RESUME

EXPERIENCE

Arizona Republic – Investigative Reporter – May 2021 to present

Narrative investigation revealed chain of clinics chased profit, accused of hurting patients. The reporting was quoted in a DOJ complaint,  Medicare suspended payments and the company closed half its locations. Exposed Arizona’s hidden doctor misconduct. Revealed risky bond deals, prompting state lawmakers to pledge reforms. Spoke at IRE and NICAR on reporting process.

ProPublica – Local Reporting Network 2020

Our project exposed how New Jersey cops profit from police unions and avoid accountability. We showed how criminal cops avoid jail, how police union contracts cost taxpayers millions and how cops got more than $400,000 in unlawful sick time payouts. Along the way, I learned the industry’s best reporting practices for source building, project planning and fact-checking.

USA Today Network New Jersey – April 2018 to May 2021

Investigative reporting published by newspapers including the Asbury Park Press, The Record (Bergen County) and USA Today. Impacts include: policy reform for state prosecutions, help for aspiring police recruits and a restriction on police car chases. I used Python to find New Jersey and Newark lead the nation for racial disparity in police car chase deaths. I used SQL to find cops previously fired from public safety jobs.

Asbury Park Press – November 2014 to April 2018

Lead writer on “Protecting the Shield,” which prompted two statewide police policy reforms, a state law, and placed New Jersey on the path to license police officers. Wrote an award-winning narrative series on a Wall Street stock trader turned bank robber. I learned SQL to expose convicts collecting New Jersey state pensions, including one in prison. I regularly appear on camera for videos with our stories and to speak to media partners about our work.

Florida Today – February 2012 to November 2014

Highlights include gavel-to-gavel coverage of a cop killer trial with photos, videos, live tweets, and daily stories. One of my investigations exposed a flawed police policy that allowed a murderer to evade police scrutiny and kill again.

AWARDS

  • Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference’s Best American Newspaper Narrative – runner up for “Blood and Money,” to be featured in The Best American Newspaper Narratives journal, Volume 11.
  • Phoenix Magazine – Great 48 – selected in 2023 for “brilliance or exceptional accomplishment”
  • Editor & Publisher Magazine EPPY – Best business/ finance blog – “Blood and Money”
  • SABEW – First place for health/science, medium division – “Blood and Money” 
  • National Headliner Award – Second place for business news coverage – “Blood and Money”
  • AHCJ Award for Excellence in Health Care Journalism – Third place investigations (small publication) – “Blood and Money” 
  • Arizona Newspapers Association Better Newspapers Contest – Best sustained coverage or series – “Blood and Money”
  • Deadline Club (New York City SPJ) – Newspaper or Digital Beat Reporting – “Gilded Badges” series on police unions with ProPublica
  • Philip Meyer Award – Third place for “Gilded Badges” series on police unions with ProPublica
  • Livingston Award – Finalist for police accountability reporting
  • National Association of Black Journalists – Salute to Excellence award for investigative reporting by a local newspaper with circulation under 100,000 for “Deadly Chases, Few Arrests”
  • National Headliner Award – Second place for public service in newspapers not in a top 20 media market for “Policing the Police”
  • Deadline Club (New York City SPJ) – Reporting by a newspaper with circulation under 100,000 – selection of police accountability investigations. Finalist for public service.
  • Edward R. Murrow Award – Investigative reporting by a digital news organization with fewer than 2.5 million unique monthly visitors for “Protecting the Shield”
  • Livingston Award – Finalist for selections from “Protecting the Shield”
  • National Association of Black Journalists – Salute to Excellence award for investigative reporting by a local newspaper with circulation under 100,000 for “Protecting the Shield”
  • National Headliner Award – Third place in online video 3-10 minutes for “Police Beat Man on Fire”
  • American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award – “Protecting the Shield”
  • Deadline Club (New York City SPJ) – Reporting by a newspaper with circulation under 100,000 – “Protecting the Shield”
  • New Jersey Press Association – First place in public service – “Protecting the Shield”
  • New Jersey Press Association – First place in responsible journalism, First Amendment – “Philip Seidle, Killer Cop: Ex-wife ‘did not become a victim until I killed her.’”
  • Deadline Club (New York City SPJ) – Reporting by a newspaper with circulation under 100,000 – “Long Fall: From Top Stock Trader to Bank Robber”
  • New Jersey SPJ – First place in state/regional journalism, feature writing – “Long Fall: From Top Trader to Bank Robber”
  • New Jersey SPJ – First place in best web video – “Death of a Hero”
  • New Jersey Press Association – First place in best video –  “Death of a Hero”
  • New Jersey Press Association – First place in online breaking news – “Father kills Family, Self”
  • New Jersey Press Association – First place in reporting and writing, breaking news – “Cop kills Ex-wife on Street”

DATA SKILLS

Python — Proficient. Comfortable with pandas, natural language processing, light web scraping. Spoke at NICAR about federal crash data analyzed with Python.

SQL — Advanced. Assisted a NICAR class on advanced SQL.

Excel — Expert. I’ve taught colleagues on Excel and I use it daily.

Statistics: Proficient. Got an A- in applied statistics at Penn State.

Member of IRE since 2017, spoke on a panel at a 2021 diversity symposium. Member of Mensa since 2008.

EDUCATION

University of Florida – Graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism. Outside concentration in poetry.

Georgia Institute of Technology – pursuing a master’s degree in data analytics.