Valerie Kipnis was born in the former Soviet Union and raised in Brooklyn. She worked at Vice News before falling hard for radio at This American Life. She pitched us on a story about the human impacts of a human-caused ecological crisis: the disappearance of the Aral Sea. Slowly shrinking over decades, what was once the fourth largest lake in the world has now largely dried up — with economic and public health consequences still playing out today.

Valerie reported from the autonomous region of Karakalpakstan, located in northwestern Uzbekistan.

Follow her journey in photos and behind the scenes via our blog and Instagram — plus view the full “The Shrinking Aral Sea” special series over at NPR.

• “Central Asia’s Ticking Time Bomb: Water” — NPR.org, 10/30/2024

• “Taliban's new canal threatens Central Asian countries relying on Amu Darya for water” — Morning Edition, 10/29/2024

• “The story of a village in Kazakhstan that sits on the Aral Sea's shrinking shores” — All Things Considered, 10/28/2024

• “One of the world's largest inland lakes has dried up from Soviet-era irrigation plans” — Weekend Edition Saturday, 10/26/2024

• “When Water Turns To Sand” — Up First, 9/22/2024

• “People in Kazakhstan are gripped by the country's first live-streamed trial” — Morning Edition, 5/13/2024