My goals as a journalist are to work with a team telling health stories with the most appropriate format, whether it be a print story, an interactive graphic, audio file, photo essay, etc.

I've worked with one of the largest and smallest news organizations and have experience in reporting, writing, producing and editing in the various formats.

I'm currently a part-time freelance journalist based in Athens, Ohio. My primary focus is on health issues, rural health in particular. The rest of my day is spent caring for my toddler.

Previously, I was an editor for The Associated Press Social Network Center. As editor, I assisted in managing AP's flagship Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as other niche accounts. I spent much of my day working closely with other AP editors and reporters to create unique blog posts for the Facebook page. Those posts were designed to provoke discussion and offer readers a behind-the-scenes look at our newsgathering process.

Prior to joining the Social Network Center, I was an editor for AP's Production Center (also known as the Mobile & Online departments). AP Mobile is an award-winning multimedia news portal that provides access to international, national and local news content from the AP and members news organizations on mobile devices, such as cell phones and PDAs. AP Online is a product that creates news packages for customers such as The New York Times and Yahoo! to display on their own site. As an editor for both departments, I created and monitored headline packages in various categories (Top News, US News, International News, etc.) by selecting the stories from AP wires. In addition, I assisted in collecting materials for the supervisory desk and brainstormed with the AP Mobile team to come up with unique mobile content.

For a stint in 2009, I was the founder and editor of an independent hyper-local news site called The LIC Times. The LIC Times focused on news and events going on in Long Island City, N.Y. The business strategy for this project was developed during the Knight Digital Media Center's News Entrepreneur Bootcamp, which I attended in 2009.   

Prior to joining the AP Production Center, I was an editorial assistant on the national desk of the Associated Press in New York. As an EA, some of my duties included preparing various fixtures (for example, tracking the U.S. military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan), doing occasional research for editors on the national desk and fielding phone calls.

During the summer of 2007, I was an AP intern with multimedia, also in New York. I produced audio slideshows, online video and interactive graphics. The topics I wrote on were diverse. My first one was about the aging farmers in Ohio. My last project was on the reconstruction of Ground Zero in Midtown Manhattan. The internship gave me the opportunity to explore the city and develop skills in various software programs. I used programs like SoundSlides, Sound Studio, Flash and Final Cut.

I graduated in June 2007 from Ohio University, where I studied journalism and Spanish. As a senior, I pioneered a multimedia internship with a local paper, The Athens News. The paper’s Web presence at the time was more of an afterthought. Management there gave me free reign to explore the world of multimedia. Since my involvement, the paper has invested in a complete redesign of their Web site. During my sophomore and junior years, I worked as a stringer for another local daily paper, The Athens Messenger. I mostly wrote features.

When I'm not at my day job, I enjoy spending time with my family. I also love learning about other cultures. This interest was sparked in high school. Since then, I've spent one year in Brazil and three months in Ecuador. While in Brazil, I discovered the amazing sport/dance called capoeira. I'm no expert, but I love jumping into a roda whenever possible.