Ben Raines is the executive director of the Weeks Bay Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to protecting coastal land in Alabama. In his first two years with the Foundation, the organization has protected more than two million dollars worth of wetlands, pitcher plant bogs and maritime forests. He served for 14 years as the environment editor for the Mobile Press-Register, where his environmental reporting garnered more than two dozen state and national journalism awards. Prior to joining the Press-Register, Raines worked at newspapers in Oregon and for NBC Nightly News in Washington D.C. Born in Birmingham, he attended Duke University and New York University, where he earned a film degree. His underwater film work has appeared in documentaries on the Discovery Channel, National Geographic Television and the HD Network. His film, America’s Amazon, about the Mobile River Basin and the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, was nominated for an Emmy.
Breaking the Public Trust: A reporter’s perspective on the BP oil spill and the federal government, 5 years later.