Scott Bransford is a writer from the farmland of California’s Central Valley. Since landing his first reporting job at a small newspaper in the region, he has spent more than a decade covering life in the American West, often focusing on topics such as housing and health care access, criminal justice, and addiction in rural communities. His work has appeared in outlets including Reuters, The New York Times, Utne Reader, and High Country News, plus nonfiction anthologies published worldwide.