Emily Ariel Byrski

A southwest Florida native, I moved to New York City in 2013 to attend New York University. Throughout my time in school and following my graduation in 2017, I worked extensively in marketing, social media, and content creation. I also grew my blog, Empire Style of Mind, to an audience of over 100,000 people across channels and worked with dozens of brands as an influencer.

I continued freelance work for several years in New York before leaving in 2019 to work remotely as a digital nomad, traveling full-time around the globe. I have visited 50 countries to date and am incredibly grateful for my experiences exploring new places, peoples, and cultures.

Today, I am pivoting my career from marketing to journalism.

As a graduate student at Columbia University’s School of Journalism, the focus of my current reporting is the sustainability of the tourism industry, investigating such stories as the social implications of frequent flier levies and the long-term impacts on a small Florida community in the wake of Hurricane Ian in 2022. I am also the president of the Climate Reporter’s Network, an affiliate organization that brings together future climate reporters for events and roundtables with working editors and reporters. This has been a great opportunity to develop ideas and sources, and to learn valuable skills including, but not limited to, video editing, breaking news reporting, filing FOIA requests, storytelling structures, and a discernment of newsworthiness. 

Through both my travels and my upbringing in southwest Florida, I have seen firsthand the effects of climate change occur around the world. I am passionate about environmentalism and remain frustrated but hopeful about the future of climate response. I aim to be amongst the reporters bringing the issue into every modern news conversation.