Eilís O'Neill
Reporter
About
Eilís is a reporter covering health. She focuses on health inequities, substance use and addiction, infectious diseases, mental health, and reproductive and maternal health.
Eilís came to KUOW in 2016. Before that, she worked as a freelance reporter, first in South America, and then in New York City. Her work has aired on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered, APM’s Marketplace, Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, and other programs.
Eilís' work as part of a team covering Covid-19 outbreaks and vaccine hesitation in Washington won a regional Murrow award, as did a series about children who lost parents to Covid-19. Her series about the opioid crisis on the Olympic Peninsula won several regional Society for Professional Journalists awards as well as a national Public Media Journalists Association award.
Eilís grew up in Seattle and was a high school intern at KUOW, in the program that later became RadioActive. She has a Master's in Science, Health, and Environment Reporting from Columbia University. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two children.
Location: Seattle
Languages: English, Spanish
Pronouns: she/her
Stories
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Closing a highway to save salmon
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This smoke means smaller newborns and more ER visits
When it comes to wildfires, the people of Wenatchee remember 2012. The air was so choked with smoke that summer camps were canceled and kids kept inside...
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Can Washington make a plan to save the orcas?
In late July, an orca calf died within half an hour of its birth. The mother carried the dead calf on her head for more than a week . Now whale...
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These Seattle butterflies are feeling frisky. Here's why
Jean Bradbury is an artist in northeast Seattle, and she loves swallowtail butterflies. She says she hasn't seen many swallowtail butterflies in Seattle before, but this summer she sees them every day.
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How risky is it to swim in Washington lakes?
Jackson Ludwig loves lakes. “Where I was from — Moscow, Idaho — there’s not a lot of lakes to swim. And so being here was like, ‘Oh my God, there’s all...
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Real-life Pikachu may be defeated by climate change, scientists fear
Pikas are little rabbit-like mammals that could fit in the palm of your hand. They’re often seen scurrying around rocky alpine slopes with their mouths...
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Seattle hikers: You may be trampling on tribal treaty rights
At 2 o’clock on a recent Friday afternoon, the parking lot at the Mailbox Peak trailhead was almost full. This much was to be expected: Mailbox is a...
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Supreme Court gives tribes a victory over Washington state in salmon case
A tie in the U.S. Supreme Court may cost Washington state $2 billion. The court split 4-4 Monday in a long-running court battle between tribes and the...
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Lolita the orca was taken from Puget Sound. The Lummi want her back
At Penn Cove, on the north end of Whidbey Island, gulls and other birds fly overhead, and a muddy beach leads down to the water. It’s quiet today, but,...
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3 reasons we're farming Atlantic salmon in Puget Sound
Every time I report on the Great Atlantic Salmon Escape of 2017, someone asks me the same question: Why don’t we just farm Pacific salmon species in Puget Sound?