Lucas Willard
Assistant News Director, Host/Producer, The Best of Our Knowledge and WAMC Listening Party/ReporterLucas Willard graduated from the State University of New York at Fredonia in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science in Communications. He also attended the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in 2010, where he studied audio and multimedia storytelling.
Prior to joining WAMC in 2011, Lucas worked with the Sound and Story Project of the Hudson Valley, the Big Shed Audio Documentary Podcast, the Albany Broadcasting Company, WDVL & WCVF-FM Fredonia, and WSUC-FM Cortland.
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It was three days before Christmas 2008, while most listeners were still asleep, that Ian Pickus showed up to work on Morning Edition at WAMC for the first time. Now, 17 years later, including the last dozen as News Director, Ian is leaving WAMC this week. -
New York State United Teachers this week signed onto a lawsuit seeking to force the U.S. Department of Education and the White House Office of Management and Budget to release $6 billion in education funding previously allocated by Congress for the upcoming school year. -
Playlist for Saturday, July 19th, 2025 -
The Best of Our Knowledge explores topics on learning, education and research.On this episode, we’ll speak with investigative journalist Mariah Blake.Blake’s new book “They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals” chronicles the decade-long fight for clean drinking water in the small community of Hoosick Falls, New York. -
A town hall was held Sunday in Plattsburgh with Congressional Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or AOC, of New York’s 14th district, and Paul Tonko of the 20th District. -
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell spent time this week touring Berkshire County communities to highlight state grants that benefit a range of causes — including violence reduction and maternal health. -
The NSTC at the NY CREATES Albany Nanotech Complex was created as part of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. -
Playlist for Saturday, July 12th, 2025
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On this episode, we’ll learn how an introduced fish population in the Adirondacks has evolved to avoid capture. New research has revealed neurons tied to binge drinking. And we’ll spend time with historians working to bring back a centuries-old barn in the Berkshires. -
The fight for clean water in Hoosick Falls is chronicled in a new book by Mariah Blake called “They Poisoned The World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals."
