Esta Pratt-Kielley
Digital News Reporterepratt-kielley@mainepublic.org
Esta Pratt-Kielley is a digital news reporter at Maine Public, where she writes and produces multimedia stories, seeking to bring Maine Public’s storytelling to life across platforms.
Before moving to Maine, Esta lived and worked in New York City. She wrote and produced daily news for MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, covering national politics, the 2020 election, racial justice protests and the coronavirus pandemic. Before that, Esta reported national education stories for NBC News, where she produced short documentaries and educational video series, helped launch a Webby award-winning parenting website, wrote and produced episodes for a daily news show for kids, and traveled across the country to produce live-audience broadcasts in partnership with local NBC affiliate stations. In October 2019, Esta was the senior producer for a televised, live-audience event in Detroit, Michigan, that put a spotlight on the city’s education system, covering the most salient issues facing the community, including the impact of trauma in the classroom. Esta’s favorite part of journalism is talking to different people – and she has interviewed people ranging from a four-year-old entrepreneur to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Esta is originally from Madison, Wisconsin, where she attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated with a Journalism degree and a Fine Arts minor. Esta’s career in journalism began at her college radio station, where she reported daily newscasts and hosted a weekly talk show.
Esta lives with her wife, Sara, and their rescue dog, Maico. They spend most weekends outdoors, hiking or swimming.
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For nearly 200 years, record-keepers have documented "ice-out" dates on Maine lakes, representing a sign that spring has come and warmer weather is on the way. Now, scientists are relying on those dates to track the effects of climate change on Maine's water bodies.
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LD 1900 eliminates the requirement that name changes be published. In a signing ceremony on Wednesday, Mills announced the passage of the bill, in addition to two other bills that were priority legislation for Maine’s LGBTQ+ policy coalition.
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Maine’s growing regional grain economy is poised to help farmers, local economies, and supply chains be more nimble as climate change increasingly forces agriculture in the region to adapt to severe weather events and warming temperatures.
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The northernmost reaches of Somerset County in Maine could become one of the last strongholds of syrup production in New England.
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Here’s a look at how out-of-state waste is getting to Maine, and what state officials are trying to do about it.
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The Abyssinian Meeting House in Portland is recognized as one of the most important sites of African American history in the state. Now, a local group is restoring the building and plans to use new federal funding to help bring the historic site back to life.
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Driving down I-295 in Portland, most Mainers are accustomed to seeing the iconic B&M Baked Bean factory overlooking Casco Bay. Now a nonprofit is hoping to transform the once-vibrant industrial site into a new 21st century campus and technological hub that developers envision as the future of innovation and economic growth in the city.
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While this area is well known for outdoor recreation, scientists are also beginning to learn just how ecologically important it is. They're starting to document the role that small, high elevation lakes might play as climate change continues to impact the region.
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As the state works through a backlog of positive test results, state health officials say the daily case count no longer reflects the new infection rate, but rather what the state could process in the previous 24 hours.