Perry Beeman is the Register's full-time environment writer. His work has included a number of award-winning investigative pieces, including a nationwide look at agricultural interests' attempts to censor scientists, and an Iowa water-sampling project that exposed bacteria problems and led to the state's first comprehensive monitoring of state-park swimming areas. Beeman has documented widespread concerns about pollution and health threats from farms and from the biofuels industry. His work has been honored by the North American Agricultural Journalists, the Society of Environmental Journalists, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, the Iowa Associated Press Managing Editors and the Iowa Newspaper Association. Beeman is a former fellow at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. He served as president of the U.S.-based Society of Environmental Journalists and is a contract instructor for the International Center for Journalists.