Kelly House MSL ’20

Kelly House MSL ’20Bridge Michigan reporter Kelly House is the winner of the 2023 Environmental Journalist Award from the Michigan chapter of the Sierra Club. House was presented with the honor in February 2023 for her reporting in 2022.

In honoring House, the Sierra Club wrote, “in a state defined by its relationship to water, nobody produced more compelling, connect-the-dots reporting on how gaps in Michigan environmental policies left the state’s waters, land and residents at risk than Bridge Michigan’s Kelly House.”

During 2022, House documented how some Michigan water systems were crumbling from disrepair, and how fights over septic systems threatened one of the state’s most pristine lakes. She broke the story of a cancer-causing hexavalent chromium spill in the Huron River, and traveled to Isle Royale to tell the story of long-time cabin owners fighting to keep their properties. House joined the Bridge staff in 2020.

Previously, she reported for the Oregonian, in Portland, where her coverage of the environment and other topics garnered national honors and sparked state efforts to better protect Oregon’s natural resources. She has a master’s degree in environmental law from Lewis & Clark Law School and a bachelor’s in journalism from Michigan State University.

House grew up in Harrison, and now lives in Lansing. Bridge Michigan Senior Editor David Zeman described House as a gifted reporter, equally skilled at investigative reporting and explanatory journalism. “Kelly has a gift for making complex stories understandable and enjoyable,” Zeman said. “Bridge and Michigan are lucky to have her.”

House was also named Michigan Journalist of the Year by the Michigan Press Association, the third consecutive Bridge reporter to capture the award.