Jennifer Frazer was finishing up her master's degree when she first learned of a mysterious series of elk deaths in the Northwest. Intrigued by the story, she followed up on her interest in the matter a couple of years later while working as a reporter in Wyoming.After hours of interviews, research and writing, Frazer's newspaper published a two-part series about how a common and generally harmless lichen – a naturally occurring mixture of algae and fungus – killed 500 elk on the Red Rim near Cheyenne.
Frazer, 29, the granddaughter of Robert Lee and Ada White of Tolu, has deep roots in Crittenden County although she's never lived here. A journalist educated at Cornell and MIT, she now resides in Boulder, Colo., and works as a science writer for the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research which operates the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
The story she wrote two years ago was recently recognized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which honored her with a first-place award for newspapers under 100,000 circulation. The two articles were published after about 500 elk has mysteriously died or had to be put down by game wardens. Biologists and wildlife officials were perplexed by the deaths and struggled for answers before they realized it was a poisonous lichen that commonly forms on the surface of the earth.
READ THE ARTICLES ONLINE: http://wyomingnews.com/elk_stories/
Frazer's piece described the steps by which researchers determined that the tumbleweed lichen was the culprit. Through research and interviews show explained how range conditions and weather resulted in a lack of forage for the elk. They turned to eating lichens – about the only thing left on the snow-covered Red Rim – with fatal consequences.
Frazer learned about the elk issue two years before she wrote the series.
"When I was still a graduate student at MIT, I read an article about it as it was happening on CNN. I was fascinated because I like studying interesting creatures like mushrooms, lichens, and moss. I thought that if I ever lived in Wyoming, I'd love to do a story about it," she said. "It took me two more years to get around to doing it because working at a small-town newspaper was so hectic."
The reporting position on the health and environment beat for the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle was her first after graduating from college, save a stint as an intern with the Louisville Courier-Journal. With a master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she's very suited for her current position with Boulder atmospheric research corporation.
Frazer says she always enjoys trips to Crittenden County to visit her grandparents and has planned a July visit this year so she can pick blackberries on the family farm. She is also the granddaughter of the late Robert "Bob" and Dorothy Frazer of Marion.
