Here are a few samples of my work from throughout my time at the University of Pittsburgh, most of them focusing on issues that are tied to the local areas or broader regions I call home. I believe these exemplify my skills as a researcher, writer, editor, and thinker, and all of them track my journey toward discovering the calling of environmental law:

Final News Story

This project was written for an intro-level journalism class, and was my first foray into researching and writing about local environmental policy issues. It involved research, interviewing, and data synthesis, bringing together a wealth of information to create an informative and compelling report on the various pollution-related issues that threaten the Pittsburgh area, the initiatives that are being undertaken to combat them, and the matters of policy that inform the issue.

Keystone State Minus Keystone Species

The longest nonfiction project I’ve ever undertaken, this assignment details the fragile ecology of Pennsylvania, particularly the overpopulation of white-tailed deer as a result of native predator loss, and the downstream effects of that food chain disruption. Because of the breadth and multi-faceted-ness of this issue, this report required extensive research, interviewing experts from the University of Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, native species reintroduction efforts across the country, and more.

West Virginia v. EPA

Written for a class on American politics, this research project was my first delve into the world of federal environmental policy. Through this project, I took my first steps toward learning how to research and synthesize legal information, and discovered a strong passion for environmental law and public policy, and the application of the legal system to some of the most existential threats facing our planet and its inhabitants.

Research Writing Paper

A departure from my usual subjects of writing, environmental issues, this paper focused on advocating for a change to the New York Public Secondary Education Curriculum. Formatted as a research paper, this project is a good example of data synthesis in service of argument formation, and shows my strengths as a researcher and fact-checker. The issue this paper covers is one of significant importance as well, detailing the often-overlooked history of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and its significance to the history of the American Northeast.

World Historical Timeline

As a history enthusiast, this project gave me the opportunity to research and trace the threads of history, specifically delineating a list of the wars that most fundamentally altered the course of world history. Aside from being an interesting exploration of a number of historical events and their lasting impacts on history, this paper gave me a chance to think critically about the complex interplay and cause-and-effect nature of history, synthesizing research and sources into a cohesive final product.