THE BIG PICTURE (NOW)
I’m an award-winning environmental journalist currently writing about scientific phenomena for CNN and National Geographic. I was most recently one of four journalists nationwide selected for an inaugural 2022-2023 mid-career news fellowship at Axios. In that time, I developed a new beat covering the intersection of climate justice and food access, and spent a year reporting on everything from the rise of “doomsday” seed vaults to the climate wrecking ball striking food supply.
I’m also a nonfiction author!
Published by Louisiana State University Press on March 6, 2024, my debut book is now available. Devoured: The Extraordinary Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Ate the South reveals what one infamous invasive plant can tell us about American attitudes towards the food on our plates, the changing climate, and the migration of species—including humans. (Order your copy, and see what people are saying about it here!)
IMPACT
I am a recipient of the 2023 SPJ Florida Trend Reporting Award and the 2021 Society of Professional Journalists Multimedia Feature Award. My body of work also made me a finalist for the 2022 SPJ Florida Outstanding New Journalist Award.
My coverage has been cited in lawsuits, congressional committees and federal actions, referenced in nonfiction books, technical reports and academic publications, and led to local and state government investment into climate-resilient affordable housing.
AFFILIATIONS
I belong to organizations like the Asian American Journalists Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society of Environmental Journalists, Covering Climate Now, Binders Full of Science Writers and the Uproot Project. I’m a 2023 SEJ Conference Diversity Fellow, 2022 Metcalf Institute Fellow, 2022 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Ocean Science Journalism Fellow, and a 2022 Oregon State University Food and Agriculture Media Fellow.
My bylines include The Atlantic, CNN, CNN en Español, National Geographic, The Guardian, NPR, Yahoo News, PBS NewsHour, Grist, Salon, NBC News, USA TODAY, Axios, FLORIDA TODAY, Public Radio’s Living on Earth, Forbes, MSN US, MSN Canada, Forbes Japan, CNN Brasil, National Geographic Italia, Yahoo, Yahoo Canada, Yahoo Malaysia, Yahoo Finanzas, The Times, Devex, Axios, Southerly Magazine, Honolulu Civil Beat, Newsy, WLRN Public Radio, National Observer, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Climate Central, WJCT Jacksonville, NJ Spotlight News, WJXT News, CBS 58, FOX 46, Miami New Times, New Times Broward-Palm Beach, Herald & Review, Journal Gazette & Times-Courier, The San Antonio Report, Columbia Missourian, WVLT TV, WPLG-10, WUSF News, WCAU-TV, Delaware News Journal, NJ.com, NJ Advance Media, Nerdist, AccuWeather, Albany Democrat-Herald, KOMU-8, Spectrum News 13, KTVZ-TV, KXLY-TV, WHO-TV, The Star-Ledger, Arizona Daily Star, TCPalm, Coravllis Gazette-Times, Naples Daily News, The Daily Progress, The Sentinel, New England Cable News, WJZY-TV, Auburn Citizen, WKBT-TV, KESQ-TV, KRDO-TV, KEYT-TV, WAAY-TV, KMIZ-TV, WXPI-TV, WSIL-TV, Albany Herald, KION-TV, KMOL-TV, Lee News Central, Times-News, The Franklin News-Post, McDowell News, KFJX-TV, RealClear Energy, The Statesville Record & Landmark, Opelika-Auburn News, WFFT-TV, KAPP and KVEW TV, Moorseville Tribune, Winston-Salem Journal, Jacksonville Today, North Platte Telegraph, Bristol Herald Courier, The Daily News, Coastal News Today, La Crosse Tribune, Morganton News Herald, Omaha World-Herald, Independent Tribune and Shenandoah Valley News.
THE BIG PICTURE (THEN)
Once upon a time, I worked as a correspondent at Climate Central and an associate producer for WPLG-10, an ABC News affiliate. I got my start freelance reporting on culture, politics and breaking news for local publications like the New Times Broward-Palm Beach and the Miami New Times. 100,000+ have read my work at Forbes 30 Under 30 and ForbesWomen, which is where I contributed business and tech reporting from 2018-2021.
I also have a background in scaling startups. I’ve led editorial teams at early-stage companies; namely, higher education resource HIVE DIVERSITY and SaaS tool Goodlord. In those positions, I was in charge of public relations, brand communications, implemented workflow systems, managed teams, produced multimedia storytelling and served as editor-in-chief.
ZOOM OUT
As we move through this world, we create ripple effects rooted in our decisions. What we choose to do with our time impacts those around us. And if we’re lucky, those choices can make things better for others.
From trudging through swamps while covering how sea level rise threatens one of the world’s oldest-living trees to trekking through rural coastal areas to discover the ways a community is still rebuilding from a Category 5 hurricane, I’ve built a journalism beat exploring how the environment can tell us stories about ourselves.
Sifting through enormous amounts of research to simplify complicated topics are moments I crave, where I’m exhilarated by mastering new things. Conducting in-depth interviews that help identify the human narrative behind a dataset sparks a million little fires within.
But it’s when I’m empowering the most vulnerable and the most marginalized in my work that I feel most alive. As a reporter, I reimagine the traditional journalism narrative by uplifting and elevating underserved communities, expanding what stories get told, how they are told and whose voices are heard.
After all, journalism isn’t just about holding those in power accountable — it’s about creating space for those without.