BEST MIAMI HERALD WRITER

A Miami native, Morgan fell into journalism as a reporter/photographer for his Richmond Heights junior-high newspaper. He fell further in when he was paid to write for his college paper. "I needed the money," he recalls. "Journalism also seemed like interesting work you could do without wearing a tie." An endangered combination of newsman and craftsman (with a childhood spent fishing, diving, and generally enjoying South Florida's various ecosystems), the seventeen-year Herald veteran consistently finds ways to manipulate the lexicon and elicit facts in order to turn environmental issues, normally as dull as dirt, into stories worth digging for. With bird's-eye clarity, he explains environmental affairs clearly and credibly. "On this beat, you know that most of what you write matters deeply to somebody," he says. "Figuring out what really counts in the sea of information is the biggest daily challenge."