Egan, a reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, has covered the Great Lakes since 2003. He is the
author of the book "The Death and Life of the Great Lakes," a finalist for the 2017 LA Times Book Prize in History. He has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and he has won the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award, John B. Oakes Award, AAAS Kavli Science
Journalism Award, and J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award. Egan is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Columbia School of Journalism.