orange flames are visible in the foreground; in the background the worker is shown carrying a drip torch and wearing fire-protection gear. Photos by Sam Harrington.
A season of fire and flood: Spring in the oak savanna
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A Year On The Oak Savanna
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May 9, 2022

Climate change is making it harder to maintain these ecosystems through controlled burns.

A savanna winter: Where the future begins in the past
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A Year On The Oak Savanna
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March 16, 2022

Dane County's historic oak savannas attempt a comeback.

Letter from a “semi-rural” fantasy zone
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Politics
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December 7, 2020

What I learned when the Town of Middleton’s local politics exploded.