About Me
Photo by Hailey Pursifull
I’m a journalist. I grew up on the Iowa plains. Before writing full-time, I taught for several years, both in a traditional classroom with 9th-and-10th-grade students and then in the woods of Michigan, with students of all ages. I loved teaching, but I studied journalism because I wanted to expand my areas of expertise. Like teachers, journalists learn every day. These days, I share my knowledge in the form of stories.
My favorite stories explore something new about what it means to be human.
My Resume
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Columbia Journalism School
Assistant Adjunct Professor
// FALL 2021 - PRESENT
Assistant-taught a reporting essentials course to students in Columbia’s Master of Science Program. Designed lesson plans to train students in the basics of finding stories, sourcing, verification, organizing material, and meeting deadlines. Assessed student progress and edited student work weekly.
Columbia Journalism Review
Writer and Reporter
// SUMMER 2019 - PRESENT
Reported and wrote feature stories, media analysis, oral histories, data projects, and Q&As at a media criticism magazine. Launched a weekly column and newsletter about the localized information ecosystem as part of the Journalism Crisis Project. Organized and hosted lecture and panel events with journalists and industry leaders, curated pitches, managed social media, and edited copy. Fact-checked deeply-reported magazine pieces. Served as contributing editor for the sixtieth anniversary magazine issue.
Camp Roger
Assistant Director of Outdoor Education
// FALL 2016 - SPRING 2018
Managed year-round programs at a 100-year old summer camp, nestled in 500 acres of woods and wetlands in Michigan. Serving more than 10,000 students in between September and May, collaborated with instructors from a wide variety of local schools to develop outdoor curriculum in environmental science, history, language arts, and other areas of study for all grade levels.
Calvin Christian High School
9th-10th Grade English Teacher
// FALL 2014 - SPRING 2016
Taught 9th and 10th grade writing and literature at a Michigan high school. Launched an improvisational comedy team and a student newspaper. Developed curriculum to encourage critical thinking and introduce students to new ideas and worlds outside their own experience.
SKILLS
Databases & Data:
Advanced Excel
SQL
OpenRefine
PACER
LexisNexis
Multimedia:
Wordpress
Adobe Audition, Photoshop
Social Media:
SEO Optimization
Google Analytics
MailChimp
EDUCATION
Columbia Journalism School
// GRADUATED MAY 2019
Received a Master of Science degree, with a focus on longform reporting. Covered a variety of feature stories and breaking news—from a narrative about a displaced New Yorker producing the musical Ragtime in a politically divided Pennsylvania town to a breaking story about New Jersey Democratic officials renewing the county’s contract with ICE.
Valedictorian of the Class of 2019 and Pulitzer Traveling Fellow