Civil Beat Staff

Paula Dobbyn

Paula Dobbyn joined Civil Beat in February 2022. She’s a longtime Alaska journalist who previously worked in Washington, D.C., Boston, and Central America.

After graduating from Hampshire College with a political science degree, Paula began her journalism career in Nicaragua during the 1980s, covering the U.S.-backed war against the Sandinista revolutionary government. She freelanced from Managua as a radio reporter for AP Broadcast, ABC Radio, Radio Netherlands and other international outlets, occasionally venturing to El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica on reporting assignments.

With a ceasefire in place between the Contras and the Sandinistas and the war winding down, Paula returned to the U.S. She worked an overnight shift at the AP Broadcast Center in Washington, D.C., turning wire copy into newscast scripts for radio stations across the country. She moved on to Boston for a staff position at Monitor Radio, the (now-defunct) broadcast arm of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Christian Science Monitor newspaper.

Paula used her radio skills at the Monitor as a newscaster, producer and editor for five years. She also produced news and feature stories for Monitor Television.

In what has become a lifelong quest for adventure, Paula moved to Juneau, Alaska, in 1994 for a reporting job at KTOO, the public radio station in the state’s capital. For the next four years, she covered a wide range of stories involving Alaska’s contentious commercial fishing industry, clear-cut logging of the region’s coastal temperate rainforest, battles over the regulation of foreign flagged cruise ships and an ever-burgeoning tourism industry, and the complex and often opaque operations of Alaska’s congressionally created Native corporations.

Seeking a reprieve from the Tongass National Forest’s torrential rainfall, Paula left Juneau for a Ted Scripps Fellowship in Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder. During the fellowship, Paula studied public lands law, federal Indian law and creative nonfiction. After drying out in the Colorado sunshine for that year, Paula returned to Alaska for a reporting position at the Anchorage Daily News where she covered timber, tourism, commercial fishing and Alaska Native corporations, among other topics. After seven years at the Daily News and with the newspaper industry starting to shed jobs, Paula headed to Ireland to study human rights law. She graduated with her master’s degree from a cross-border program run by Queen’s University Belfast and National University of Ireland at Galway.

After becoming a mother following graduate school, Paula worked in communications for the more regular hours and flexibility those positions offered. But journalism is Paula’s first love and the pull of storytelling lured her back to the newsroom. In recent years, Paula has worked as a senior digital reporter at Alaska’s News Source covering breaking news and enterprise stories, and as a grant-funded reporter on the homelessness beat for the Anchorage Daily News. She has also taught journalism as an adjunct professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage and does freelance magazine writing as time allows.

Besides journalism and writing, Paula is also passionate about yoga, diving and her family. She’s looking forward to exploring Hawaii’s dive sites and getting her two young daughters certified in scuba. Paula’s husband is a wildlife biologist. Her family, including two standard poodles, are excited to be making the Big Island of Hawaii their new home. Paula is thrilled to be at Civil Beat and welcomes your story ideas. Find her on Twitter and Facebook or drop her an email at pdobbyn@civilbeat.org.

Maui Solar Project Stokes Concerns About Climate-Fueled Fire And Flooding Risks Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2022

Maui Solar Project Stokes Concerns About Climate-Fueled Fire And Flooding Risks

The Paeahu solar farm, located in a dryland forest, would operate a short distance from a residential subdivision.

Henry Curtis Has Been A ‘Thorn In The Side’ Of Developers And Power Company Execs For 30 Years David Croxford/Civil Beat/2023

Henry Curtis Has Been A ‘Thorn In The Side’ Of Developers And Power Company Execs For 30 Years

The longtime Life of the Land leader reflects on decades of pushing his clean energy and environmental justice agenda.

Hawaii Climate Experts Highlight Positive Points In An Otherwise Dire International Report Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2022

Hawaii Climate Experts Highlight Positive Points In An Otherwise Dire International Report

The United Nations leader has called for countries to do "everything, everywhere, all at once."

New South Maui High School Likely To Welcome Students In August, Governor Says Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2023

New South Maui High School Likely To Welcome Students In August, Governor Says

Buses will transport students on an interim basis as the state builds a $25 million pedestrian bridge. over the next three years.

New Kihei High School Will Finally Open Under Deal With Governor, Maui Mayor Says Courtesy: Maui County Facebook/Screenshot/2023

New Kihei High School Will Finally Open Under Deal With Governor, Maui Mayor Says

In his first State of the County address, Bissen also addressed priorities related to water, housing and government jobs.

Hawaii Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Big Island’s Hu Honua Power Project Cory Lum/Civil Beat/2022

Hawaii Supreme Court Unanimously Rejects Big Island’s Hu Honua Power Project

The justices said state regulators were right to question environmental problems and consumer costs.

Hawaii Lawmaker Quietly Kills Bill To Allow Unlicensed Midwives To Continue Practicing David Croxford/Civil Beat/2023

Hawaii Lawmaker Quietly Kills Bill To Allow Unlicensed Midwives To Continue Practicing

Supporters express disappointment in Maui Rep. Kyle Yamashita's decision to not even give the bill a hearing.

Big Island Residents Have A New Option To Treat Depression Paula Dobbyn/Civil Beat/2023

Big Island Residents Have A New Option To Treat Depression

A Waimea clinic has become the first to offer transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Lawmakers Want Tighter Timelines For PUC Review Of Energy Projects. Some Say Not So Fast David Croxford/Civil Beat/2023

Lawmakers Want Tighter Timelines For PUC Review Of Energy Projects. Some Say Not So Fast

The measure aims to speed up regulatory approvals but has generated concern over how it may help certain developers.