What is Nurtured by Nature?
Nurtured by Nature is a newsletter from a former business reporter that explores the connections between community, humanity, and the natural world. You can expect weekly musings on current events, recent trip reports, and glimpses of life in the rural Pacific Northwest.
Nurtured by Nature was formerly The Hi-Desert Dispatch, a local news source for residents of the Morongo Basin in California’s Mojave Desert. The change coincided with my move out of the desert and into the lush forests of northern Washington.
Why subscribe?
Readers will never find AI-generated slop or “optimized” reporting at Nurtured by Nature. After a year of reporting via bullet points, I rediscovered my love of long form: essays, features, and thorough reporting. Come for the easy Sunday long-read, but stay for the occasional piece of experimental writing and deep sense that we can do better for our world and for each other.
Each week, subscribers receive a free newsletter covering the likes of:
original reporting on the ongoing revolt between small, rural communities and their representatives;
essays on what it’s like being a woman solo in the backcountry;
love letters to the amazing places I’ve been lucky enough to call home.
I am still working through what paid subscribers will get, but the initial plan is supplemental newsletters throughout the week with gear recommendations, curated news and must-read links, and more. If you have any suggestions on what you would like to see — and would be willing to pay for! — please reach out.
Who am I?
I am Megan Hernbroth, a writer who feels more at home among the trees than in a cubicle. I started The Hi-Desert Dispatch, this newsletter’s previous incarnation, to provide reliable, resourced, fact-checked local news for my community while simultaneously writing a daily newsletter at a large national media publication. As I burned out, I returned to the writing, walking, and wandering that grounded me. Eventually, it became my only way forward.
Now, I live in the rural Pacific Northwest on 20 acres with my partner and two dogs. I am an avid trail runner, backpacker, rock climber, and birder. I am perpetually chasing the feeling of being so infinitesimally small that comes with being deep in the backcountry. I am also perpetually distracted by new, shiny hobbies, many of which you will hear about. Right now, that is gardening. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
I was most recently a reporter at Axios, where I authored the subscription-based Climate Deals Pro newsletter. Prior to Axios, I reported for Business Insider, where I covered health care startups, venture capital, Silicon Valley, and eccentric founders. I began my career in public relations, and have led communications for companies such as Coinbase and ThirdLove. I have a stint on the communications team for National Parks Conservation Association to thank for my enduring love of the dreary, rainy, glorious Northwest.
