Ashley Westerman
Ashley Westerman is a producer who occasionally directs the show. Since joining the staff in June 2015, she has produced a variety of stories including a coal mine closing near her hometown, the 2016 Republican National Convention, and the Rohingya refugee crisis in southern Bangladesh. She is also an occasional reporter for Morning Edition, and NPR.org, where she has contributed reports on both domestic and international news.
Ashley was a summer intern in 2011 with Morning Edition and pitched a story on her very first day. She went on to work as a reporter and host for member station 89.3 WRKF in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she earned awards covering everything from healthcare to jambalaya.
Ashley is an East-West Center 2018 Jefferson Fellow and a two-time reporting fellow with the International Center for Journalists. Through ICFJ, she has covered labor issues in her home country of the Philippines for NPR and health care in Appalachia for Voice of America.
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Tensions between pro-independence supporters and government authorities in Indonesia's Papua and West Papua provinces have continued into a second week. The government has shut down Internet access.
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"Environmental personhood" was once considered a fringe issue, but several countries have granted rivers within their borders legal person status. Bangladesh became the latest in July. -
American attitudes toward space exploration and NASA's priorities have changed ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. -
The record number headlined the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees' annual "Global Trends" report published Wednesday, just a day before World Refugee Day. -
Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese citizen, was recently released from Iran's notorious Evin Prison, where he served nearly four years. -
Young adult author Randy Ribay says it's tough having "a dual identity" in a world "where people want you to be one thing." His new novel explores the Philippine government's deadly war on drugs.
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In a special series, Morning Edition discovers the experiences of people affected by the deepening tensions between the world's two largest economies.
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The Laos government and conservationists estimate there are only about 800 elephants left in all of Laos, just half of them living in the wild. -
China has taken dramatic steps to fight climate change, including shutting major coal power plants. But now it plans to build hundreds of coal plants abroad.
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The more than 250-mile, $6 billion railway is set to cut through the northern part of Laos and is primarily financed and built by the Chinese. So far, the project has mostly employed Chinese workers.
