Murphy Woodhouse
Mountain West News Bureau Boise ReporterExpertise: Audio production, field reporting, photography, wildfire policy
Education: University of Montana + University of Arizona
Highlights
- I’m fluent in Spanish and love putting Spanish on the air
- I’m an all-conditions bike commuter and e-bike evangelist – EVERY day is a good day to ride
- I’ve seen two total solar eclipses, and intend to see many more before I die
Experience
I joined Boise State Public Radio and the Mountain West News Bureau (MWNB) in April 2023 after about a decade working as a print and radio reporter on both sides of the Arizona-Sonora border. Most recently I was based in the Sonoran capital Hermosillo working for the Phoenix NPR affiliate KJZZ. At the MWNB, I’ve tried to leverage my past experience as a wildland firefighter to provide listeners with informed coverage of a number of key issues in wildland fire. I’m especially interested in efforts to improve the famously challenging and dangerous working conditions on the fireline.
I’ve been a news photographer for a number of years now, but have more recently decided to really hone my skills. As a part of that, I try to have a camera on me whenever I’m out and about. I love sharing images that capture something essential about wherever I’m shooting, like young folks flinging themselves off the Greenbelt truss bridge last summer or car lights stretching along Highway 28 as meteors streak overhead in the lonely Lemhi Valley.
Email: Trail tips? Story tips? Know a secret the public ought to hear? Drop me a line!
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Statehouses across the West are considering reforms to respond to the homeowners insurance crisis. While some are hitting headwinds, concern about the issue isn’t going away. -
Using a massive data set detailing some 70 million policies, researchers have found that “credit scores impact homeowners insurance premiums as much as disaster risk.” -
Using new data, a team of scientists has assembled one of the first comprehensive analyses of emissions from homes burned in wildfires. What they found is that such pollution is serious, and in some cases can exceed emissions from all other human sources. -
The Forest Service wants more roads to fight fires, but research shows that roads lead to more firesThe Trump administration is trying to repeal the Roadless Rule, which prohibits new road construction in large swaths of national forests. They say this will aid fire response, but new research is calling that into question. -
The team, led by a Boise State University civil engineering researcher, looked at half a million wildfire starts, and hundreds of attributes about them. Beyond the obvious weather variables like wind speed, temperature and humidity, they also considered human factors like density of development. -
The 11 senators and representatives - all Democrats - said that the consolidation of four Department of Interior agencies’ wildfire programs is being done “without adequate analysis, transparency, or planning to prevent disruption during what is expected to be a significant fire season or to safeguard long-term wildfire preparedness.” -
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At less than 140,000 square miles, snow cover across the region was the lowest ever recorded on February 1 in the satellite record, which goes back to 2001. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) call it the “worst snowpack on record.” -
Think of the phrase 'The Wildfire Crisis.' What comes to mind? Is it walls of flame marching through pine forests, laying siege to mountain towns? Recent research highlights a different and under-appreciated risk: fast fires racing through dry grass and brush – threatening neighborhoods. -
The idea of a linear fuel break, or LFB, is pretty straightforward: by clearing grass or other fuel along fire-prone roads, or planting fire-resistant vegetation, you can slow the spread of wildfire. New research suggests they may save more money than they cost to install and maintain.
