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Max Chesnes - Environment and Climate Reporter
Max Chesnes

Environment and Climate Reporter

Hey there, I’m Max, a lifelong Floridian and the environment reporter for the Tampa Bay Times. I report on public lands, water quality, wildlife and everything in between. Prior to working for the Times, I covered environmental issues for Treasure Coast Newspapers and the USA Today network, writing about Lake Okeechobee, the Indian River Lagoon and Florida’s wondrous Everglades. I'm a 2023 journalism fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy and a recipient of several environmental writing awards. I studied both journalism and sustainability at the University of Florida (Go gators!) and I’m also licensed to fly drones.

  1. Florida buys 340 acres from golf developer who sought state forest land
    • Environment
    Eugene Kelly, president of the Florida Native Plant Society, tracks a gopher tortoise hole at a Withlacoochee State Forest parcel adjacent to Cabot Citrus Farms near Brooksville in this September 2024 photo. Cabot recently sold 340 acres of land to the state of Florida.
  2. Florida completes $83M purchase of 4 waterfront acres in Destin
    • Environment
    The state of Florida has officially closed on the purchase of 4 acres of waterfront land in Destin for more than $83 million. Conservation experts say the large purchase price raises unsettling questions.
  3. As Florida offshore drilling looms, birds less protected from spills under Trump
    • Environment
    Workers clean a brown pelican at a rescue center set up by the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Buras, La., in 2010. The birds were covered in oil from the Deepwater Horizon accident.
  5. Every Florida Congress member to Trump: Keep oil drilling away from our coast
    • Environment
    Oil is seen on the water at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill containment efforts in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana on May 7, 2010. All 28 of Florida’s U.S. House members and both U.S. senators united Thursday in a bipartisan letter urging President Donald Trump to keep offshore oil drilling away from the state’s coastline.
  6. DeSantis defends pricey $83M purchase of 4 acres in Panhandle
    • Environment
    Florida leaders voted in September to buy these 4 acres of coastal land in Destin for $83 million, despite conservationists' concerns about the high price tag. DeSantis defended the decision during a news conference in Tampa on Wednesday.
  7. Florida state parks face $759 million backlog of needed repairs, state report finds
    • Environment
    Hikers walk through Hillsborough River State Park in Thonotosassa in this 2007 photo. A new report from the state says state parks need $759 million in repairs. That would be a major increase compared to the funding allocated in recent years to address aging park infrastructure across a system that includes nearly 850 historic sites, more than 500 pavilions, 90,000 feet of boardwalks and 3,300 campsites.
  8. In Florida, fending off Trump’s oil drilling plan is a bipartisan cause
    • Environment
    The Gulf of Mexico is seen from Treasure Island Beach in 2023. In the 24 hours since the Trump administration unveiled its new proposal to auction two oil drilling leases in the eastern Gulf about 100 miles from Florida shores, the bipartisan pushback has emerged with haste.
  9. Trump administration proposes pushing offshore oil drilling closer to Florida shores
    • Environment
    Crews work to clean up oil washed ashore at Pensacola Beach in Pensacola in June 2010 after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Florida Republican leaders and environmental advocates on Thursday were quick to denounce the Trump administration's new proposal to open the eastern Gulf to oil drilling.
  10. After ‘alarming’ Guana land swap idea, Florida lawmaker files bill for more transparency
    • Environment
    Hundreds of protesters gathered on the corner of A1A in St. Johns County on May 17 to oppose a controversial proposal to swap away 600 acres of conservation land in the Guana River Wildlife Management Area. Chants of "Stop the Swap!" roared as passing cars honked in support.
  11. Pinellas to decide future of UF extension program educating on plants, water
    • Environment
    Pinellas commissioners will vote Tuesday on whether to renew a partnership with the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences extension office in Pinellas County, which offers environmental education, youth programs and water conservation efforts. Supporters say the funding is worth the investment. The university also works with the Florida Sea Grant, with a participant pictured here, which educates the public on how to care for the 588 miles of coastline around Pinellas County.
  12. Why Tampa Bay electric bills were so high in 2025
    • News
