Meet Me
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I find new ways to tell untold stories
Happily employed, but open to the right freelance opportunities.
I specialize in science writing, but have covered topics as varied as the Thai sex trade, frontier murders, K-12 education, politics, frogs, Oi! and lèse-majesté. I taught data journalism, research methods and media ethics at Loyola University Chicago from 2012 to 2015.
Through projects like the Chicago Corruption Walking Tour and the award-winning blog 1,001 Chicago Afternoons, I create work that informs in unexpected ways.
Education
Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University. Master of Science in Journalism with a double focus on New Media Journalism and Science Writing, 2008.
Missouri School of Journalism, University of Missouri-Columbia. Bachelor of Journalism, minor in History focusing on Ancient Greece and Macedon, 2002.
Honors
Writing included in the Chicago History Museum’s “Chicago Authored” exhibit, 2015-2020.
Finalist, 2018 Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism, “Best Business or Consumer Reporting” for Chicago Lawyer magazine’s 2018 Big Law diversity report.
Winner, 2014 Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism, “Best Continuing Blog, Independent” for 1,001 Chicago Afternoons.
Finalist, 2013 Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism, “Best Continuing Blog, Independent” for 1,001 Chicago Afternoons.
Finalist, 2013 Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism, “Best Individual Blog Post, Independent” for #103: A Blue (Line) Christmas.
Second Place, Public Service - Div. C, 2007 Illinois Associated Press Editors Association Editorial Excellence Contest for investigative series on voter disenfranchisement in Hispanic communities in the Chicago suburbs.
First Place, Deadline News - Div. C, 2005 Illinois Associated Press Editors Association Editorial Excellence Contest for breaking coverage of a fatal teen brawl in the Chicago suburbs.
First Place, Non-Deadline News - Div. C, 2005 Illinois Associated Press Editors Association Editorial Excellence Contest for continued coverage and analysis of a fatal teen brawl in the Chicago suburbs.
Second Place, Best News Story - Dailies, 2000 Missouri Press Association Better Newspaper Contest for coverage of the eviction of low-income residents of a central Missouri trailer park.
Odds & Ends
Steve Bruce of legendary Oi! band Cock Sparrer included some of my music writing in the 2011 memoir “The Best Seat in the House.”
I briefly owned former U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski’s kegerator (now in the collection of Nisei Labs, Chicago).
My published fiction writing includes a story in an anthology titled “Requiem for the Radioactive Monkeys.”
I once found a triceratops femur.
