Nathan Rott
Nathan Rott is a correspondent on NPR's National Desk, where he focuses on environment issues and the American West.
Based at NPR West in Culver City, California, Rott spends a lot of his time on the road, covering everything from breaking news stories like California's wildfires to in-depth issues like the management of endangered species and many points between.
Rott owes his start at NPR to two extraordinary young men he never met. As the first recipient of the Stone and Holt Weeks Fellowship in 2010, he aims to honor the memory of the two brothers by carrying on their legacy of making the world a better place.
A graduate of the University of Montana, Rott prefers to be outside at just about every hour of the day. Prior to working at NPR, he worked a variety of jobs including wildland firefighting, commercial fishing, children's theater teaching, and professional snow-shoveling for the United States Antarctic Program. Odds are, he's shoveled more snow than you.
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For years, cities and states have struggled to figure out what to do about the rise in ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft. California recently took the first steps toward legitimizing them, a move that could serve as a model for places also trying to catch up with the boom. -
Cory Monteith was known to most Americans as the star of TV's Glee. But Monteith, who died at age 31, was a former high school dropout who used an unorthodox audition tape to get noticed. -
Fire crews are hoping to fully contain the deadly Yarnell Hill Fire by the end of the weekend, after a week in which the blaze claimed 19 firefighters. As the smoke dissipates and the fire cools, firefighters in Prescott, Ariz., are wondering what they'll do next, without the sense of purpose the fire provided. Nate Rott reports.
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High-paying investors have helped the market to bloom in the desert city that once ranked as the foreclosure capital. Even homeowners who thought they were underwater are benefiting. One owner says her home's value increases by about $1,000 every two days. That, she says, is the craziness of Vegas. -
The state has already sustained fire damage not normally seen until deep into the hot summer months. Fire departments and homeowners are now trying to prepare land and property for what's expected to be a long and destructive summer. -
Students deemed "willfully defiant" accounted for nearly half of California's 700,000 suspensions last year. Many educators are cheering the Los Angeles Unified School District's decision to ban such suspensions, arguing the category is too broad and disproportionately targeted black students. -
Call it "the rumble by the ruins." Each year, Turkey's toughest camels gather in Selcuk, near the Aegean Sea, for the Camel Wrestling Championship. It's a Turkic tradition dating back thousands of years. But it is a tradition under threat.
