
Molly Bilinski
Environment & Science reporterI cover environment and science for LehighValleyNews.com. Originally from Schuylkill County, I got my start in journalism writing obituaries for the Reading Eagle in 2014 after graduating from Kutztown University. I’ve also reported for The Press of Atlantic City, covering municipalities, crime and courts, and The Morning Call, where I was part of the audience team. In 2022, I won first place in the diversity category of the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association’s Keystone Media Awards. Contact me at mollyb@lehighvalleynews.com or 610-984-8225.
-
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America released its Allergy Capitals report this month. Allentown ranked in the Top 15 nationwide.
-
A section of Institute Drive will be closed through most of April to protect breeding amphibians. Experts said the road-closing conservation effort is not only important for the animals, but also for the region’s overall landscape and ecosystem.
-
A three-person crew from Joshua Tree Experts spent hours pruning the trees on Camelot for Children's campus. The work was donated through the company's #JTGivesBack initiative.
-
City Conservation Manager Rob Christopher and Ian Kindle, chair of Easton's Environmental Advisory Council, called on college officials to repair the deforested slope in a joint email sent Friday.
-
Spring wildfire season runs from March through May across the commonwealth. State officials are urging residents to do their part to prevent wildfires.
-
The 120-acre park in Northampton County boasts more than 100 species of trees and shrubs from around the world. "What's unique is it's in a public park setting. It's run by county park staff, not a nonprofit or not a for-profit entity,” the superintendent said.
-
Dozens of students from across Pennsylvania will descend on Saucon Valley Middle School’s gymnasium for FIRST Tech Challenge’s robotics state championship, including two teams from the Lehigh Valley.
-
Pennsylvania’s maple sugaring season is well underway. At the Monroe County Conservation District’s Singing Hemlock Sugar Shack, educators guided visitors through the history of maple syrup production.
-
Advocates and officials across Pennsylvania have signaled their support the new standards for fine particle pollution, also called soot or PM 2.5. However, federal officials don’t anticipate communities will meet the standard for almost a decade.
-
More than 200 years after the sanctuary was built, church leaders are working to make its heating and cooling more sustainable. While work is already underway, the oldest Moravian Church in North America still needs funding.
-
Environment and Science Reporter Molly Bilinski, alongside Grace Oddo, social media specialist, trekked across the Lehigh Valley to map out the best leaf-peeping spots. Fall foliage is expected to peak across the region later this week.
-
Theresa May, former prime minister of the U.K., spoke about threats to national security during a lecture Tuesday night at Lehigh University. It's part of the university's “Compelling Perspectives” lecture series.
-
Students learn to identify medicinal, edible and toxic plants. They also study how some plants have impacted history for both the good and bad, through their healing, addictive, profitable or edible properties.
-
Timothy Foley and Anthony Murphy, two Democrats, are challenging two Republican incumbents, John Inglis and Dennis Benner, in the Nov. 7 election. The township hasn't seen a tax increase in three decades.
-
The Northampton County Department of Parks and Recreation on Friday held a free program for residents about the world’s only flying mammal, bats, at Louise Moore Park, 146 Country Club Road in Lower Nazareth Township.
-
The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission on Wednesday hosted “WorkshopLV: Environment + Transportation." The almost two hour long meeting focused on brainstorming and prioritizing ways to decarbonize transportation across the region.
-
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is hosting a series of in-person and virtual meetings to collect feedback on its new environmental justice policy. The next meeting is Oct. 25.
-
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's “PA Pumpkin Palooza: Where Gourds Go Glam” contest has been extended to Oct. 23. Winners will be announced on Halloween.
-
More than 1,336 acres across the commonwealth were preserved. Here are the Lehigh Valley farms now safe from development.
-
PennEnvironment released data showing Pennsylvania ranks near the bottom when it comes to the growth of wind energy, solar power, energy storage and other renewable energy metrics over the last decade.
-
After Lafayette College cleared more than 40 trees for a $1.2 million walkway without city approval, no trees will be replanted on the hillside where they were removed, the city forester said. Instead, several dozen trees were planted across campus and in Easton.
-
Becky Bradley, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, was one of three speakers in a Friday morning webinar focused on local climate action planning.