California College admissions data product

Project management, editing, design: I was a core part of a cross-functional team that came together in mid-2024 to quickly launch an experimental product aimed at attracting new subscribers who care deeply about one particular topic. The idea being that non-subscribers who want this valuable content can buy one year of access for a one-time flat fee.

I worked closely with our product team as well as audience and data editors in San Francisco to develop the overall design and organization of the guide, which includes individual database pages for all 32 UCs and CSUs, a personalized wishlist feature, a GPA-match tool, a landing page that doubles as a sales-pitch, and a host of other utility-driven content. All said, I managed the work of three editorial engineers and one data visualization reporter over the course of two months in order to build this product from the ground up.

Drug overdose tracker

Project management, editing, content strategy, design: In early 2023, Hearst newspapers published a first-of-its-kind county-level drug overdose tracker. I lead the project alongside data editors and reporters at the San Francisco Chronicle, who initially pitched the idea for an interactive database. In close collaboration with the newsroom, I developed the initial wireframes for the project, which shaped key decisions around data, content and engineering resources.

From there, I planned and assigned data visualizations, set timelines, and prioritized work for my team of three newsroom developers. I was also responsible for coordinating publishing timelines among five newsrooms as well as a cross-promotion effort with Hearst Television station across the country. Using a URL parameter, we created a suite of embeddable graphics, which can be set to display data for any county in the U.S., from Baltimore to Sacramento.

Tracking extreme temperatures

Project management and editing: With this project, myself and a team of two data/graphics developers and one backend engineer, wanted to create a tool that offered something beyond a traditional weather app. After brainstorming with weather editors and meteorologists, we decided on something that could put extreme temperatures into context.

This tracker lives on several publications across the Hearst network. I am responsible for the team that manages the maps and graphics on the page, including the necessary data scraping that underpins those visualizations, while local newsrooms are responsible for keeping the text up to date. We also maintain a suite of embeddable graphics and interactives that can be used in daily weather coverage and refer readers back to the full page.

eV roadtrip planner

Project management and editing: This interactive tool came together in about two months. It was an idea I had in response to wide interest in EV coverage from many Hearst newsrooms and an overwhelming sense of range anxiety from readers. I worked with one data visualization developer to scope the work, utilize MapBox’s beta EV route feature, and refine the overall design and user experience. I also managed the collaboration with local reporters and editors to contextualize the interactive for their audiences. The project first published in early 2023 across five Hearst publications and gets updated yearly with the latest data on current EVs.

The AFghanistan papers

Project management and editing: Over the course of several months, I led a team of three visual journalists and developers who built a document database for this series. In this role, I facilitated brainstorms, defined goals and philosophies, provided feedback, wrote text, set benchmarks and timelines and coordinated extensively with the story editors and reporter. The result was a user-friendly database and source material documents that were seamlessly integrated into the story text.

The shattered lives of champlain towers south

Visual reporting, project management, and editing: This story, published one week after the Champlain Towers South condos collapsed, lent a unique human dimension to the tragedy. I was an integral contributor to this piece from beginning to end. First, by using building blueprints and real estate listings to create unit-by- unit floor plans and identify which condos were affected. Later, with input from the graphics reporter, writer, photo editor and designer, I developed a cohesive narrative structure and visual presentation based on those unit numbers. I was also responsible for giving final sign off on the text and optimizing the piece for promotion.

U.S. coronavirus tracker and DC/Maryland/Virginia tracker

Coordination, project management, editing: I was the primary editor responsible for building the initial version of our local covid tracker starting in March 2020. It began as a way to track individual cases and deaths in the area and evolved to include dynamically updating interactive charts and tables. In 2021, I became the primary editor on our U.S. and world trackers. Myself, along with three reporters/developers have been in charge of maintaining and updating the page as the pandemic — and the page's audience — evolves. I’ve also spearheaded the front and backend implementation of several dynamically-updating embeds that allow the data to be used in other stories and on our homepage.

The four days in 1968 that reshaped D.C.

Content creation, project management, design: For this piece, which won the 2018 National Press Foundation award for innovative storytelling, I was one of five visual journalists tasked with creating a visual overview of the 1968 riots in D.C. I played a key role in determining the structure of the piece: selecting archival photos and videos, writing and editing text and providing feedback and edits on video interviews and data animations so they fit into the flow of the piece. Read more about how the project came together.

The DEA’s pain pill database

Project management and editing: In a little less than four days, I led a cross-departmental team in building this one-of-a-kind page. This involved working with editors, reporters, engineers, graphics reporters and designers to build the graphics and process the data while I wrote the text and built tables. We also created an interface that allowed other journalists to download and publish graphics and data about their communities. I also worked with our product team to find a business solution that allowed such critical information to be accessible outside of our paywall.

Visual timeline of Jan. 6

Content creation and editing: As I watched the events of January 6 unfold at the Capitol, I was struck by the double screen experience of what was happening inside and outside the building. With that in mind, I began assembling a timeline of key events based on alert timestamps, image metadata, social media posts and Post reporting. By the next morning, I had two graphics reporters on the story. With photo and video editors advising, we were able to launch the page within 48 hours. The approach had staying power: As we approached the one year anniversary, I saw that the page was getting a lot of organic search traffic and was able to leverage that data and give it a second life.

What unites us

Design and development, editing assistance, project management: This project sought to discover what Americans have in common in a time of great division. To do this, we used photos, audio and text to answer the question “What unites us?” Over a 6-month period I worked with text and photo editors to set benchmarks and to organize and edit 306 assets. I did this while designing and developing the interactive experience.

100 days of @realDonaldTrump

Design and development, content creation: To mark Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, I collected and verified every tweet the President sent during that time and created a searchable visualization of his prolific Twitter use. I designed and developed the piece while working with our politics team to analyze the tweets and provide context to the piece. I also created the print presentation, which had a huge impact. 

The drug industry’s triumph over the DEA

Art direction, design and development: This story was a critical investigation into the drug industry, Congress and the opioid crisis. It had a huge impact. I developed a visual identity for the project by creating a pill-bottle inspired color palette and art directing illustrations that were visually interesting but still fit the tone of the investigation. I played a key role in conceptualizing and implementing the alternative storytelling devices used throughout the story, such as the key player hover interaction and the timeline graphics.

Vacation finder

Design and development, art-direction: The goal of this project was to find a fun, interactive way to resurface some of our evergreen travel content. I worked closely with the travel editors to determine what content should be included, which questions we wanted to ask readers and how we would classify each location. I wrote and implemented most of the code for recording selections and displaying the results. I also art-directed the illustrations and animated them myself.