Steve Horn (he/him), Senior Research Program Manager

Steve Horn serves as Sunstone’s research lead, providing strategically tailored research products across campaigns. 

Steve began his career working as an award-winning investigative reporter for over a decade, part of a team that won the Izzy Award for independent investigative journalism. As a journalist, he primarily worked on the climate investigative journalism beat and as a local beat reporter in San Diego County. 

He’s also worked as an opposition researcher, private investigator, due diligence pro, content writer, and book editor for various clients and in the agency world. As a journalist, his work was cited in a federal court case, the documentary “Gasland” and other scholarship, and in a U.S. Senate report. He also worked as researcher for the award-winning bestselling 2024 book By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land by Rebecca Nagle.

His timely research has equipped lawmakers and campaigners with timely actionable intelligence, including via longform stage-setting seminal reports alongside rapid response work. It has also spurred tier-one hits in outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, Inside Climate News, The Guardian, ProPublica, the LA Times, SF Chronicle, Seattle Times, among others. 

An adjunct professor at the University of Florida, teaching a self-created course called Investigations for Social Change, Steve also serves as Board President of the California Streets Initiative (overseer of StreetsBlog CA) and is a competitive distance runner and former collegiate student-athlete.