I currently work as the senior reporter at The Ithaca Voice, where I’ve covered everything from school funding to chronic homelessness to the aquatic life living in Ithaca’s many gorges. 

Approachability is one of the guiding principles in my work — both out in the field and behind the keyboard. There’s so many moving parts and complex factors in the things we cover. One of the things I love so much about this work is that I get PAID to be a better community member and a more engaged citizen. Such a huge part of the job is to observe, ask questions and get to know the people in my community. Then I go back to my computer and try to put all the pieces together in a way that anyone can understand.

I’m really into methods of storytelling that allow people to interact with my work in a way that’s most useful to them. Sometimes that’s a calculator that helps people understand all the different factors that go into their property taxes. Sometimes it’s an interactive map that shows how budget cuts impact each neighborhood in a city. Sometimes, it means telling a story with sounds rather than words.

Prior to The Ithaca Voice, I worked as the Ithaca-based education reporter at WSKG, the NPR affiliate for New York’s Southern Tier and northern Pennsylvania as a Report For America corps member. I’ve also worked at NPR member stations WNYC (New York City, NY) and KERA (Dallas, TX) and have received several national and regional awards for my work.

I’m originally a scientist by training — my degrees are in molecular and cell biology (B.S. 2017) and biotechnology (M.S., 2019). I found my way into journalism by chance, during what was meant to be a year-long research collaboration in Cape Town, South Africa in 2016. When a car bomb during a nationwide student protest prevented any work in the lab, the protests became the subject of my research. I documented clashes between police and protestors, sat through court hearings and late night plenaries and most importantly, asked a ton of questions. I later studied journalism a little more formally at Columbia University’s Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism and at the University of North Texas’ Mayborn School of Journalism.

Interests:

Investigative/watchdog reporting
Data Journalism
Audio production

Memberships:

Society of Professional Journalists
Investigative Reporters and Editors
Education Writers Association
Asian American Journalists Association
National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association