JAWS 2025 Health Reporting Fellowship

Project: Investigating health harms of pesticides in Watsonville, CA, community, particularly farmworkers and children.

Nik Altenberg is a journalist based in Oakland, Calif. She works as a copy editor and fact checker for Santa Cruz Local and as an on-call reporter for KQED. Her reporting interests include policing and incarceration; environmental inequality; housing and homelessness; immigration and border policy; public health; aging and care; and the places where these issues intersect.

Bylines:

How pesticides endanger pregnant farmworkers in Pajaro Valley

New pesticide alerts draw praise, criticism in Pajaro Valley

Project: Exploring the complex question of mental health crisis response through the lens of two key groups of people: dispatchers for 911 and 988, and teams of mental health professionals that respond to people in crisis.

Taylor Blatchford is an engagement reporter covering mental health at The Seattle Times. She was previously a member of The Seattle Times’ investigative team, where her reporting exposed shortcomings in the state’s collection of money owed to wage theft victims. She holds a master’s degree in journalism education from Kent State University and a bachelor’s degree in investigative journalism from the University of Missouri. Her work has been recognized by Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Society for Features Journalism and the Washington Coalition for Open Government.

Bylines:

How King County is reshaping its mental health crisis response system

What could federal mental health cuts mean for Washington’s 988 system?

Project: Looking at communities that do not have access to maternity services, focusing on hospitals that have closed their labor and delivery departments.

Emily Brindley reports on health in the state of Texas at The Dallas Morning News. She was previously an investigative reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Before moving to Texas in 2021, she covered the coronavirus pandemic at the Hartford Courant in Connecticut. Outside of journalism, you can find Emily hiking, baking or waxing poetic about The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.

Bylines:

From newborn to nursing home: In rural Texas, a family physician does it all

Half of Texas counties are maternal care deserts. Rural moms, babies are paying the price

In rural America, hospitals are closing their labor and delivery units

Project: Shedding light on how biases about disability and pregnancy shape the treatment of disabled pregnant patients.

Julia Métraux is Mother Jones' first disability reporter, and she covers how disability and chronic illness overlaps with politics. For her JAWS fellowship, Métraux is excited to dive into how disabled people who are or want to get pregnant are treated, including an examination of persisting sterilization policies. Métraux's work is shaped by her own lived experience with chronic illness and disability. 

Bylines:

Pregnancy is a minefield when you’re disabled

Forced sterilization of disabled people isn’t a relic of the past

Project: Investigating whether Native Americans were disproportionately affected during the Medicaid unwinding in California, Arizona, Alaska, Oklahoma, and Montana.

Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez is a rural health correspondent for KFF Health News based in Elko, Nevada. Her project will focus on how the Medicaid redetermination process affected Native Americans. Tribal health leaders reported a host of issues, including lack of data and communication from state health agencies, as states terminated coverage for ineligible beneficiaries last year following the end of the covid-19 public health emergency.

Bylines:

Native Americans want To avoid past Medicaid enrollment snafus as work requirements loom

Tribal health leaders say Medicaid cuts would decimate health programs

Project: Reporting on how Canadian health care is unexpectedly lagging behind its American counterpart when it comes to providing care for female genital mutilation survivors.

Kena Shah is an independent Canadian journalist reporting on human rights, gender-based violence, and healthcare. Her reporting on female genital mutilation in Canada has been recognized by the Amnesty International Canada Media Award. Kena is a former software engineer and holds an undergraduate degree in computer engineering.

Bylines:

Canadian women harmed by genital mutilation find help in the U.S.

U.S. healthcare is failing survivors of female genital cutting

Project: Producing a pocast series on health disparities in Colorado’s Latino community.

Natalie Skowlund is an award-winning bilingual journalist focused on in-depth storytelling around human rights, gender and health issues. She previously held positions at NPR-affiliate KUNC and the Grants Pass Daily Courier, and received a master’s degree from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. Her work has been recognized by the Indigenous Journalists Association, Association of Health Care Journalists, and Society of Professional Journalists, among others. She is also a former Fulbright scholar.

Bylines:

Deportation fears add to mental health problems confronting Colorado resort town workers

How Latino seniors are beating loneliness in Denver

Project: Exploring breast cancer trends in Black women, in particular the mortality gap and genetic predisposition to the disease.

Shernay Williams is an independent TV and video journalist. She started her career as a local newspaper and TV reporter/anchor, covering everything from mayoral races to the heroin epidemic. During a break from journalism, she launched a content strategy firm, directory of Black mom-owned businesses and national database of free small business resources. Shernay currently produces health and consumer reports for Ivanhoe Broadcast News and community stories for ABC27 in Harrisburg, PA.

Bylines:

WATCH: Why don’t Black women join clinical trials?

Breast cancer kills Black women more. Will Trump make it worse?