Odato announced he will retire in January 2025.

“We are so grateful to Jim for guiding our team to produce award-winning, impactful work,” Publisher Tracy Ormsbee said. “Now Melissa, with her strong journalism background and digital expertise, is the perfect editor to continue that accountability journalism as well as lead our news reporting into the future, developing content for all of our platforms.”

During the past four years, Hart turned the Adirondack Explorer website into the go-to place for news about the Adirondacks. She more than doubled the site users, page views, newsletter subscribers and social following. She also oversaw large gains with the Explorer’s community forum site, the Adirondack Almanack.

Hart began her journalism career at The Ithaca Journal and worked for newspapers in Fairbanks, Alaska, and Burlington, Vermont. She worked for the Adirondack North Country Association for five years in communications before joining the Adirondack Explorer. She lives in Peru, New York, and has Adirondack roots in Star Lake dating back to the 1800s.

Adirondack Explorer Digital Editor Melissa Hart, standing by the Saranac River, will become the Explorer’s top editor in early 2025. (Provided photo — Mike Lynch)

“I look forward to working to continue to broaden the Explorer’s reach and deepen its engagement with readers, both within and outside the Park,” Hart said.

Under Odato, the Explorer investigated the spending and accounting of the 1996 Environmental Bond Act, which resulted in better monitoring of the bond act of 2022; took a deep look at aging dams and neglected unit management plans; and led a series about the lack of affordable housing in the Adirondack region.

A search is underway for Hart’s replacement.