Jenny Whidden

Hi there! Below you will find ten pieces I've written at my current position as climate reporter for the Daily Herald, the largest news organization in suburban Chicago and the third-largest daily newspaper in Illinois. 

I began at the Herald in June 2022 with experience at the Granite State News Collaborative, the New Jersey Star Ledger, the Chicago Tribune and others. I hope to dive deeper into the climate change and environment beat over the next several years, building expertise alongside a network in Chicagoland. 

I am a Marquette University graduate, with an honors B.A. in journalism, a minor in Spanish and a focus in data science. I'm passionate about public service, investigative and local journalism, and I aspire to use my writing and multimedia skills to tell complex stories in engaging ways. 

On the side, I'm a bookworm, a cat lover and a gamer.

Daily Herald •

‘I want people to care about the night’: Advocates are working to fix light pollution in Chicago area

When you flip on your bright porch lights each night, you could be doing more than muddying your view of the Milky Way: Unnecessary light disrupts wildlife, affects human health and contributes to climate change, advocates say. The Chicago area is a particularly shiny example of light pollution, with light emissions several times higher than what many scientists say are needed. For instance, consider Cook County and the Berlin metro area. Though similarly sized and populated, we emit more than
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One acre at a time: Barrington’s Citizens for Conservation reconnects the suburbs with Illinois’ Prairie State origins

Every Thursday and Saturday morning, Matt Van Acker puts on his work gloves, grabs his curved hand saw and leaves his home in Barrington on foot, walking south across a vast swath of open marshland. Often, he is accompanied by the distinct bugle call of a sandhill crane flying overhead. Finally, cresting a small hill, Van Acker arrives at an overgrown patch of invasive buckthorn where several other people already are at work sawing away at the stubborn, woody plants. Soon, the group of voluntee
Daily Herald •

Report: Canada’s wildfires push Chicago to second most polluted major city in the U.S.

With an unfortunate boost from Canadian wildfires, Chicago’s air quality dropped a notch in 2023, identifying the city as the second most polluted in the United States, according to a leading international company that monitors air quality around the world. In its 2023 World Air Quality Report, the Swiss technology company IQAir said pollution in the Chicago area is approaching three times the standard recommended by the World Health Organization. The report found particulate matter concentrat
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Naperville’s coal-heavy electricity supply hangs in the balance as contract renewal looms

With Naperville getting nearly 80% of its electricity from coal, a pivotal contract renewal with the city’s power supplier approaches. The city’s energy portfolio is one of the “dirtiest” in the state, based on its level of reliance on coal. Community activists are looking to change that by urging the City Council to carefully consider a 10- to 15-year contract extension with its current supplier, the Illinois Municipal Energy Agency. Naperville is locked into an agreement with the supplier un
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More products of ever-warmer winters: harmful algal blooms, invasive species

A man walks along the shore of Lake Michigan at Lighthouse Beach in Evanston on Jan. 16. Unseasonably warm temperatures throughout the winter led to historic lows of ice coverage this year. Associated Press Ice coverage on the Great Lakes was historically low this winter, but experts say the unprecedented ice levels are just one issue the lakes are facing as global warming progresses and unseasonable winter temperatures become more likely. Alongside the lack of ice coverage, the lakes also are
Daily Herald •

Local farmers, advocates teach students about raising animals humanely and sustainably

When suburban farmer Cliff McConville teaches kids about his farm on the Brunner Family Forest Preserve in Carpentersville, where grass-fed cows, pigs and chickens roam freely across 150 acres of pasture, he hopes he’s inspiring not only future consumers but future farmers. “I really enjoy farming this way, because I can see how happy the animals are,” McConville said. “What we like to think is that we can just plant a little bit of a seed that this is what we do, we enjoy our work, we get to w
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Thinking of going solar this winter? Here's what you need to know

Peter Gorr gets all his electricity from solar power. The Deer Park homeowner has panels on both his current home and his previous home in Palatine. With the help of a subscription to a community solar development, Gorr's solar array powers his home as well as his electric vehicle. Now, he's spreading the word and helping other homeowners make the big switch. "Importantly for me, and why I do this, is climate change," Gorr said.
Daily Herald •

More than 90% of Illinois' plastic goes to landfills. Here are some solutions.

Despite the contributions you make to the health of the environment every time you slip your plastic milk cartons and food containers into the recycling bin, there's something you should know: More than 90% of the plastic used in Illinois ends up in landfills. The causes are varied and complex, but the solution, environmental advocates and government authorities say, requires a blend of changing personal habits and revising public policies. Plastic can take anywhere from hundreds to thousands