Janek Schaller

About Me


Hello! My name’s Janek.*

I’m an LA-based journalist and radio producer with a passion for impactful environmental reporting and an ear for a good story. I’m a specialist in all things audio, but I write essays and narrative features, too.

I’ve covered all sorts of stuff. Big stories, like depopulation in the Rust Belt and the uncertain future of commercial agriculture. Messy stories, like the complicated afterlives of LA’s food waste and controversy over public transit safety measures in St. Louis. Some of my favorite stories have come from the margins, like the pressure that school bus drivers are under in the wake of the pandemic and the side effects of Toledo’s housing boom.

You can find my reporting on KCRW, WGTE, WFHB, Midstory, The Ohio Newsroom and Ocean State Public Media. I’ve also produced Morning Edition and All Things Considered for KCRW.  

I have degrees in English and Environmental Science from Brown University, and I’ll be starting my master’s in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting at NYU in the fall.

*That’s YAW-neck, btw