Adriana Martinez-Smiley
Environment & Indigenous Affairs ReporterExpertise: Environment, energy, climate change, Indigenous affairs, PFAS, water management and conservation
Email: amartinez-smiley@wyso.org
Cell phone: 937-342-2905
Adriana Martinez-Smiley (she/they) is the Environment and Indigenous Affairs Reporter for WYSO.
Adriana's in-depth reporting at WYSO ranges from an exploration of the hydrogen economy, to a deep dive into the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and more. Their investigation into battery burning in Piqua earned first place for investigative reporting from the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists and second place from the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors.
She also coordinates with The Ohio Newsroom and other environment reporters around Ohio to expand the impact of their reporting.
They grew up in Hamilton, Ohio, and graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism in June 2023.
Before joining WYSO, her work has been featured in New Hampshire Public Radio, WBEZ Chicago and Chicago PBS (WTTW).
Why trust us
WYSO's independent, nonprofit news team has decades of experience writing and reporting. Our first responsibility is to be a trusted source of news for the Miami Valley and southwest Ohio. There is no connection between our funding and editorial decisions.
Our mission is to produce trustworthy journalism that is fact-based, researched, transparent, intellectually curious, pushes beyond the obvious answers, local, fair, and, when it’s called for, embraces the search for solutions. We believe an educated citizenry is essential to the functioning of our democracy.
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New York-based real estate firm Thor Equities filed the federal lawsuit June 19, alleging Urbana officials violated state and local laws when it changed regulations preventing data center developments. -
The Ohio Chamber is advocating for continued tax breaks for data centers, saying it has new research showing central Ohio and the Miami Valley have enough water to sustain data center growth through 2030. -
The event at the state park in Xenia fueled conversations between curious Ohio residents and citizens from two of the three federally recognized Shawnee tribal nations. -
The collaboration between University of Cincinnati students and Middletown residents began in 2021. Since then, students completed research ranging from air monitoring to soil and water sampling. -
After the clean up, Reddy Electric plans to use the site and scale to add 250 new jobs. -
American Indian-led nonprofit Caesar’s Ford Theatre will premiere its film “Stomping Freedom” at the Little Art Theatre in Yellow Springs on May 27. The film was funded in part by the America 250-Ohio Commission to recognize America’s 250th anniversary. -
Cleveland-Cliffs's Middletown steel mill (formerly AK Steel) was set to be transformed using over $500 million in Inflation Reduction Act funds. But its fossil-fuel burning future could instead be refurbished. -
The 8(a) Business Development Program housed under the Small Business Administration helps American Indian and Alaska Native tribal firms win defense contracts. Some of those contracts support mission-critical services at Ohio's Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. -
Four of the five Miami Conservancy District dams were controlling floodwaters during the storm event. -
The 1,900-acre solar project dubbed Sloopy Solar can produce up to 180 megawatts of power at once. A Thursday public hearing on the project revealed how the idea of the project is currently landing in the community.
