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Katie Surma

Reporter, Pittsburgh

Katie Surma is a reporter at Inside Climate News covering the rights of nature movement and international environmental justice. Her work has a strong focus on the intersection of human rights and the environment. Before joining ICN, she practiced law, specializing in commercial litigation. Her journalism work has been recognized by the Overseas Press Club, the Society of International Journalists, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and others. Katie has a master’s degree in investigative journalism from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, an LLM in international rule of law and security from ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, a J.D. from Duquesne University, and was a History of Art and Architecture major at the University of Pittsburgh. Katie lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
  • @katiesurma.bsky.social
  • @Katie_Surma
  • [email protected]
Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino arrives for the 81st General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Tuesday. Credit: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

At the UN, Panama Champions a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Nature

By Katie Surma

Pataxo and Tupinamba Indigenous people demand justice for the murder of Vitor Braz during a protest in front of the Ministry of Justice in Brasília, Brazil, on March 12, 2025. Credit: Mateus Bonomi/Anadolu via Getty Images

An Environmental Defender Is Murdered Every Three Days

By Katie Surma

Dolce, one of the surviving sloths from Sloth World, eats a carrot inside her enclosure at Central Florida Zoo. Credit: Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens

Florida Proposes Stronger Protections for Sloths After Dozens Died at a Tourism Attraction

By Kiley Price, Katie Surma

Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) and Ecuador’s Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Kury shake hands after a press conference in Quito on Wednesday. Credit: Dolores Ochoa/AFP via Getty Images

The US Wants Minerals from South America. Its Environmental Defenders Fear What Comes Next.

By Katie Surma

Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands after signing documents during a ceremony in 2015 in Beijing. Credit: Rolex dela Pena/Getty Images

5 Takeaways From Our Investigation Into China’s Massive Overseas Investments

By Nicholas Kusnetz, Georgina Gustin, Katie Surma

Argentina’s national team players hold a banner reading “The Malvinas are Argentine” after winning a World Cup semifinal match against England in Atlanta on July 15. Credit: Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images

Lawsuit in Argentina Challenges British-Israeli Oil Project Near the Long-Disputed Falkland Islands

By Katie Surma

Waorani protesters march through Puyo, Ecuador, on Aug. 21.

The Amazon’s Defenders Declare a State of Emergency

Story and photos by Katie Surma

A sloth named Willow was one of five transferred from Sloth World to the Central Florida Zoo that later died. Credit: Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens

More than 50 Sloths Died at a Florida Wildlife Attraction. Officials Say No Crime Occurred.

By Katie Surma, Kiley Price

Electric vehicles from Chinese automaker BYD are unloaded at a port in Zarate, Argentina, on Jan. 20. Credit: Luciano Gonzalez/Anadolu via Getty Images

In South America, Chinese EVs Are Racing Ahead

By Dan Gearino, Katie Surma

Deaths at Sloth World

Inside Climate Podcast

A carbon capture system is seen at a plant in Heidenheim, Germany, on July 23. Credit: Stefan Puchner/picture alliance via Getty Images

ExxonMobil Uses Corporate Arbitration System to Challenge Climate Solution It Promotes

By Katie Surma, Nicholas Kusnetz

A worker extracts a drill core at a copper mining project in the Andes mountain range of Calingasta, Argentina, on April 21. Credit: Luis Robayo/AFP via Getty Images

AI, Defense Spending Fuel the Rush to Mine Minerals, Report Says

By Katie Surma

A sloth named Chewie is one of the few survivors transferred from Sloth World. Credit: Central Florida Zoo

Florida Regulators Stood by as Dozens of Sloths Died, New Records Reveal

By Katie Surma, Kiley Price

Donald Moncayo, president of The Union of People Affected by Texaco, stands next to an oil stained handprint at a former Texaco drilling site in the province of Sucumbíos, Ecuador on Aug. 11, 2022. Credit: Katie Surma/Inside Climate News

5 Takeaways From Our Investigation Into a Secretive System That Undermines Climate Action

By Katie Surma, Nicholas Kusnetz

Claudia Rondan, an environmental defender from the Emberá Indigenous community, walks on the banks of Colombia’s Atrato River in Choco on Aug. 29, 2024. Credit: Raul Arboleda/AFP via Getty Images

Rights of Nature Laws Are Coming Up Against Legal Systems Designed for Destruction

By Katie Surma

Abelardo de la Espriella celebrates after casting his vote during the Colombian presidential runoff on June 21 in Barranquilla. Credit: Leonardo Castañeda/Getty Images

A Trump Ally’s Rise in Colombia Could Mean the End of Landmark Climate Policies

By Katie Surma

People rally against a Canadian mining project at the Quimsacocha moorlands in Cuenca, Ecuador, on Sept. 16, 2025. Credit: Galo Paguay/AFP via Getty Images

Environmental Defenders Remain Among World’s Most Targeted Activists

By Katie Surma

A sloth is seen at the Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center in Alajuela, Costa Rica, on March 16. Credit: Ezequiel Becerra/AFP via Getty Images

A Sloth Exhibitor Shut Down by New York Wants a Florida Comeback—and Florida Licensed Him

By Katie Surma

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