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Max Chesnes - Environment and Climate Reporter
Max Chesnes

Environment and Climate Reporter

Hey there, I’m Max, a lifelong Floridian and the environment reporter for the Tampa Bay Times. I report on water quality, environmental justice, obscure Florida wildlife and everything in between. Prior to working for the Times, I covered environmental issues for Treasure Coast Newspapers and the USA Today network, writing about Lake Okeechobee, the Indian River Lagoon and Florida’s wondrous Everglades. I’m a 2023 journalism fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy and a recipient of several environmental writing awards. I studied both journalism and sustainability at the University of Florida (Go gators!) and I’m also licensed to fly drones.

  1. The behind-the-scenes story of the Florida state park scandal
    Dec. 20, 2024• Environment
    A beachgoer is seen as fog clears during low tide along Honeymoon Island State Park Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024 in Dunedin. Earlier this year, the state released plans to add amenities such as golf courses and pickleball courts to state parks, including Honeymoon Island.
  2. Could the deal to give protected Florida forest land to a golf company be dead?
    Dec. 13, 2024• Environment
    Eugene Kelly, Florida Native Plant Society President, walks on a trail at a Withlacoochee State Forest parcel adjacent to Cabot Citrus Farms in September in Brooksville. Plans to potentially turn the land into a golf course haven't gone forward.
  3. The possible Donald Trump connection to the Florida state parks scandal
    Dec. 10, 2024• Environment
    In this file photo, President Donald Trump waves to protesters while playing golf in 2019 at Trump Turnberry golf club in Turnberry, Scotland.
  5. Protesters gather outside Florida agency to fight oil drilling near Apalachicola River
    Dec. 9, 2024• Environment
    Xochitl Bervera, founder of the Apalachicola farm Water is Life Oysters, speaks to about 200 protesters outside the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s headquarters in Tallahassee on Monday.
  6. Florida lawmaker files bill to prohibit golf courses, hotels on state parks
    Dec. 4, 2024• Environment
    Barney Waterbury, of Gulfport, center, performs a rendition of This Land is Your Land at the entrance to Honeymoon Island State Park on Tuesday, Aug 27, 2024, where people spoke against the “Great Outdoors Initiative” proposal to add golf courses, hotels, pickleball courts, and other developments to nine Florida state parks by Ron DeSantis’ Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) during a press conference in Dunedin.
  7. Two hurricanes swamped Tampa Bay flood defenses. What can be done?
    Nov. 29, 2024• Hurricane
    An aerial drone view of Lake Shangri-La and Shangri La Dr. fifteen days after the lake spilled into backyards, streets and homes.
  8. Car strikes leading cause of death for 30 endangered Florida panthers this year
    Nov. 26, 2024• Environment
    Florida wildlife biologists confirmed the 30th Florida panther death of 2024 on Monday evening. Three out of every four panther deaths this year are from car strikes, according to state data.
  9. Springs group sues Florida environment agency over failure to adopt new rules
    Nov. 18, 2024• Environment
    Lafayette Blue Springs State Park, which includes one of the state's 33 recognized first-magnitude springs, where the water flows at greater than 100 cubic feet a second. The springs pictured here empty into the nearby Suwannee River.
  10. Head of Florida environmental agency to step down
    Nov. 7, 2024• Environment
    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in front, addresses the audience during a news conference Dec. 7, 2021, in Oldsmar. From left is Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Shawn Hamilton and State Chief Resilience Officer Wes Brooks.
  11. Floridians approve creating a right to fish and hunt in state Constitution
    Nov. 6, 2024• Environment
    A seagull flies by as people fish at the Sunshine Skyway northern fishing pier last year in St. Petersburg. On Tuesday, voters opted to approve an amendment that will enshrine the right to fish and hunt in the state constitution.
  12. Here’s what Tampa Bay should know as red tide drifts offshore
    Oct. 29, 2024• Environment
    Seaweed and debris cover the beach looking south on Oct. 2, 2024, on Madeira Beach.
  13. Crane that crashed into downtown St. Petersburg building is removed
    Oct. 23, 2024• News
    A welder works on a construction crane that was removed from the side of a downtown building on Wednesday where it crashed during Hurricane Milton in St. Petersburg.
  14. Hurricane Milton was yet another pollution nightmare for Tampa Bay
    Oct. 22, 2024• Environment
    A pedestrian checks out the conditions on Dr. Martin Luther King Street at 26th Avenue S with flooding from Lake Maggiore after Hurricane Milton on Oct. 11.
  15. Polluted water from Mosaic phosphate plant likely spilled to Tampa Bay during Milton
    Oct. 14, 2024• Environment
    Mosaic, the biggest phosphate miner in the world, has been producing fertilizer in Riverview since 1928. This staff photo from 2007 shows the facility that borders the eastern shores of Tampa Bay.
  16. In Pasco, historic flooding from repeat storms tests limit of rescue crews
    Oct. 12, 2024• Hurricane
    Travis Geiger, 49, of Pasco County Fire Rescue, responds to a radio call as his crew travels through the floodwaters of the Silver Oaks neighborhood in eastern Pasco County on Friday after Hurricane Milton dropped more than a foot of water here.
  17. This Clearwater apartment wasn’t told to evacuate. It saw 6 feet of floodwater.
    Oct. 11, 2024• Hurricane
    A low-lying community in Clearwater, The Standard at 2690 Apartments, was inundated by more than 6 feet of flooding early Thursday morning as rainfall from Hurricane Milton overwhelmed a nearby drainage system. Hundreds of residents had to be rescued as floodwaters nearly reached the second floor. Hours after the floods peaked, at least 4 feet of water remained.
  18. See photos of crane that smashed into Times’ building during Hurricane Milton
    Oct. 10, 2024• Hurricane
    A construction crane is pictured after falling over during Hurricane Milton into an office building that houses the Tampa Bay Times headquarters, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024.
  19. Photos: Hurricane Milton aftermath in Florida
    Oct. 10, 2024• Hurricane
    In the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, a building loses its front side around the Palmetto Beach neighborhood on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Tampa.
  20. See drone photos of Tropicana Field’s roof destroyed by Hurricane Milton
    Oct. 10, 2024• Hurricane
    An aerial view of Tropicana Field's shredded roof in downtown St. Petersburg in the wake of Hurricane Milton.
  21. Milton likely to hit Florida’s phosphate mining hub, worrying environmentalists
    Oct. 9, 2024• Hurricane
    Water is shown being collected and treated in a 10-acre retention pond at the old Piney Point fertilizer plant property in Palmetto in this 2022 photo.
  22. In Tampa Bay, likely back-to-back hurricanes take a toll on mental health
    Oct. 8, 2024• Hurricane
    MJ Hodges, left, and her mother Jill Rice look at the damage caused to their store from the floodwaters of Hurricane Helene on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Gulfport, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)
  23. They rode out Hurricane Helene. Now they have advice ahead of Milton: Evacuate.
    Oct. 7, 2024• Hurricane
    Crews work to clean up the tons of sand and debris pushed into Gulf Boulevard from Hurricane Helene storm surge on Sept. 28 in Madeira Beach. People who stayed in their homes despite mandatory evacuation orders urged people not to repeat their mistake with Hurricane Milton.
  24. 4 manatees rescued after getting stuck in Pinellas pond after Hurricane Helene
    Oct. 4, 2024• Environment
    Rescuers check the vital signs of a manatee that was pulled to shore after it had become stuck in a pond at Serenity Gardens Memorial Park in Largo.