BU students earn Pulitzer Center public health, climate change reporting fellowships

Three Boston University students will conduct separate investigations into drug addiction in Vietnam, health inequities in Guam, and the climate impact of snow removal in the Northeast – thanks to fellowships they received from the nonprofit Pulitzer Center.

Eliza Billingham (COM’22) will focus on drug addiction and recovery in Vietnam, and its intersection with religion. Billingham earned an MS in journalism in May, and also served as a writing fellow working with both graduate and undergraduate students at the Boston University Writing Center.

Sara Mar, a recent graduate of BU’s School for Public Health, will be reporting on public health inequities in Guam and the effects of pollution in Indigenous communities on the island. Prior to attending SPH, Mar was a communications coordinator with Academic Public Health Corps, where they supported various health departments throughout the state of Massachusetts.

The fellowships to Billingham and Mar were awarded as part of its partnership with Boston University’s Program for Global Health Storytelling, led by faculty at the College of Communication and the School for Public Health.

Kristen Chin (COM’21) received a Pulitzer Center fellowship for climate science reporting, joining seven others named in December as part of the center’s Climate Science, Justice, and Gender special initiatives. Her documentary reporting will focus on the impact of climate change on the snow removal industry in the Northeast, as winters become wetter and more unpredictable.

Chin earned a MS in journalism and now works full-time at GBH Boston’s lifestyle and national programming department.

The Pulitzer Center is a nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to raising awareness of underreported global issues through direct support for quality journalism across all media platforms and a program of outreach and education to schools and universities.