
Rebecca Smith
Health ReporterRebecca Smith is an award-winning reporter and producer for the KBIA Health & Wealth Desk. Born and raised outside of Rolla, Missouri, she has a passion for diving into often overlooked issues that affect the rural populations of her state – especially stories that broaden people’s perception of “rural” life. She created a conversations-based journalism project, Missouri Health Talks, in 2016 that empowers people throughout the state to share their stories of access to healthcare – in their own words.
She has degrees in both Journalism and Chemistry from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, and often says health reporting is the perfect marriage of individual’s stories and reporting on science.
You can reach her at smithbecky@missouri.edu or 573-882-4824.
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Boone Health officials have begun a national search for another health company which wants to invest in their operation.
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There are more than 40 species of fireflies in Missouri, but for the last few years people have been concerned about the populations diminishing.
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Mark Twain’s book “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” about a mischievous Missouri boy and his friends – including Becky Thatcher, the daughter of the local judge – came out in 1876. And ever since the book’s 80th anniversary, Twain’s hometown has crowned new classes of Toms and Beckys each year.
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Makenzie Schroeder and Lissa Behm-Morrowitz at the University of Missouri recently released a study about how using social media filters to change one’s appearance can lead to a phenomenon called “social self-comparison.”
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Julie Rosenfeld in Columbia describes herself as a “Jewish lesbian violinist baker.” She and her wife have been together for about 40 years. She spoke about her and her wife’s many weddings – both legal and not.
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CoMo Mobile Aid is a local grassroots organization that sets up outside the local overnight shelter, Room the Inn [RATI], twice a week – offering a pop-up thrift store, a wound care station and a large, converted van where folks can get all sorts of essentials: from band aids and Tylenol to menstrual pads and shampoo.
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According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 120,000 Missourians are living with the disease. But a newly approved blood test could lead to earlier and cheaper diagnosis of the disease.
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Juneteenth has only been a national holiday since 2021, but KBIA’s Katelynn McIlwain and Rebecca Smith bring us the story of one community in rural Missouri that has been celebrating for the last 25 years.
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David Hall is a bisexual man who performs as drag queen of color, Kaycee Adams. He spoke about the importance of showing up and speaking out for himself and his fellow LGBTQ+ community members.
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Jaquie Melloway and John Trapp are the leadership team that run Room at the Inn, the local overnight shelter in Columbia that serves unhoused people. They spoke about some of the things that have surprised them about the folks they serve.