Heidi Kyser

Desert Companion welcomed Heidi Kyser as staff writer in January 2014. In 2018, she became senior writer and producer, working for both DC and KNPR's State of Nevada. She produced KNPR’s first podcast, the Edward R. Murrow Regional Award-winning Native Nevada, in 2020. The following year, she returned her focus full-time to Desert Companion, becoming Deputy Editor, which meant she was next in line to take over when longtime editor Andrew Kiraly left in July 2022. In 2024, CEO Favian Perez promoted Heidi to managing editor, charging her with integrating the Desert Companion and State of Nevada newsrooms.

In her 20 years as a print and on-air journalist, Heidi’s done it all, from news writing for weekly business magazines, to producing multimedia pieces for alt weeklies, winning a load of Eddie, Maggie, and Nevada Press Association awards along the way. She left academics after getting a master's degree from Harvard, so she could pursue research and writing with more immediacy.

When she’s not camping, hiking, riding her bike, or doing some other outdoor activity with her husband, Heidi is most likely to be found on a yoga mat, being spotted by her 100-pound pit bull Buster.