Meet Kara Holsopple: Storyteller, Advocate, and Your Trail Guide to Environmental Insight @ The Fall 2025 Confluence
When we say our Fall Confluence is about connecting with the places that matter most, we’re not just talking about the forests or streams—we’re thinking of Kara Holsopple, our inspiring keynote speaker. As the host and production director of The Allegheny Front, Kara brings environmental stories to life, whether she’s talking air quality, watershed health, or how biodiversity shapes our daily lives.
Kara is a lifelong Western Pennsylvania resident—and that local perspective comes through in every story she tells. With a master’s in professional writing from Chatham University, she started in radio as a volunteer with Pittsburgh Indymedia’s Rustbelt Radio and has since built a reputation for leading stories that surprise, inform, and resonate. Her reporting has appeared on Living on Earth, Inside Appalachia, and NPR’s Here & Now—and we couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome her to our trailside gathering.
Her work with The Allegheny Front is award-winning. Kara earned a Golden Quill for a well-crafted feature on Pittsburgh’s “DumpBusters,” and helped the Front win a Murrow award for the “East Palestine: One Year Later” series, a piece of powerful regional storytelling.  Beyond awards, her stories help us see the forest—and our water—through a clearer lens.
At the Confluence, Kara will bring that same curiosity and connection to the trail. Expect her to guide us through conversations that connect species, soil, and storytelling. Whether we’re detecting macroinvertebrates in the stream or pointing trees with iNaturalist, she will show us how powerful a narrative rooted in place can be.
We’re excited to learn from—and be inspired by—a journalist who sees environmental issues with both care and clarity. Join us on September 27 at Laurelville Retreat Center to walk, listen, reflect—and discover how the stories we tell can lead to stronger water stewardship.
👉 RSVP and details here:
