GBH News
I collaborated on a GBH News investigation through my fall 2020 Investigative Reporting class at BU.
Our project focused on a program in Springfield, Massachusetts meant to clean up neighborhoods. My research, data analysis, and reporting helped show that the program took homes from their owners and put them in the hands of the private businesses hired to do the repairs.
The Daily Dot
As a Freedom of Information Act intern at the Daily Dot, I used public records to write stories on the tech beat, with a particular interest in the impact of ransomware attacks on schools.
Featured:
How a cryptocurrency fortune crippled a deceased billionaire’s estate (December 23, 2021)
Gray Television, Washington DC bureau
During my internship for Gray Television, I helped a DC-based team of reporters make stories for a network of local TV stations across the country. I analyzed data, researched, and pre-interviewed sources for a variety of stories on topics ranging from hurricane relief to rural broadband availability.
Below are visualizations I built for one story I collaborated on about the meatpacking industry and another story I produced about President Biden’s plan to replace lead plumbing.
Unpacking the price-fixing concerns in the meat processing industry (June 10, 2021)
The difference between the average price of beef when it leaves the farm and when it leaves the packaging plant has risen sharply over the last few years, USDA and BLS data shows. At the same time, ranching advocates are concerned that monopolies in the meatpacking industry drive down revenue for ranchers and increase prices for consumers.
President Biden’s plan to replace lead pipes faces funding challenge (September 3, 2021)
President Joe Biden pledged to replace every lead pipe in the country, but experts have warned that the bipartisan infrastructure bill doesn’t allocate enough money to get the job done, with some estimating it will only cover a fraction of the cost.
Lead plumbing is widespread—at least 57% of counties in the US are served by water systems that have detected lead at some point in the last four years, according to EPA data.
Many municipalities don’t know where their lead pipes are, but homes built before 1980—when the EPA fully cracked down on lead plumbing—are at the highest risk. In some parts of the country, more than 80 percent of homes fall into this category, according to U.S. Census data.
WTBU News
As campus news editor for WTBU, BU’s student radio station, I oversaw the station’s coverage of the data from BU’s COVID-19 dashboard. Most metrics were only available on the day they were posted, so I maintained a Google Sheets dataset of every number displayed each day the dashboard.
I tweeted daily data updates along with analysis and visualizations.
COVID-19 positive rates at #BostonUniversity are leveling out after falling from a record-breaking spike.
— Grace Ferguson (@fergusonreports) January 15, 2021
But the student positive rate (0.76%) is still higher now than it was at any point during the fall semester. pic.twitter.com/1lJVQxfwRS
The number of students coming to campus for COVID-19 testing has hit a record low for the semester— just 13,735 over the last week.
— Grace Ferguson (@fergusonreports) April 4, 2021
BU health officials have warned that some students have taken advantage of LfA by going on unofficial spring break trips. pic.twitter.com/2bU6oEWFI5
The Dean of Students' office told BU Today that testing noncompliance is "generally lower" than it was earlier in the semester, but that's only true going back 2-3 weeks.
— Grace Ferguson (@fergusonreports) November 21, 2020
Over the last month, the number of warnings sent for testing noncompliance have been on an upward trend. pic.twitter.com/Gm5lVOhCN6