When Marissa Heffernan took a job covering recycling, friends said it seemed like the perfect fit - technical, nerdy and environmentally focused. At Resource Recycling, she dove into recycling policy in particular, moderating panels, writing in-depth stories and starting a monthly newsletter that reached over 11,000 readers in a year.
Heffernan graduated from the University of Arizona with a BA in Journalism with honors and environmental studies and French minors. While in Arizona, she worked for the Arizona Daily Star in several capacities and simultaneously helped run the student newspaper as managing editor.
After moving to the Pacific Northwest, Heffernan was a general assignment reporter with the Daily News in Longview, Wa. on the education, port and environment beats from 2019 to 2022. There, she won numerous awards, helped unionize the newsroom and delved deep into vital local topics.
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While working at Resource Recycling, Heffernan also served as a stringer for the Associated Press, reporting primary and election data for Clark County since 2022.
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In addition, she is involved in her local community tool library, serving on the Green Lents board as Record Keeper, as a steward to the Malden Court Community Orchard and as a volunteer tool librarian.
