Journalism is about change. 
Good stories 
put people first.

I’m a reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader, where I cover Eastern Kentucky and environmental issues across the commonwealth. My work at the Herald-Leader takes me throughout Central Appalachia, from coalfields and mountain communities to rural farms, small towns and the forests and waterways that define the region. I also report on environmental issues statewide, including energy, utilities, data centers, public lands, climate change and the long-term consequences of decisions about the region's natural resources.

 

I'm drawn to stories where local issues reveal something much bigger. I try to approach those stories with curiosity, skepticism and a strong sense of place. My goal is not simply to explain what happened, but to understand why it happened, who is affected and who has the power to change it. I believe good accountability journalism should be rigorous without being needlessly sensational, and that complicated stories can be made accessible without sacrificing nuance.

 

Until recently, I was a D.C.-based regulatory reporter at Blooomberg Industry Group, where my work centered on employee benefits regulation and enforcement, reporting primarily for Bloomberg's legal news division about the U.S. Labor Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and Internal Revenue Service. My reporting carried me into federal courthouses, small businesses and even the living rooms of widowed pensioners across the country on a whirlwind journey propelled by the 24-hour news cycle. For nearly six years, I honed in on complex legal issues and distilled them for a global audience across the Bloomberg news media network.
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I cultivated sources inside and out of federal agencies and on Capitol Hill and broke news that's moved global equity markets, triggered legislative oversight hearings and even provoked changes to federal law. Through it all, I've maintained a steadfast commitment to fair, accurate and ethical reporting that highlights people outside the Washington beltway most affected by the politics churning within it.

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Earlier in my career, I worked as a local government reporter in Kentucky’s western coalfields. That was where I learned that some of the best journalism starts with simply paying attention. I wanted to know what was happening in a community before it showed up on a city commission agenda, and I learned how much can be uncovered by building relationships, asking uncomfortable questions and showing up consistently.

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Today, I’m particularly interested in journalism that combines those skills — strong writing, photography, video, audio, documents and digital storytelling — to give readers a fuller understanding of the places and people I cover. I’m comfortable working across platforms and thinking about how journalism can reach audiences on their phones without reducing important stories to clickbait. Ultimately, I see my job as being a translator and a watchdog, explaining complicated government policies, corporate plans or environmental disputes for the people who have to live with the consequences.