“We’d lose one after the next”: Texas bats face a pandemic of their own
Data | Illustrator | HTML/CSS/JavaScript | Writing | Mapping | Multimedia Packaging | Mobile-First
The Texas Tribune
I pitched, wrote and produced data visualizations for this multimedia story on bat population loss in Texas and its impacts. For the story, I talked to over 15 different bat experts and visited bat sites across the state in order to understand how scientists were combating the loss and the lack of historical data collection. Using Illustrator, I made a graphic with over 500 little bat SVGs in order to demonstrate the population change over time.
Traffic fatalities double since D.C.'s promise of zero
Reporting | Data Analysis | Data Visualization
My data analysis for this story uncovered that the district’s claims that major injury crash numbers had dropped were incorrect due to a data definition change in 2021 that led to the false decline. I pitched, co-reported and co-wrote this accountability-driven story. I also created a map and a chart to visualize the death toll.
Teen Gun Deaths in Texas Series
Data Analysis | Data Visualization | Illustrator | Collaboration in Teams | Writing
These stories, the result of weekly meetings in a highly collaborative environment, are the culmination of my work at The Texas Tribune. On the first day of my fellowship I was put on the gun beat and tasked with finding and analyzing data to drive the start of a long-term series on guns in Texas. For these stories, I created five data visualizations and worked with another reporter to shape the angle and content of the pieces. I was responsible for writing the data sections of each article and historic record gathering.
The Texas Tribune
Failing infrastructure: Dams
Scraping | Data Analysis | R | Python | Mapping | FOIA Requests
I built a first-of-its kind database with a custom address lookup tool that shows the extent of failing, unsafe dams across the country. While a national database exists, 63% of its dams do not have a condition rating, so we requested the latest inspection records from each state. I compiled those unique records from each state's dam department and found that of the 40,000 dams that do have a condition rating, 25% are in poor or unsatisfactory condition.
Native American Boarding Schools Deaths
Investigations | News Research | Database Building
For three months, I combed through primary and secondary source records on Native American boarding schools to determine the full extent of death and devastation under the U.S. government's 150-year program. My work found three times the deaths that the U.S. Department of Interior reported, documenting the names of 1,373 children who died and discovering the deaths 1,731 deceased children whose names are unknown. This investigation provided the most complete public accounting of what happened to the children at Indian boarding schools.
Mapping School-Adjacent Shootings
News App | QGIS | Mapping | HTML/CSS/JavaScript | R
I analyzed 300,000 rows of data on school-adjacent shootings to understand the extent to which America's youth are exposed to violence near their schools and custom-built a school lookup tool to allow audiences to localize the national dataset. In addition to the national story, I worked with individual stations to further localize the data, creating a data memo for reporters.
Racial Disparities in Police Twitter Feeds
Web Scraping | API | Linguistic Data Analysis | RegEx | R
I conducted research that found NC law enforcement offices post disproportionately more images of Black people on their Twitter feeds than white. The research involved web scraping, R data analysis, image analysis coding and data visualization. I also hired and mentored a research assistant to assist in the image analysis coding in order to boost the reliability of the study and later developed the project into a thesis, expanding the scope to analyze the news media's role in abetting associations of Blackness and crime.
Visualizing Women's Movements
Interactive Graphic | Web Design | HTML/CSS/JavaScript | Data | International Reporting
I designed this page and created an interactive scroller and data visualization on violence against women in the Galápagos. The content for the scroller and data viz comes from on-the-ground interviews conducted in San Cristóbal. I also designed the project logo and conducted accessibility reviews of the entire project webpage.
The Abortion Issue
HTML/CSS/JavaScript | Scrollytelling
The Daily Tar HeelI custom built and designed this full-width scrolling page using HTML, CSS and JavaScript to accompany our special print Abortion Issue. While I was working on this interactive scrolling page, I also edited and directed the creation of four different data visualizations in the print paper.