Kevin Knodell reports on military affairs, veterans, security, and diplomacy in Hawaii and the greater Pacific for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. He originally came to Hawaii through Report For America, a nonprofit that places journalists in local newsrooms to cover underreported topics. As a freelance correspondent, he reported on the conflicts in Iraq and Syria, wildfires in the American West, refugee resettlement, youth culture in the Middle East, and many other topics. His writing and photography have appeared in The Daily Beast, Foreign Policy Magazine, Playboy, The Nib, Vice, and others. He received the 2021 Military Reporters & Editors' Association award for best overseas coverage for his work in Kirkuk, Iraq for Coffee or Die Magazine.