Christiana Freitag

Christiana Freitag is an environment reporting intern and former freelancer at the Tribune. She holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University, where she focused on health, environment, and science reporting and data journalism. Her work has appeared in Inside Climate News, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and PBS.

Christianah Akinsanmi, left, along with Southeast Side residents and supporters, gather near the Quantum Shore Chicago construction site, Jan. 28, 2026, to demand a referendum question about the campus be added back onto the March primary ballot despite being rejected by the Board of Elections. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

South Side residents protest rejection of Quantum Shore nonbinding referendum

January 28, 2026 at 4:39 p.m.

Board of Elections says it rejected the Quantum Shore question because it contained too many propositions.

People walk the Lakefront Trail along Lake Michigan while ice forms in Monroe Harbor on Jan. 22, 2026, as frigid weather descends on Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Great Lakes ice resurges this winter, but unpredictable shifts threaten businesses and ecosystem

January 25, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Those whose livelihoods depend on ice and the fish and microorganisms in the lakes are experiencing havoc wrought by fluctuations fueled by climate change.

A frost crack on a tree in Mount Prospect in February 2014. Frost cracks can sometimes appear in a tree’s trunk if there is a sudden cold snap to below 15 degrees or a big temperature difference between day and night in winter, according to experts at the Morton Arboretum. (The Morton Arboretum)

Will trees ‘explode’ during this cold snap? Illinois arborists weigh in.

January 24, 2026 at 6:34 p.m.

Exploding trees? Extreme cold snaps in Chicago can cause trees to crack and burst from freezing stress. Tree experts explain the science behind the shocking sounds.

Kurt Bushing, an employee of the Fox Lake Public Works Department, uses a snowblower to clear snow near the community ice rink at Lakefront Park, Jan. 20, 2026. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

A collapsing polar vortex brings Arctic blast to Chicago area. How long will it last?

January 22, 2026 at 12:45 p.m.

Starting Thursday, dangerously frigid air from Siberia and the North Pole is forecast to plunge the Great Lakes region into subzero territory for multiple days.

The U.S. EPA's cleanup efforts after a toxic asphalt spill in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, shown here looking east from Harlem Avenue on Jan. 13, 2026, has prompted criticism from state and local officials and environmental advocates. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Nearly a year after asphalt spill in Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, EPA criticized for leaving cleanup unfinished

January 14, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Officials and environmentalists say there is still asphalt in the waterway and along the shore from the February spill in Bedford Park and Forest View.

Kincaid Generation coal-fired power station in Pawnee, Illinois, on May 8, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Environmentalists push back against US EPA plan to extend coal plant closings

January 9, 2026 at 4:57 p.m.

The proposal would allow 11 leaking coal ash sites, including three in Illinois and one in Indiana, to remain operating until 2031.

The primary east pond coal ash impoundment at the defunct Wood River Power Station, located near the confluence of the Mississippi and Wood rivers in East Alton, on Dec. 11, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Plans to close dozens of toxic coal ash ponds in Illinois stuck in backlog

December 28, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Incomplete or delayed permit proposals and IEPA budget cuts are stalling approvals, prolonging Illinois communities’ exposure to hazardous sludge.

Neal Nuber of South Beloit watches the chemical fire at the Chemtool, Inc., factory in Rockton, Illinois, from the J. Norman Jensen Forest Preserve in South Beloit, Illinois, on June 14, 2021. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois among states with most cuts to environmental agencies, report shows

December 18, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

In the past 15 years, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has faced major budget cuts and a 21% decline in staffing.

Prep work for construction begins at the Quantum Shore Chicago campus on the site of the former U.S. Steel South Works on Nov. 21, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Southeast Side residents push for benefits as Chicago quantum campus moves forward

December 14, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Activists want a meet with the developer and state representatives to secure a community benefits agreement.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul at a recent news conference at the State of Illinois building on Sept. 29, 2025. Raoul sued Monsanto in 2022 over its denial of the health and environmental harms of the hazardous synthetic chemical, known as polychlorinated biphenyls. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois settles suit against Monsanto for $120 million for PCBs contamination

December 2, 2025 at 9:47 p.m.

The lawsuit alleged Monsanto knowingly concealed the dangers of the synthetic chemical and continued to produce and distribute it for decades.

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