For Kat Fulwider, Hitchcock Project for Visualizing Science reporter intern at KUNR Public Radio, her favorite day on the job involved being buried in a snow cave – and being dug out by the paws of a furry friend. One chilly afternoon last February, Fulwider, who is a ski patroller and a senior in the Reynolds School of Journalism at the ÐÔ°®ÎåÉ«Ìì, Reno, participated in a training exercise with the Northstar Avalanche Rescue Dog program.
The rescue dogs, whose brains tap into the information produced by their amazing olfactory systems, are trained to locate humans buried in the snow. To cover this story, Fulwider volunteered to be buried under three feet of snow and dug out by a golden retriever named Griffin.
“Getting pulled out of the avalanche hole by rescue dogs was definitely my favorite,” Fulwider said. “The dog thought my mic [microphone] was a toy to pull me out. I was like, ‘no!’ But it was also cool to combine my passions for adventure sports, ski patrol, science and journalism for the story.”
An avalanche dog at Northstar California Resort digs student reporter Kat Fulwider out of the snow for a story produced for KUNR. Photo courtesy of Fulwider.
Fulwider has a background in biology and photography and is a journalism major with a minor in cultural anthropology. In fall of 2023, she began weaving these diverse interests together through a science reporting internship with KUNR and the Hitchcock Project.
"Storytelling really became something that was pivotal to who I am. And then I decided to come back to school for journalism.”
Prior to her internship, Fulwider had taken a science communication course through the Hitchcock Project and received basic training in audio recording and editing from her undergraduate coursework, but her experience in audio storytelling was still fairly minimal. At KUNR, she recalls being thrown right in, working under the guidance of Vicki Adame, news editor and award-winning bilingual journalist.
“By being in a working newsroom, you pick things up really fast,” Fulwider said. “I have an awesome editor who’s really supportive, and it's a really supportive environment. I always felt open to ask people questions and tag along and learn by doing. It's a lot of learning by doing.”
Kat Fulwider conducts a radio interview for her Hitchcock Project internship with KUNR.
During her time at the station, Fulwider has covered science-related topics ranging from forestry to water conservation to black bear behavior, bringing local scientific issues to life for KUNR’s listening audience. An average day-on-the job consists of a variety of tasks, she says – copyediting, writing, conducting interviews, writing scripts, voicing, and putting the whole story together. The experience has helped take her writing and storytelling skills to a new level.
“The most difficult part for me is the writing, and writing concisely for broadcast,” Fulwider said. “It's a different kind of writing. Broadcast news writing is concise, to the point. Leaving out the flowery words — which, I love the flowery words. Using very focused descriptive words, and writing tight. So the biggest thing has been working with my editor to hone that skill, and become a better writer, which makes you better storyteller.”
Fulwider did not initially set out to become a journalist; she once aspired to work in the medical industry, as a doctor or nurse. Then, she contracted Lyme disease, and put her pre-med coursework on hold while she recovered. During this time, she moved to Canada and enrolled in a photography school, where she interviewed and photographed unhoused, at-risk and runaway youth. She created a book about their experiences, , which was printed entirely on cardboard.
“Using storytelling kind of helped me get my feet back under me and my mind back about where I was in life and what I wanted to do,” Fulwider said. “Storytelling really became something that was pivotal to who I am. And then I decided to come back to school for journalism.”
At the Reynolds School, Fulwider’s storytelling skills have expanded in new directions. She directed a film called , which was nominated last year for a . She is working on a magazine called the High Sierra Rambler, and a series of films about the . She served as the KUNR-Hitchcock Project science reporter intern during the fall and spring semesters of the 2023-24 school year, and again during fall 2024.
While her KUNR internship came to a close this December, Fulwider has continued on with the station in a new role as a general assignment reporter for the Tahoe Basin. It is an opportunity that her time as a science reporting intern has prepared her well for.
“It's been incredible, and it’s really awesome and fascinating to get to work with different scientists in our community, and who are doing really neat research in and around the Reno-Tahoe basin in Nevada,” Fulwider said. “It's really been an honor to get to work with people from all walks of life, as well as really intelligent scientists. It rubs off on you.”
