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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]
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

Pandemic Roulette

Inside Climate Podcast

Mass Sloth Deaths in Florida Are a Warning About Wildlife Trade and Pandemic Risk, Scientists Say

By Katie Surma, Kiley Price

The medical team at Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens treats a sloth received from Sloth World, where dozens of the animals died. Credit: Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens

Florida Temporarily Bans Sloth Imports After Dozens Die at Orlando Business

By Kiley Price, Katie Surma

The Central Florida Zoo announced on April 29 that Bandit, a sloth transferred from Sloth World, had died. Credit: Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens

Florida Opens Criminal Probe Into Sloth World After Dozens of Animal Deaths

By Katie Surma, Kiley Price

After Mass Deaths at ‘Sloth World,’ 13 Surviving Animals Are Transferred to a Florida Zoo

By Kiley Price, Katie Surma

Yuvelis Morales Blanco stands next to Colombia’s Magdalena River. Credit: Christian EscobarMora for the Goldman Environmental Prize

Rights of Nature Defender Wins Goldman Prize for Protecting Colombia’s Magdalena River From Fracking

By Katie Surma

A wild male three-fingered sloth climbs a tree in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. Credit: Sam Trull

At ‘Sloth World’ in Florida, Wild Sloths Have Died by the Dozens

By Katie Surma, Kiley Price

Paramedics for Ecosystems

Inside Climate Podcast

A sperm whale calf swims alongside her mother in the Caribbean Sea of Dominica. Credit: Brian J. Skerry/National Geographic

Inside a Rare Sperm Whale Birth Reshaping How Scientists Understand Animal Cooperation

By Katie Surma

Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaks to the attendees at S&P Global’s CERAWeek in Houston on Monday. Credit: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

White House’s ‘Drill Baby Drill’ Wartime Mandate Meets Volatile Market Reality

By Katie Surma

Paraecologists Olger Kitiar (left) and Jhostin Antún eagerly check a camera trap tucked into the forest on Maikiuants territory on Nov. 29, 2025.

In the Fight to Defend the Amazon, This Indigenous Community’s Secret Weapon Is Science

Story and photos by Katie Surma

Waorani Indigenous leaders protest oil exploitation in Yasuni National Park in front of Quito’s Constitutional Court on Aug. 20, 2025. Credit: Rodrigo Buendia/AFP via Getty Images

The Latest Tactic for Silencing Ecuador’s Environmental Defenders: Shuttering Their Bank Accounts

By Katie Surma

An oil pumpjack operates in the background as a fast food worker takes orders at a drive-through on Feb. 9, 2023, in Signal Hill, Calif. Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Unequal Access to Nature Fuels America’s Health Crisis

By Katie Surma

Members of a Māori community perform “karakia” to pay their respects to the carcass of a sperm whale that washed up on the shores of New Brighton, New Zealand, on Nov. 5, 2023. Credit: Sanka Vidanagama/NurPhoto via Getty Images

How a Groundbreaking Indigenous Treaty on Whales’ Rights Could Change National Laws

By Katie Surma

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