Clark Tate
Independent journalist, documentary audio producer, and wilderness guide.
About
I’m an independent audio producer, journalist and photographer, specializing in narrative-driven stories about our relationship with the natural world. I am passionate about finding the soul of a story and love finding moments of levity. My work explores science and the environment, all manner of adventure, and the gear it takes to get outside.
I earned a master’s degree in environmental science and land use policy at the University of Virginia and studied audio storytelling and podcast production at the Salt Institute of Documentary Studies at the Maine College of Art and Design.
As a journalist, I write, edit and fact-check for online and print publications, including Hakai Magazine, Delta Sky Magazine, Penobscot Bay Press, Salt Lake City Weekly, Summit Daily, Hilltromper, and GearLab.
As a podcast producer, I developed, produced, reported, hosted, and scored the Our Rivers podcast for the Forever Our Rivers Foundation. My work on the rise of white sharks in Maine was featured on WMPG.
I work to create transportive soundscapes, from the ringing of rock hammers on a petrology field trip to the staccato pulse of a shark-tracking transceiver. Field recording fascinates me. As a proud new member of the Wildlife Sound Recording Society, I’m diving right into the weird and wonderful world of bioacoustics.
While I love spending time in the field, I also enjoy scrubbing and editing audio, scoring, voice work, and sound design. With my background in writing and journalism, I relish penning and editing scripts, brainstorming story structure, and interviewing experts, especially in situ.
I inherited my love of nature, spending my childhood in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. After graduate school, I moved to Colorado, exploring the landscape while working as a restoration ecologist focused on western rivers. Then I moved to California to cover the coastal and marine environments for Santa Cruz-based Hilltromper and to launch a mountain bike review division for GearLab.com in South Lake Tahoe. I now live in Maine, where I am a certified Maine sea kayaking guide.
Along the way, I’ve explored many corners of the US and traveled to over a dozen countries. I’ve studied the human environment in South Africa, fluvial geomorphology in France, sky islands in Arizona, and the limits of beauty in Nepal’s Himalayan Mountains and lowland jungles. Bike touring around the Galapagos was another highlight. I can’t get enough of our world or the people in it and seek to share that sense of wonder in my work.

Available to
Write and edit articles or scripts
Report, field record or photograph news and events
Produce, script, edit, record, sound design and score podcasts
Tape sync and fact-check
Write or edit grants
WILDERNESS TRAINING
Certified Maine Sea Kayaking Guide
Wilderness First Responder (WFR) – Wilderness Medical
Raft Guide – New River Gorge, Lower Gauley, Browns Canyon, Blue River, Clear Creek
Level I Avalanche Certification – Silverton Avalanche School
American Sailing Association Certifications – 101, 103, 104
If you have a story idea or need field recording, editing, scripting, or other audio needs, don’t hesitate to reach out!