CI founder Susan Hess to step down. New exec director named

Matthew Latterell will lead the organization that Hess piloted into a regional leader in environmental news

Outgoing: As the founder of Columbia Insight, Susan Hess has been facing environmental challenges head-on, and with a smile, for more than a decade. Photo: Jurgen Hess

By Chuck Thompson. July 31, 2025. Most people care about the environment—you’re reading Columbia Insight, you’re one of us—but those who actually do something about it are rare.

Among the doers, Susan Hess stands out.

She’s chaired Columbia Area Transit, which provides public transportation in Hood River County, Ore. Worked with the EPA’s Columbia River Toxics Reduction Working Group. Assisted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the rebuilding on the Native American village at Celilo Falls. Regularly pitched in to dig up invasive plants from native landscapes. Served as an early board member and show host for the Columbia River Gorge’s Hispanic community-oriented Radio Tierra. Spent countless hours picking up trash from trails, parks and public spaces—Susan is probably most recognizable hiking with a garbage bag in hand.

Eyeing the sofa with suspicion and getting things done has always been her way.

“I remember Susan spending long hours planting and restoring the habitat area by Indian Creek Trail in Hood River,” former Columbia Insight editor Miko Ruhlen said this week. “She was always walking by there picking up trash and talking to people about the habitat.

“These are small areas of habitat forgotten and taken for granted by most, even those dwelling next to or near them. But they are important for the wild creatures and native plants. Susan does so many quiet, generous gestures that most people don’t notice.”

Waste not: Susan provided testimony—and firsthand knowledge—to the Hood River City Council when successfully campaigning for a ban on single-use plastic bags. Photo: Jurgen Hess

In 2013, alarmed by the closing of newspapers and the decline of unbiased environmental reporting—in particular the departure of stalwart natural resources journalist Michael Milstein from The Oregonian—Susan and her husband, Jurgen, used a significant chunk of their retirement savings to launch Columbia Insight, a coffee-table website initially called EnviroGorge that focused on environmental issues in the Columbia River Gorge.

“It was a really exciting to get it started. We attracted a bunch of people to the board who were really interested,” recalled Jurgen. “We sat them all down around the kitchen table and the momentum started to build right away.”

Public interest was immediate. The site’s purview grew to cover the entire Columbia River Basin, then the Pacific Northwest.

A board of heavyweight environmental experts was assembled and a milestone was reached in 2018 when Columbia Insight transitioned into 501(c)(3) status.

Digging in: Susan and Jurgen (second and third from left) headed the effort to restore and preserve Waucoma Park in Hood River, Ore. Courtesy photo.

Now a regional leader in environmental journalism, Columbia Insight has earned awards for reporting excellence from organizations such as the Society of Professional Journalists and the Society of Environmental Journalists. It’s partnered with national news organizations including The Associated Press, Institute for Nonprofit News and Inside Climate News.

Its stories are routinely republished by large and, no less important, small outlets around the Pacific Northwest. Its global subscriber list is filled with the email addresses of politicians in state capitals, as well as Washington, D.C., employees of government agencies and nonprofit groups and other decision-makers and doers in the environmental world. Funding through grants and private donations sets the annual budget at approximately $250,000.

As one of the originals around that kitchen table and still serving CI board member Buck Parker likes to say, “Columbia Insight punches above its weight.”

Striking the pose: Doing what she does best. Photo: Jurgen Hess

This week, after nearly 13 years, Susan will step down as publisher and executive director of Columbia Insight.

“The articles you read now on Columbia Insight come from the dedicated work of our journalists, editor and board of directors. The quality of writing and the importance of the topics is what I hoped for when I started Columbia Insight 13 years ago,” said Hess. “Not many people get to have a chance that I’ve had to start an organization on a subject they care passionately about and bring on and get to work with the team of people that make up Columbia Insight.”

Susan may be stepping down—she’ll remain with the organization as publisher emeritus—but neither she nor Columbia Insight will stop punching.

This week opens a new phase in Columbia Insight’s development, as Matthew Latterell takes over as executive director.

Matthew Latterell

“I’m honored to join Columbia Insight as executive director and help lead an organization that brings fact-based reporting and environmental insight to the Pacific Northwest,” said Latterell. “At a time when our region’s stories matter more than ever, I’m excited to help amplify voices, deepen impact and strengthen independent journalism.”

Latterell joins Columbia Insight after serving as an executive director for 10 years, working in higher education and nonprofits directing IT services for many years, co-owning and running restaurants for 12 years (including the Portland restaurant group Teote) and volunteering and serving on the boards of numerous environmental and community-based organizations, including supporting environmental, placed-based education at Sunnyside Environmental School, a public K-8 school in Portland. He earned a master’s degree in environmental studies from the University of Oregon.

Latterell will become just the second executive director in the organization’s history.

“We are very excited to start this new chapter with the leadership of Matthew Latterell, and to continue to grow the organization Susan founded,” said Columbia Insight Board Chair Shara Alexander. “Susan’s infectious enthusiasm and warmth drew me and many others to the mission of this organization. She laid the groundwork that makes it possible for us to continue the important work of telling stories about the natural and built world of the Columbia River Basin for many years to come.”

“Susan has been a mentor to so many people, including myself,” said Ruhlen. “I always told her ‘I want to be you when I grow up.’ She changed my view of what I want to do in my work life and retirement to be more about giving back and creating something of lasting value to the planet rather than taking a back seat on life.”

That’s Susan’s legacy. And a benchmark Columbia Insight will continue striving to live up to.

Taking it all in: For almost 13 years Susan, here surveying the scene at Columbia Hills Historic State Park in Washington, has overseen news from the Columbia River Basin. Photo: Jurgen Hess