blog and selected work

COVID-19 Clusters by State

The US failed to protect the most vulnerable – the incarcerated, elderly, and workers in already-unsanitary conditions.

Racial Disparities and NYC's Uncounted Police-Involved Deaths

Black New Yorkers are more likely to die at the hands of police-involvement. The city fails to count so many of these deaths.

Marching With Police Won't Help

Protesting with police misses the point of fighting police violence.

Abolition Can't Wait: Data Issues in the #8CantWait Campaign

Reforms with shaky evidence are no priority in the fight against police violence. Defunding and abolition are.

Jose L. Velesaca v. Chad Wolf et al

I analyzed data for this class-action lawsuit, which alleges that ICE's New York office uses a biased algorithm that detains people unconstitutionally.

Trapped Inside: The Past, Present, and Future of Solitary Confinement in New York

I fact-checked the analysis on this report, which shows that the HALT Act would reduce solitary confinement in New York more than the regulations proposed by the DOCCS.

Arrest, Release, Repeat: How police and jails are misused to respond to social problems

I recommended using the National Survey on Drug Use and Health to study health and socioeconomic characteristics among recently and frequently incarcerated individuals, formed research questions, and conducted preliminary analyses.

New data: Low incomes – but high fees – for people on probation

People on probation are much more likely to be low-income than those who aren't, and steep monthly probation fees put them at risk of being jailed when they can't pay.

Failure should not be an option: Grading the parole release systems of all 50 states

For this report I analyzed National Corrections Reporting Program data to show how many people in each state are currently eligible for parole hearings.

State of Phone Justice: Local jails, state prisons and private phone providers

For this report I assisted with research and design. I created web scrapers to collect data from phone company websites, scripted the interactive clock that tracks call costs, and illustrated the corporate consolidation graphic.

Industrial Animal Agriculture Abuses Workers – a Reading List

Tackling injustice in industrial animal agriculture culture means advocating for workers. And vice versa.

Importing Police-Public Contact Surveys Into R

Importing Annual Probation and Parole Surveys into R

Waste Lagoons Breached by Hurricane Florence

Many animal agriculture facilities are underwater.

Animal Manure Pits on the Hurricane Path

Animal facilities in the path of Florence pose threats to public health.

Mapping Animals in US Agriculture

This interactive map lets you investigate where animals are in the United States.

Animal Agriculture Waste and Income Inequality

Industrial animal agriculture is untenable.

Student Loan Forgiveness and Racial Wealth

Debt erasure is a simple, viable way to increase minority wealth.

Racial Wealth Gap Persists Despite Educational Progress

Improved educational attainment does not necessarily mean improved racial equality.

Big Increases in Animal Agriculture Waste

Visualizing industrialization by measuring poop.

Profile of Health of Incarcerated Women in the United States

Mental health issues are prevalent among incarcerated women, and jails fall behind prisons in treatment of every health condition.

Animal Agriculture Exacerbates Human Inequality

Waste from industrial animal agriculture is concentrated in the poorest areas of America, affecting the health of marginalized people.

Big Dairy is Taking Over

Small dairy farms are disappearing, and more cows are on the biggest dairy facilities than ever before.

Trends in beef industry

Examining beef farm data by cattle count.

Importing Surveys of Incarcerated Populations into R

Importing surveys of inmates in local jails, state prisons, and federal prisons from SAS + ASCII format into R.

More hogs are on factory farms than ever before

Pork agriculture is industrializing.

Importing USDA Census of Agriculture Data into R

Post-Thanksgiving, America is experiencing a different kind of hunger – a hunger for agricultural data that is easy to process in the programming language R.

Educational Alternatives to Animal Dissection

Taking the life of an animal to learn anatomy is more expensive, but not more educational, than several alternatives.

Don't Turnitin – Against Plagiarism Detectors

While used by millions, plagiarism detection services are detrimental to the goals of students and teachers alike.

Walking Through Data – Hog and Pig Farms

In examining data, we can see telling relationships about agriculture. Here these relationships – and ways of visualizing them – are discussed.

The Tragedy of Pork Agriculture

The industrialization of pork is a growing disaster for public health and animal welfare in the United States.

Sleep Deprivation Does Not Treat Depression

Recent claims that sleep deprivation is an effective treatment for depression demonstrate a common problem with press releases in science journalism.

How to Keep Track of Facts, Argue Intelligently, and Stay Informed

Citation managers make everything easier.

What Can One Weird Drug Teach Us About The Way We Hear?

The pitch-distorting properties of DiPT make it a valuable tool in studying the neural mechanisms of hearing.

What Milk Is Best? Environment, Cows, Almonds, and You

A popular article comparing types of milk has some major flaws.