RESUME

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Professional Experience
Reporter, WRAL-TV, January 2021-now
wral.com
Raleigh, N.C.
  • Cover North Carolina K-12 education policy and the Wake County Public School System (the 15th-largest school district in the nation

Reporter, ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE (Sunday circ. 142,509), May 2013-December 2020
arkansasonline.com
Little Rock, Ark.
  • Covered higher education across Arkansas and the Census for a 3 million-person coverage area
  • Analyzed data, make interactive graphics and help other reporters with data and math problems
  • Covered environment (for 5.5 years), county government, crime, the Arkansas Supreme Court and the Arkansas Court of Appeals
  • Started our covid-19 data tracking web page - our most popular page in 2020 - with interactive case maps and continue to update education and economic graphics. When the web team faced editor concern about the time spent maintaining the page, I ensured my processes were simplified and automated so I could update all of my graphics within minutes.
  • Took a long-dormant environment beat and turned it into an award-winning enterprise beat
  • Led an investigation into a paper mill’s hydrogen sulfide emissions that was followed by the first corrective action against the mill
  • Frequently anchor the newspaper's Legislative session coverage when writing about my beat
  • ​Composed and sent a weekly Health & Science newsletter to a growing subscriber base
  • Pursued in-depth projects, including stories on:
             ○Untracked and misreported absences by teachers across Arkansas kindergarten through 12th grade schools
             ○Deficient and unmanaged levees that have sometimes posed dangers, a problem long known and ignored by the state
             ○The history of hog farms and pollution in Arkansas in the context one big contested hog farm in an environmentally sensitive area
             ○A subdivision dam left to deteriorate by a neglectful property owners association and a regulatory system that couldn't stop it
  • Consistently chased watchdog stories, such as those about:
             ○Industries operating with indefinitely expired wastewater permits
             ○Long-ignored requirements of the Clean Water Act
             ○A legislator writing a law that could benefit his wastewater treatment company
  • Reported breaking news with exclusive depth, i.e.:
             ○Discovering revoked 501(c)3 status at the Little Rock Film Festival after the directors say they were canceling it to pursue other work
             ○Finding tax liens against a state division head who resigned with no notice to pursue undisclosed business opportunities​
 
Skills
  • Data/Web Journalism
            Skilled: Excel, R, SQL/SQLite, OpenRefine, Cometdocs, Tabula, Datawrapper, Google tools, Ellington CMS, Tableau
            Experienced: Python, QGIS, csvkit, VisiData, HTML
  • Spanish speaking fluency
             15 years of training and reading, long-term travel in Spain and Argentina
  • Visual Journalism
             Advanced in DSLR cameras, Final Cut Pro, Adobe programs (Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere)

Activities
  • Investigative Reporters and Editors, 2013-now
             Attended NICAR, 2013, 2018, 2019 & 2021
             Attended IRE, 2020 & 2021
             Attended CAR boot camp at the University of Missouri, 2016 (Excel and SQL)
  • Education Writers Association, 2019-now
             Attended National Seminar, 2019, 2020 & 2021
             Attended Higher Education national seminar, 2020
  • Society of Environmental Journalists, 2014-2018
             Dallas workshop fellow, 2017
             Mentee in the 2016 Mentor Program
  • Society of Professional Journalists, 2017-2018
             Arkansas Pro Chapter FOIA Committee, 2017-2018
  • InsideClimate News Southeastern Workshop fellow, 2018
  • Volunteer,
             Seis Puentes, assistant English tutor, North Little Rock, Ark., 2016-2018
  • Volunteer English teacher
             El Centro de las Americas, Lincoln, Neb., 2013
  • Volunteer,
             Gorabide, Bilbao, Spain, 2012

Education
  • University of Nebraska-Lincoln
             Bachelor’s with honors, May 2013
             Major: Journalism
             Minors: Spanish, English and global studies
             Completed thesis
             GPA: 3.54
  • Study Abroad: University of Deusto (Bilbao, Spain)
             Full-time student, Spring 2012
             Spanish and Service Learning
             GPA: Pass
  • Non-degree seeking: University of Arkansas at Little Rock
             Part-time student, Fall 2014
             Spanish
             GPA: 4.0

Recognition
1st Place Education Reporting, Diamond Journalism Awards, 2021
1st Place Beat Reporting, Great Plains Journalism Awards (AR, IA, KS, MO, ND, NE, OK, SD), 2018 (environmental coverage)
1st Place Beat Reporting, Division II (large newspapers), Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors, 2018 (environmental coverage)
1st Place Beat Reporting, Division III (large newspapers), Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors, 2017 (environmental coverage)
Finalist, Great Plains Journalism Awards, 2020 & 2021