Michael Hawthorne

Michael Hawthorne is a Pulitzer-finalist investigative reporter who focuses on the environment and public health for the Chicago Tribune. A downstate Illinois native, Hawthorne joined the Tribune in 2004 after covering the environment and state government in Ohio, Illinois and Florida.

University of Toronto biologist Chelsea Rochman, center, and Meredith Omer, left, collect northern pearl dace to be measured for research at the Experimental Lakes Area, in western Ontario on Oct. 1, 2025. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

As microplastics pollute every corner of the Great Lakes, scientists push governments to combat threat

August 23, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Plastics just keep getting smaller, and potentially more harmful to humans, fish and wildlife. Even the most remote areas of the Great Lakes aren’t spared.

Francis Nuamah, left to right, Jessie Wilson and Chelsea Rochman collect samples of microplastics along the shoreline, Oct. 2, 2025, at the Experimental Lakes Area, a research station in northwestern Ontario, Canada. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Great waste in the Great Lakes: How plastic pollution is clogging our waters

August 24, 2026 at 10:57 a.m.

More than 40 million depend on the Great Lakes for drinking water. Yet plastic pollution in the lake water isn’t regulated, and manufacturers are moving to dramatically increase the amount...

Emily Kowalski, the associate director at Environment Illinois, looks over a glass container of industrial plastic pellets known as nurdles found along the Wild Mile in the North Branch of the Chicago River, on Aug. 10, 2026. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois law is the first in the Great Lakes region to designate industrial plastic pellets as pollution

August 11, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Companies that manufacture, use or transport nurdles must report spills and will be required to develop plans to limit them in storm runoff.

Research coordinator Roxanne Sawhill measures the waist of Jamie Headley, 6, of Urbana, during an Illinois Kids Development Study (IKIDS) microplastics test at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on June 18, 2026. Scientists at the Beckman Institute have been tracking levels of plastic-softening phthalates in the blood of children since before they were born up until age 11. (Josh Boland/Chicago Tribune)

Microplastics linger inside people and animals, multiple studies show. But regulation is still far off.

June 22, 2026 at 6:19 p.m.

Scientists are exploring whether microplastics contribute to or cause Parkinson’s disease, impaired fertility, premature births, certain cancers and developmental problems in children.

Sherri Mason, investigadora de la Universidad Gannon, recoge gránulos de plástico, trozos apenas más grandes que un grano de arroz, que cubren el suelo en el lugar donde son transferidos de vagones de tren a camiones para ser entregados a fabricantes locales, el 1 de mayo de 2026, en Erie, Pensilvania. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Mientras los plásticos obstruyen los Grandes Lagos, la industria presiona para producir más y minimiza los peligros, según revela un análisis del Tribune

June 4, 2026 at 7:00 p.m.

Según un análisis realizado por el Chicago Tribune de miles de documentos gubernamentales, científicos e internos del sector, cuando se les ha confrontado por su contaminación, los directivos de la...

Sherri Mason, a Gannon University researcher, picks up plastic pellets, pieces barely larger than a grain of rice, that litter the ground where they are transferred from rail cars to trucks and delivered to local manufacturers on May 1, 2026, in Erie, Pennsylvania. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

As plastics clog the Great Lakes, industry presses to make more and downplays dangers, Tribune analysis finds

May 31, 2026 at 12:51 p.m.

More than 8 billion tons of plastic waste clog the planet. If stacked within Chicago’s Millennium Park, plastic dumped into the environment since the middle of the last century would...

State Sen. Sara Feigenholtz and Paul Kendrick, a candidate for the Illinois House 12th District, cheer as they arrive to a watch party on March 17, 2026, at El Jardin in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. (Talia Sprague/for the Chicago Tribune)

Illinois primaries set stage for November general election amid upsets and lawmakers keeping safe seats

March 20, 2026 at 1:21 p.m.

Two primary challengers declared victory against veteran incumbent Illinois lawmakers in the race for the nomination to their House seats Tuesday night.

Discarded lead pipe that was removed from a home in the 10100 block of South Green Street is seen on May 2, 2024. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

President Donald Trump promises clean water. His proposed budget guts needed protections.

July 6, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Illinois’ share of clean water grants to states would dip to $11 million next year, compared with $105.5 million this year.

Kincaid Generation coal-fired power station in Pawnee, Illinois, on May 8, 2025. In an attempt to revive the nation’s dwindling coal industry, President Donald Trump threw a lifeline to a few dozen energy companies, including Vistra's Kincaid, encouraging them to apply for exemptions from the latest federal limits on soot, mercury and other toxic air pollution. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Illinois coal plants get Trump exemptions from Biden-era rule limiting mercury, other toxic air pollution

May 25, 2025 at 7:05 p.m.

If the Illinois Climate and Equitable Jobs Act survives Trump’s promised legal challenge, Vistra and NRG plants would need to shut down by 2030.

Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago on Nov. 8, 2024. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Trump organization to pay $4.8M to settle fish-kill lawsuit against its Chicago high-rise

May 22, 2025 at 10:15 p.m.

Eight months after a Cook County judge found Trump Tower repeatedly violated clean water laws, the president's business operators agreed Thursday to pay $4.8 million to settle lawsuits alleging the...

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