WORK EXPERIENCE

Reporter, The Baltimore Banner, Baltimore/Annapolis, MD, 2022-present

• Politics reporter, 2022-present: Lead reporter on Maryland government and politics for an online, nonprofit news organization.

Reporter, The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore/Annapolis, MD, 2013-2022

• State House reporter, 2018-2022: Covered the governor, Maryland General Assembly, state agencies and elections. Contributed photos and videos to accompany stories and appeared on local radio, TV and podcasts. Investigation into the governor’s chief of staff led to his resignation and an investigation that resulted in criminal charges.

• Baltimore County reporter, 2014-2018: Covered the county executive and county council in the largest jurisdiction in the Baltimore region.

• Anne Arundel County reporter, 2013-2014: Covered politics in Anne Arundel County and the City of Annapolis.

Reporter, The Capital, Annapolis, MD, 2003-2013
Wrote news, feature and profile stories for afternoon daily newspaper and website. Shot photos and videos for stories. Contributed to coverage of state politics.

• Environment Reporter, 2005-2013: Provided extensive coverage of Chesapeake Bay restoration effort, edited biweekly environmental section, covered environmental legislation at state General Assembly.

• General Assignment Reporter, 2003-2005: Covered a variety of stories from zoning disputes to police news.

Reporter, Maryland Gazette, Glen Burnie, MD, 2000-2003
Wrote news, feature and profile stories as a general assignment reporter for semiweekly community newspaper. Coverage included environment, development, state prisons and police/fire.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

• Featured on local and national news outlets to discuss news stories, including WYPR, WBAL and WEAA radio stations in Baltimore; WTOP, WAMU and WMAL radio stations in Washington; WJZ-TV, Maryland Public Television, Fox News, MSNBC, C-SPAN television and C-SPAN radio; and various podcasts.

• Moderated numerous candidate forums and discussions.

• Selected as a panelist for televised gubernatorial debates in 2022 and 2018.

• Appeared as a guest speaker for the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association, Maryland-D.C. Scholastic Press Association, World Trade Center Institute, the German Marshall Fund, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program, the Chesapeake Research Consortium, Leadership Anne Arundel, the American Psychological Association, the Wendi Winters PR Bazaar and local political clubs.

• Delivered guest lectures for journalism, political science and law classes at Towson University, Goucher College, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, the University of Maryland Carey School of Law, the University of Baltimore School of Law and Anne Arundel Community College.

AWARDS

Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association
More than 20 awards since 2001 for categories ranging from multimedia storytelling to investigative reporting. Top awards include:

• 2023: First place and Best in Show, sports reporting, for team coverage of the Orioles lease saga; also first place, breaking news, with reporter Andy Kostka for writing about the near-collapse of the lease deal. Contributed to a print section on the gubernatorial inauguration, which won first place and Best in Show for news-driven special section.

• 2022: First place, local feature column, (large news organizations) for a light-hearted story about the hobbies of gubernatorial candidates.

• 2020: Second place for state government reporting (large dailies) for explaining a political connection that led to a problematic state government purchase of masks and ventilators.

• 2019: Second place for investigative reporting (large dailies) for team coverage of the state of Maryland’s thoroughbred horse racing industry.

• 2018: Second place for local column/critical thinking (large dailies) for a reflection on the unexpected death of a gubernatorial candidate.

• 2016: First place for growth and land-use reporting (large dailies) for a team report about development in the watershed surrounding historic Ellicott City, which was devastated by a deadly flood.

• 2012: First and second place for environment reporting (mid-size dailies) for stories about invasive snakehead fish and an in-depth look at a farm pollution lawsuit. Also, first place for state government reporting for discovering that water pollution fines largely pay for government overhead.

• 2011: Best in Show for feature profile (newspapers of all sizes) for a story about the last skipjack captain harvesting oysters on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay.

• 2010: First place in environment reporting (mid-size dailies) for an investigation that showed fines as small as $50 were being levied for major sewage spills, as well as first place in state government for finding dishwasher detergents containing phosphorus were stocked on store shelves, despite a new law banning them.

• 2006: Best in Show for growth/development (newspapers of all sizes) for a co-written article exposing the tactics used by developers to win community support for their projects.

• 2004: Best in Show for state government (newspapers of all sizes) for an examination of the fate of a neglected cemetery at a soon-to-be-closed state psychiatric hospital.

National Headliner Awards

• 2021: Second place for beat reporting for revealing the governor’s chief of staff had received a sweetheart deal from his prior government job. He resigned and lawmakers passed reform legislation.

News Leaders Association

• 2020: Al Neuharth Breaking News Reporting Award, for team coverage of the federal indictment of Baltimore’s then-Mayor Catherine Pugh.

Washington-Baltimore News Guild Front Page Awards

• 2018: Second place in business reporting for a story about the turnaround of the former Sparrows Point steel mill into an industrial campus.

Chesapeake Associated Press Mark Twain Awards

• 2006: Outstanding Environment Story, for an article about the overlooked and imperiled Atlantic sturgeon.

EDUCATION

University of Maryland, College Park: B.A. in journalism.

• Reporting intern at Gannett News Service and The Daily Times (Salisbury, MD).
• Reporter and editor for The Diamondback student newspaper.
• Earned honors citation from the Honors College.

City University of New York’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.

• 2021 fellow in the Ravitch Fiscal Reporting Program, attending a week-long seminar on covering government finances including budgets, public pensions, municipal bonds, tax incentives and unemployment.