about erica

ERICA ROWELL is a seasoned editor, broadcast journalist, producer, and author. Her work has been featured on the web, on radio, and in magazines. Currently the online managing editor of Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. she edits Dean Bill Chameides's blog on the environment, writes for DukEnvironment magazine, and produces videos on green issues.

background

Prior to Duke, Rowell wrote for the Environmental Defense Fund, primarily covering ecosystems and climate change. Among her accomplishments was the Guide to Energy-saving Lights, which the Philadelphia Inquirer called "unparalleled" and Smithsonian mag dubbed "the best CFL guide on the Net” [pdf].

In 2007, Rowell’s book The Brothers Grim: The Films of Ethan and Joel Coen was published. ARBA described it as “well written and engaging." Its prose style, wrote a Film International reviewer, is “lively, colloquial, and clever.” (More on the book.)

Rowell honed her journalism skills at Monitor Radio. Cutting her teeth on the technical end as an audio engineer, she reported and produced art features on the side. In 1992 she tech directed/field produced coverage of the presidential elections from Little Rock, Arkansas. After leaving her full-time posiion, she continued to freelance there as producer and studio director until the service shuttered in 1997.

Rowell’s most recent journalistic turn was at ABCNEWS.com. As technology editor, she coordinated the planning and execution of news coverage (e.g., the Microsoft antitrust trial, Napster's rise and fall, the Love Bug virus, web attacks), reported on breaking and cutting-edge tech news, and gave radio interviews.

She has interviewed former Senator Bill Bradley, musicians Chuck D. (of Public Enemy), Luka Bloom, Suzanne Vega, Pops Staples, Shawn Colvin, and Judy Collins, as well as ice cream mavens Ben & Jerry.

Rowell has also taught film classes at Columbia University and writing classes at Duke University.

She graduated from Columbia's School of the Arts in New York City with an MFA degree in film. She earned her BA from Bates College, in Lewiston, Maine.