American Motorcyclist | Saddlebags and Paperbacks

Late last year, I organized and led a ride to raise awareness about stuttering. I called it Nina's Ride after Nina G, a comedian and author who stutters. I saw her act at a comedy club and bought her memoir after the show. American Motorcyclist explains why her story touched me.  

VCN | Motorcycle club spreads stuttering awareness through Nina’s Ride

The article "Motorcycle club spreads stuttering awareness through Nina’s Ride" in Valley Community Newspapers details a motorcycle ride I organized and led to distribute books to Little Free Libraries in the Sacramento area in celebration of International Stuttering Awareness Day.

Proud Stutter | podcast interview

Check out my conversation on Instagram with Nina G and Maya Chupkov of PROUD Stutter podcast about the upcoming Nina's Ride.

USFS R9: Excellence in Digital Media award

Today I accepted the Excellence in Digital Media award for the Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Region. What an incredible honor!

Rundberg Neighbors Rally to Restore Vandalized Community Garden

This is what happens when a community comes together.

"Rundberg Neighbors Rally to Restore Vandalized Community Garden" by Shelby Knowles

Photo by ShelbyKnowles

'Former journalism student shares his journey'

After being gone for 12 years, I returned to my journalism alama mater, San Antonio College, to share 11 takeaways from my journalism career and travel experiences. Here's an except from Elena Longoria's "Former journalism student shares his journey."

Students should get outside their comfort zones to learn, grow and gain confidence, a newspaper journalist and former Ranger reporter said Feb. 3 at this college. 

Joseph de Leon spoke to about 40 Ranger reporters, editors, photographers and advisers during the student newspaper’s regular staff meeting in room 209 of Loftin Student Center.

Read a summary of my journalism and travel presentation on Welcome to Where We're Going.



Joseph M. de Leon, former Ranger reporter and digital nomad, presents journalism advice and describes his upcoming road trip to The Ranger staff Feb. 3 in Loftin. De Leon will document and write about traveling in an RV from Austin to Olympic National Forest, Washington. Follow his trip at w2wwg.blogspot.com. Photo by Deandra Gonzalez

City of Austin | Net-Zero Hero: Joseph de Leon

The City of Austin has named me a Net-Zero Hero! Tiffany Lieu of the City of Austin's Office of Sustainability joined me for a morning as I worked the compost at Gardens at Gus Garcia.


Read the story:
City of Austin | Net-Zero Hero: Joseph de Leon

SFC | How One Inspired Gardener Helped Strengthen a Community

Today the Sustainable Food Center featured an article on the work I've done at Gardens at Gus Garcia community garden. That's me in the middle with arms crossed after a garden workday.

Compost Pedallers | The Magic of Compost

Compost Pedallers are an Austin-based commercial compost hauler that transport organic material completely on bicycles. I've been a fan for as long as they've been in Austin and was honored when they asked me to be part of a promotional campaign.


Watch the Video
Compost Pedallers | The Magic of Compost




Courtesy Compost Pedallers

My chickens are stars!

Today I joined Amanda Tatom on KXAN's Studio 512 to promote this year's Funky Chicken Coop Tour. Check out the video below.


Screen capture courtesy Studio 512

Austin Chronicle | Waste Not

The Austin Chronicle featured a story on food waste called "Waste Not," which included quite a few voices from the food rescue and sustainability community. I speak to some of the many barriers to success when trying to make sure donated surplus food doesn't go to waste.


Read the story:
Austin Chronicle | Waste Not


Munira Fareed (l) and Marsha Imprescia with Keep Austin Fed pick up surplus food from Snap Kitchen.

Photo by John Anderson

Latina Lista | Turning food surplus into food supply that feeds a city’s hungry

My little brother Aaron started writing for Latina Lista, an online Latino culture magazine. His column, Urban Farmist, features stories about the grow-your-own movement and related topics. Here's his story about the food rescue work I do with Keep Austin Fed.


Read the article:
Latina Lista | Turning food surplus into food supply that feeds a city’s hungry




Courtesy Keep Austin Fed

KLBJ radio interview about Legend Award, KAF

KLBJ's rowdy rocker, B-DOE, invited me back on the air to talk about the Recognize Good Legend award I received for the work I do with Keep Austin Fed. We also celebrated a milestone: picking up more than 40,000 pounds of donated surplus food each month. This time, I brought Munira Fareed, KAF's marketing lead.


Listen to the interview:
KLBJ | Keep Austin Fed Helps Deliver Over 40,000 Pounds Of Surplus Food A Month To Those Who Need It Most




Courtesy KLBJ

Oakland North | ‘Feeding the 5000’ serves free smoothies and soup, satisfies thousands

During my time in Berkeley for the Zero Waste Forum, I helped with the Feeding the 5K event in Oakland. Feeding the 5K started in England as a way to demonstrate how food waste can feed people. The original event diverted food waste to hogs for a feast that served more then 5,000 servings of pork. In Oakland, donated surplus food was cooked and served directly to people.


Volunteers prepared the food for Feeding the 5K Oakland at the Disco Soup event at St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County in Oakland, where I was interviewed for the news story below. Disco Soup featured a house DJ playing dance tunes while volunteers prepared food for the following day's Feeding the 5K event. It remains among the most entertaining times I've had in a kitchen.


Photo gallery:
Facebook | KAF at Zero Food Waste Forum


Read the story:
Oakland North | ‘Feeding the 5000’ serves free smoothies and soup, satisfies thousands

Volunteers sending out free soup and bread to people at Feeding the
5000 at Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland. By Chloe Shi

KOOP | Reducing Food Waste in Texas

I was invited to talk about food waste and food rescue on KOOP 91.7 FM during a show called Shades of Green.


Listen to the interview:
KOOP | Reducing Food Waste in Texas


Courtesy KOOP

Community Impact | Volunteers mobilize to feed locals in need

When I first moved to Austin, I landed a job as a reporter for Community Impact Newspaper. A couple of years after I left for my current job with the State of Texas, I received a phone call from a Community Impact reporter who wanted to write about the food rescue work I do at Keep Austin Fed. It was a little surreal to be on the other end of the news interview.


Read the article:
Community Impact | Volunteers mobilize to feed locals in need

KLBJ radio interview about Keep Austin Fed

Rowdy Rocker B-DOE of KLBJ 93.7 FM invited me and Susan Nahkunst to talk about the food rescue work we do at Keep Austin Fed.


Listen to the interview:
KLBJ 93.7 FM | Keep Austin Fed




Courtesy KLBJ

Edible Austin | War on Waste

Edible Austin, a local food culture magazine, featured a package of stories about food waste called "War on Waste". If you scroll about half way down the article, you'll see a section called "Local Heroes in the War on Waste" that includes a profile of the work I do for Keep Austin Fed.


Read the story:
Edible Austin | War on Waste

Statesman | Love of chickens leads to attractive coops

I was honored when Nancy Flores of the Austin American Statesman asked to interview me about my backyard chicken coop. I submitted photos of my coop, but the quality was not good enough to print. It was fun to talk chicken and describe the work I did!


Photo gallery:
Facebook | Building a crate coop


Read the story:
Statesman | Love of chickens leads to attractive coops

Austin Chronicle | Bicycle Tour de Funky Chickens

This year's Funky Chicken Coop Tour featured an official bicycle ride to select chicken coops, which I organized and led with the help of Bicycle Austin and Social Cycling Austin. We had more than 50 participants join us for the inaugural ride and everyone had a wonderful time!


Read the story:
Austin Chronicle | Bicycle Tour de Funky Chickens

Photo by Margaret Shugart