Birkenbuel began her newspaper career as a daily sports writer, but eventually evolved into an education and business reporter who also covered food co-ops, food banks, and food security—sometimes intertwined with other social issues, as well as unions, health care, the arts, and pay equity.

Based in Missoula, she mentors young writers as a college adjunct writing instructor. She also spent time working as an editor at Prairie Populist, an online-only advocacy conservation publication covering on-the-ground agriculture and sustainability stories in Montana missed by the mainstream press.

Birkenbuel specializes in features, thrives on telling human-interest stories, and making connections for readers.

She has worked as a contract reporter for Newsweek and Missoula Current. From 2013 to 2017, she served as an education, business, and features reporter for The Montana Standard in Butte, Montana. In the 14 years preceding that, Birkenbuel was a contributing writer for The Seattle Times and published articles in about 40 other Northwest publications.

She looks forward to immersing herself in the food systems work of Civil Eats. “I’m anxious to dive head-long into food sovereignty issues and help put a human face on food security and Indigenous traditions,” she says. Her mother and her mother’s siblings did not live long enough to see the Montana Little Shell Chippewa tribe finally secure federally recognized status in 2019, but Birkenbuel is proud to be an enrolled member. “My mother was caught between two worlds, so as a storyteller, I am ready to share my work and perspective on Indigenous foodways as I collaborate with Civil Eats staff,” she says.

A Montana native, Birkenbuel spends her free time outdoors—dog-walking, floating down rivers, lap swimming, recreational golfing, and soaking up nature in Big Sky Country. A literature lover and a punster, she appreciates classic physical comedy, storytelling around the campfire, and a good, hearty laugh.