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Zachary T. Sampson - Environment Reporter
Zachary T. Sampson

Environment Reporter

I grew up in Rhode Island, on a bay similar to Tampa's. I'm fascinated by where we're from — how places shape us and we shape them. In Florida, our life turns on nature, from the gulf to rivers and flatwoods and swamps. I want my coverage to be just as expansive. Do you have a place to show me or a story to tell? Reach out. I'm friendlier than my face suggests. We can also talk about baseball, but it might be hard to get me to stop.

  1. Red Tide expected to stay around Pinellas coast this weekend
    Jul. 30• Environment
    Black skimmers fly over the water while looking for food in June by Indian Shores.
  2. Red Tide still hanging around Pinellas coast after ‘brief improvements’
    Jul. 28• Environment
    A fish kill from Red Tide dries on the shore of Pass-a-Grille on Saturday.
  3. Pinellas warns beachgoers of ‘stronger Red Tide impacts’ this weekend
    Jul. 23• Environment
    A sign warns about Red Tide at Indian Rocks Beach on Thursday.
  5. Red Tide’s return raises fears about the health of Tampa Bay
    Jul. 23• Environment
    Dead fish fill the end of a canal along Snell Isle on July 16 in St. Petersburg.
  6. With Tampa Bay in grip of Red Tide, shrimpers turn their nets toward death
    Jul. 22• Environment
    Tyler Tucker, left, works with his father, Toliver Tucker, to release nets full of dead fish onto the deck of the shrimp boat, Southbound, while Toliver's wife, Jessica Tucker, navigates the Intracoastal Waterway off Treasure Island on Thursday.
  7. Red Tide may recede in Tampa Bay but worsen off Pinellas beaches
    Jul. 20• Environment
    Workers from the city of St. Petersburg use a turbidity boom to corral dead fish as they float near the St. Petersburg Municipal Marina on July 16.
  8. Environmentalists urge DeSantis to declare Red Tide emergency
    Jul. 19• Environment
    Dead fish fill the end of a canal July 16 near the Sell Isle Marina in St. Petersburg. Red Tide continues to poison hundreds of tons of marine life in Tampa Bay and in the gulf.
  9. Sunny day flooding could get a lot worse in St. Petersburg, study shows
    Jul. 19• Environment
    A driver speeds through a flooded street along Venetian Boulevard NE in the Shore Acres area of St. Petersburg in December 2018. Sunny day flooding could go from an occasional nuisance to a regular problem in the city, according to a new study. It projects that St. Petersburg might see inundation at high tide more than 60 times a year in the coming decades.
  10. Tampa Bay has Red Tide questions. Here are some answers.
    Jul. 17• Environment
    St. Petersburg city employees clean up a fish kill in Coffeepot Bayou as the Red Tide crisis continues in Tampa Bay.
  11. Amid Red Tide, Tampa Bay’s snook, redfish and trout fishing restricted again
    Jul. 16• Environment
    A pile of dead fish gathered on the bow of a boat June 17 as crews use hand nets in the intracoastal waters between Clearwater and Dunedin to remove dead fish poisoned by Red Tide.
  12. Red Tide costs swell while St. Petersburg mayor, Gov. DeSantis bicker
    Jul. 15• Environment
    City employees work together to remove a dead goliath grouper from the waters at Crisp Park Wednesday in St. Petersburg.
  13. No Red Tide relief in sight as dead fish overwhelm St. Petersburg
    Jul. 13• Environment
    Dead fish are visible in the water at North Shore Park on Friday in St. Petersburg. The Sunshine City has become the epicenter of Tampa Bay's ongoing Red Tide crisis, and no one can say when it will get better.
  14. Red Tide is killing fish. Are Tampa Bay’s birds in danger?
    Jun. 28• Environment
    Black skimmer chicks scurry among several adult birds inside a colony at Indian Shores.
  15. ‘This is not 2018,’ Gov. DeSantis says of Red Tide in Pinellas
    Jun. 17• The Buzz on Florida Politics
    Salvatore Cuccia, 21, of Clearwater, waits as a front loader picks up a bag of dead fish Thursday in Dunedin. Pinellas County had small boats retrieving dead fish in Dunedin and around Clearwater Harbor Thursday. The fish kill is attributed to the recent Red Tide bloom.
  16. Could Tampa Bay’s Red Tide be connected to Piney Point disaster?
    Jun. 13• Environment
    Dead fish lie on the sand at Indian Shores on Thursday.
  17. More Red Tide detected as Pinellas issues health warning
    Jun. 11• Environment
    Dead fish lie on the sand at Indian Shores Beach in St. Petersburg on Thursday.
  18. Tampa Bay Times reporters win the newsroom’s 13th Pulitzer Prize
    Jun. 11• Investigations
    Paul Tash, Chairman and CEO of the Times Publishing Company, left, Tampa Bay Times Executive Editor Mark Katches, reporters Kathleen McGrory and Neil Bedi, and former Deputy Editor of Investigations Adam Playford watch as McGrory and Bedi are announced as the winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting on Friday, June 11, 2021, for their groundbreaking series about a Pasco County law enforcement initiative that harassed local residents. This is the 13th Pulitzer Prize awarded to the Times.
  19. Red Tide reported off Pinellas beaches; shellfish farming closed again
    Jun. 9• Environment
    A dead fish is seen on the beach at Indian Shores after reports that Red Tide was found in water samples taken along the Pinellas County coast, according to state officials.
  20. Tampa Bay shellfish farmers can resume harvesting at sunrise after Red Tide scare
    Jun. 5• Environment
    Owner Brian Rosegger pulls himself and his boat closer to a line of floating bags to harvest oysters at the Lost Coast Oyster Company farm in Tampa Bay in August 2020.
  21. Hillsborough health officials send Red Tide warning for Tampa Bay
    Jun. 3• Environment
    Port Manatee, as seen from Piney Point Road, near where polluted water was discharged earlier this spring.
  22. Florida’s top environmental official, Noah Valenstein, is resigning
    May 27• The Buzz on Florida Politics
    Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Noah Valenstein will step down as the state's top environmental official on June 4.
  23. Contamination from Piney Point has diluted in Tampa Bay, researchers say
    May 24• Environment
    Seasonal algae floats in the water off Port Manatee last month.
  24. So you want to compost, Tampa Bay?
    May 20• Business
    Kali Rabaut is a founder of Suncoast Compost. [Courtesy of Kali Rabaut]