Biography

Elena Varela Bruess is a writer and reporter based in Houston who covers the environment, climate, and health. She previously worked for the Houston Landing and the San Antonio Express-News, where she reported on water issues, climate change, industrial pollution, and the intersection of environmental justice and health in Texas. She investigated the impact of landfills on Houston communities as the recipient of a 2025 MIT Environmental Journalism Solutions Fellowship. She covered Covid-19 and disenfranchised communities in Chicago as a 2020 Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow. Bruess studied creative nonfiction writing and literature at the University of Iowa, and holds a master’s degree in health, science and environment journalism from Northwestern University.