My Background
Before coming to ProPublica, I helped launch The Examination, a nonprofit investigative newsroom focused on global health threats. Prior to that, I spent nearly 20 years with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as an investigative reporter.
My investigation into fraud in Wisconsin’s day care subsidy program won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting. Other investigations exposed how a pharmaceutical company’s tainted wipes were linked to the death of a 2-year-old boy; how a chemical known to cause deadly lung disease endangers coffee roasters; how TripAdvisor deleted reviews from tourists who were sickened and sometimes assaulted at resorts in Mexico; how barrel recycling plants endanger workers and nearby residents; how hospitals fail to protect nurses and other staff from serious and even deadly workplace violence; and how electrical fires disproportionately impact Black renters in distressed neighborhoods in Milwaukee while lawmakers and regulators do little to address the issue. That series, “Wires and Fires,” was named a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for public service. These investigations have led to criminal convictions as well as changes to laws, policies and systems. This work has also been recognized with Goldsmith, George Polk, Gerald Loeb, Worth Bingham, Barlett & Steele and other national awards.