    Rayne DeJesus, a local activist and rap artist, center, holds up a sign regarding high energy bills, while he chants with other protesters during the Burn the Bill rally at the Dr. Walter L. Smith Library on Nov. 1 in Tampa.
  13. Here’s what people across Tampa Bay are paying for electricity
    • Environment
    This is a composite of several people the Tampa Bay Times spoke to about their electric bills, which many said were higher than ever this summer.
  14. We saw the northern lights in Tampa Bay last night. It could be similar tonight
    • Environment
    Faint, pink swaths of the aurora borealis could be detected low on the Florida horizon in long exposure camera images early Wednesday morning. This image, taken just before 12:30 a.m. on a coastal offshoot beside the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, was a 30-second exposure looking due north. Local Tampa Bay meteorologists said conditions could be favorable again Wednesday night for more astro-photography.
  15. Scrapped Florida state parks plans came ‘directly’ from DeSantis’ office, suit says
    • Environment
    Michelle Birnbaum, 59, left, and Kathie Nutter, 67, right, both of Dunedin, were shown holding signs and waving to drivers at the entrance to Honeymoon Island State Park during a rally in August 2024 after plans to put golf courses, pickleball courts and other amenities on state park land were reported by the Tampa Bay Times.
  16. USF is planning a big development, and environmentalists have concerns
    • The Education Gradebook
    The Florida Board of Governors voted to approve the University of South Florida’s proposed mixed-use Fletcher District at a meeting in Tampa on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. The plan would convert the university’s old Claw golf course, seen here on Nov. 12, 2025, into housing, a hotel, conference center, retail, green spaces and the academic building. The old course sits directly beside a 600-acre forest preserve, which has caused concern among students, environmentalists and nearby residents who say developing the land would harm native wildlife and increase pollution woes.
  17. Mining giant Mosaic wants to expand its phosphate waste stack in Hillsborough
    • Environment
    This aerial view shows Mosaic's phosphogypsum stack in Riverview on Oct. 24. The company is looking to expand its footprint to the land in the foreground.
  18. Lobbyist wrote proposal directing Florida to buy pricey 4 acres in Destin
    • Environment
    The 4-acre plot of land, owned by a campaign donor's two companies, sits on a sandy peninsula in Destin at the center of this image. Aerial satellite imagery shows the parcel is located in an area with heavy coastal development, and conservationists have raised concerns about the land's overall conservation value.
  19. ‘A sham’: Florida’s longtime conservation experts question pricey 4-acre Destin purchase
    • Environment
    Florida's top leaders voted on Sept. 30 to purchase these 4 acres of coastal land in Destin for $83 million, despite conservationists' concerns about the high price tag. At more than $20 million an acre, experts tell the Times the purchase is one of the most expensive per-acre land acquisitions in state history.
  20. Jane Goodall had a message for Floridians: Work together for nature
    • Environment
    Jane Goodall in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. Goodall was known for her work with chimpanzees in Gombe, and her observations about chimp behavior have reframed how humans view their place in the natural world. Goodall died Wednesday at 91.
  21. DeSantis, top Florida officials vote to buy 4 acres for $83M, despite concerns
    • Environment
    The landowners selling this property are Pointe Mezzanine LLC and Pointe Resort LLC, both of which are registered in state corporate filings to Robert Guidry, a Louisiana business owner. Guidry is a prominent donor to state politicians and local officials in the Panhandle county where his property is located. Top Florida officials voted Tuesday to buy the four acres of land for $83 million.
  22. Florida wants to buy 4 acres in the Panhandle. The price tag? $83M
    • Environment
    Florida's top leaders will vote Tuesday to purchase these 4 acres of land in Okaloosa County for more than $84 million. One side of the Destin property is a city park, and the other side is an upscale condominium complex, according to property records.
  23. Chassahowitzka River Campground to stay in public hands for next four decades
    • Environment
    Weston Bailey spends time with his father, Robert Bailey, around their camping area at the Chassahowitzka River Campground on Aug. 20. The Southwest Florida Water Management District board on Tuesday unanimously approved a deal to keep the campground in public hands.
  24. Hurricanes walloped Tampa Bay. A year later, how the area is recovering
    • Hurricane
    The Gulfport Casino, a popular venue and local landmark shown in this Sept. 16 photo, is still shut down after sustaining damage during last year's hurricane season.