Lana Straub
journalist, Photographer, and Radio Producer in Stanton, Texas
Lana Straub
journalist, Photographer, and Radio Producer in Stanton, Texas
Lana Straub of Stanton, TX is a freelance journalist living in the middle of West Texas, which at the moment is oil boom country. She focuses her efforts on energy-related issues of the area. Living in the desert southwest, she also focuses on environmental issues, including water issues with particular interest in groundwater conservation and contamination. She is trained Paralegal with a bachelor's degree in political science, emphasis in legal assistant studies from Texas A&M University-Commerce. She is currently a graduate student at the University of Oklahoma School of Law seeking her masters in legal studies in oil, gas, and energy law.
She is a member of several professional journalism organizations, including SEJ, IRE, SPJ, AIR, NASW, JAWS and SABEW. She has written for publications for the National Ground Water Association, WATR News, Earth Island Journal, and DownstreamToday. She is a radio producer for KXWT, West Texas Public Radio and has had her work air on The Texas Standard, Fronteras, and the Allegheny Front. Lana was recently awarded the 2015 David Stolberg Meritorious Service Award from the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Lana spent ten years in the legal profession before turning to journalism in 2002. She was honored in 2002 with a first place contest win for one of her short stories and 2005 with an Honorable Mention from MarCom Creative Awards for one of her magazine articles. Lana has had a bi-monthly column, All in the Family, in the Water Well Journal since 2003. She was recently asked to provide exclusive online content for the WWJ Blog. She has had several short stories published in anthologies and magazines. She has also contributed to several science manuscripts published by ABC-CLIO Publishing. In 2014 she was honored to become a Fellow of the Institute of Journalism & Natural Resources and attended their Shale Country Institute. In November 2015, she was chosen as a fellow to The Covering Water in a Changing World specialized reporting institute, funded by the Robert R. McCormick Foundation and in conjunction with the UF School of Natural Resources and Environment.
Lana is also a singer/songwriter with the duo Von Straub. She holds a membership in BMI, the Paralegal Division of the State Bar of Texas, and the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section, State Bar of Texas. She is a Texas Master Naturalist and a 2nd-degree black belt taekwondo instructor at Midland Taekwondo Training Center.