Lizzie Johnson remains an optimist as she covers the wildfires that have hit California this year. As a staff writer at the San Francisco Chronicle, she frequently writes about environmental issues and major breaking news across the state. She has done on-the-ground reporting from every major wildfire in California over the past year, including the Thomas Fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, the Carr Fire in Redding and the Ferguson Fire near Yosemite National Park. Johnson led The Chronicle’s award-winning coverage of last October’s Wine Country Wildfires – the most destructive blazes in state history. For the past year, she has followed the North Bay’s recovery efforts. Before joining The Chronicle’s newsroom, Johnson worked at the Chicago Tribune, the Dallas Morning News, the Omaha World-Herald and El Sol de San Telmo, a daily in Buenos Aires. A Nebraska native, she is an alumna of the University of Missouri-Columbia.