Laura Orlando is a member of the Rural America In These Times Board of Editors. She is a civil engineer and teaches in the environmental health department at the Boston University School of Public Health. Laura grew up on a farm near Benton Harbor, Michigan. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Viewpoint
Our Freshwater Emergency Is Worse Than You Think
How blue state governors can address a sprawling national water crisis.
Laura Orlando
Rural America
Don’t Be Fooled by the Limelight on Lifestyle as a Cancer Risk
Laura Orlando
Culture
Heart of Whiteness: The Stories Western Philanthropists Tell Themselves
Why do Western efforts to help the environment and Africa so often fail?
Laura Orlando
Rural America
It’s Time to Talk (Again) about Sewage Sludge on Farmland
Laura Orlando
Feature
The Rio Olympics Are a Reflection of Our Shared Global Crisis
The global tribe will sink or swim together. There is no place to go to escape the pollution and violence.
Laura Orlando
Feature
Why Your Water Could Be Worse Than Flint’s
Our nation's water crisis requires radical solutions.
Laura Orlando
Rural America
Factory Farm Runoff Is Polluting Lake Erie, But CAFO Sewers Are Not the Answer
Laura Orlando
Rural America
The Latest From Our Editor in Greece
Laura Orlando
Rural America
Rural America Goes to Greece
Laura Orlando
Rural America
The Legacy of Slavery: What Inequality and Industrial Hog Operations Have in Common
Laura Orlando
Culture
Toilet Ecology
The Big Necessity argues toilets and sewers are the key to improved sanitation. But reality is more complex - and toxic
Laura Orlando
Announcing In These Times’ New Agreement with the National Writers Union
Freelance contributors are essential to the quality and success of In These Times and independent media, and this agreement is one way to demonstrate their value to our publication and our commitment to transparency.
For more information about the National Writers Union, visit nwu.org.
Read the full agreement, which reaffirms a floor for the rates of our freelance editorial content, as well as our current rates (which are higher) and submissions guidelines below.