Women Leaders in Global Health
Three women discuss why they chose a career in global health and what inspired them to become leaders
Tackling Air Pollution Starts at Home
Rapidly developing countries critically need clean household energy
Risk, Pregnancy, and Extreme Sports
In many cultures around the world, embracing risk during pregnancy, no matter how small, is so stigmatized that it continues to restrict how pregnant women live their lives.
But for athletes in extreme sports like Min who are comfortable navigating dangers, risk isn’t a bad word.
How Shepherds Access Health Care in Lesotho
Hurdles and innovations for nomadic and semi-nomadic people
A Look at Food Warning Labels in Mexico
Little black octagons are part of a growing arsenal of policy efforts to combat obesity
Alaska Native nonprofit puts culture at the forefront of addiction prevention
This summer, Cook Inlet Tribal Council took young people out berry picking as part of their addiction prevention programming.
Alaska could see effects of Indian Child Welfare Act challenge heard by Supreme Court
I spoke on the radio about my ICWA stories for Alaska News Nightly, Alaska Public Media’s flagship station for statewide news.
An Alaska Tribal court judge breaks down ICWA’s past, present and future
Judge Debra O’Gara says that some states are better than others at adhering to ICWA. “But right now, Alaska, I would say, is not doing so well.”
‘You know who you are’: One Alaska adoptee on why ICWA matters
“Who could ever believe that [ICWA] would be taken away?” one adoptee asks. “Imagining a world where that doesn’t exist is just too, too painful.”
Curious Juneau: How far has the Mendenhall Glacier retreated in the last 12 months?
Juneau resident James Wycoff noticed on his regular walks to Nugget Falls that the face of the glacier seemed to be retreating faster this year than he’s ever seen before.
From Iran to Alaska, godson and godmother weigh in on current global protests
From Berlin to Los Angeles, thousands around the globe have marched in solidarity with the Iranian people. And for some Alaskans, these protests hit close to home.
It’s the last day to vote in Juneau’s municipal election — here’s what locals had to say
Ballots can be placed in one of the dropboxes at the Douglas Library or the Statter Harbor parking lot in Auke Bay or returned in person to the vote center at the Mendenhall Library or City Hall downtown.
COVID-19 coverage
“Wuhan is home to first and foremost, people, not the coronavirus.”
“Wuhan is vibrant. Wuhan is beautiful. Wuhan gave me life.”
Status of plans to frack SA’s ‘water tower’
“There’s not a single technocrat left,” Roland Schulze, emeritus professor of hydrology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said. “As a technician, I couldn’t care who’s in the government – I’ve got to make sure the water is there for the people.”
Thirsty Thimphu in water rich Bhutan
“The problem with water in Bhutan is too much and too little depending on the season,” Chief Environment Officer in the Climate Change Division of the National Environment Commission (NEC), Thinley Namgyal agreed.
After the Nobel Prize, Robert Lefkowitz still runs ‘Lefkotime’, going 120 mph at age 74
“I think [the Nobel Prize] is a really nice validation of a lifetime of work,” Lefkowitz said. “Everybody likes to feel appreciated… But I’ve never taken it too seriously.”
Nobel or not, Lefkowitz is going to keep running on “Lefkotime” in the “Lefkolab.”
Duke students attend March for Our Lives to protest gun violence
“This is normal to the point that I have learned to duck from bullets before I learned how to read… I lost more than my brother that day—I lost my hero. I lost my mother, my sister and myself to that trauma and anxiety,” Edna Chavez, a 17-year-old from South Los Angeles, said.
The Prince of Duke, Psychological Past and Present
A nurse said, “You’ve been up here too many times talkin’ ‘bout how you’re having a heart attack. What kind of job you doin’?”
“Psychologist,” Blackshear said.
He recalled she gave him a look and said: “You know better.”
Professional Experiences
Q&A: Journalists discuss the politics of working in news media
Not long after President Trump called Yamiche Alcindor’s question about white nationalists “racist” in November 2018, I had the opportunity to interview Alcindor (PBS), Frank Bruni (NYT) and Katherine Miller (Buzzfeed) about the state of American media.
Steps up in my journalism career
From the frozen Sani Pass in the Southern Drakensberg, I interviewed a diplomat from China, the WWF water programme manager and my ice-climbing partners for their perspectives on mining across the border in Lesotho and how it affects the water supply in South Africa.
South by Southwest (SWSX) conference 2018
With funding from the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy, I attended sessions hosted by leaders in tech and media. I was inspired by a panel of early-career female foreign correspondents, learned about podcasts from Ira Glass, and wrote an article on a talk given by Duke alum Melinda Gates.
National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR) Conference 2019
With support from the Duke SPIRE fellowship, I attended sessions and workshops on investigative data reporting. I learned and built upon my skills in using software like Power BI, Excel and R to scrape data, create graphics and leverage data for impactful storytelling—all of which I put to use during my Oxpeckers internship working on the #MineAlert tool.
Duke Psychology and Neuroscience
My responsibilities as the communications specialist for the Psychology and Neuroscience department included a weekly newsletter where I had the opportunity to profile students and faculty. This on campus job allowed me to immerse myself in science communication and even led me to pursuing an independent study project with Professor Ruth Day on the role of linguistic codability in figure skating movements.
Duke Chronicle
I was the Health and Science Editor for spring 2020 and Staff Reporter and Photographer 2017-2020. Being a student journalist was incredibly eye-opening in getting to report about all sorts of topics from a diverse range of experts and activists that pass through Duke. From learning about the migrant crisis in Eloy, Ariz. to neglected tropical diseases and the anti-vaccine movement to breaking down an impending category 4 hurricane for the Duke community, I am grateful for all the time I spent running across campus and around Durham for these stories. For Towerview Magazine, I wrote fun features about the Duke climbing community and students’ summer shenanigans.