1992-1995
Phillips Academy
In high school, my favorite subjects were philosophy, mathematics, playwriting, and French. I was News Director, then General Manager, of the school radio station WPAA. Here I am in my varsity indoor track jacket.
1995-2001
Stanford University
I obtained a Bachelor’s of Science in Symbolic Systems — similar to cognitive science — with a concentration on persuasive technologies. I particularly loved epistemology, the study of how people come to believe things. I also spent a fantastic year abroad, 1996-1997, as an affiliate student of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where I read theology and psychology of religion. From 2000-2001, I taught French and English in Hakodate, Japan, through Stanford’s Volunteers in Asia program. My work as an English teacher continued when I moved to Cologne, Germany, my mother’s home region, in 2001. I have taught languages in my spare time ever since.
2002-2007
German Public Broadcasting & Max Planck Society
In Cologne and Bonn, Germany, I was a world news host and reporter for the English Service of Deutsche Welle, a division of German Public Broadcasting. During this time I also produced stories describing research within Germany’s Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science. This work continued even when I moved to the United States in 2005. My writing was in English, but most of my research was in German. This photo is my official Deutsche Welle picture.
2005-2007
WSTC/WNLK Radio
In 2005 I moved back to my home state of Connecticut, USA,in the New York suburbs, to take the position of Afternoon News Anchor at a local commercial radio station owned by Cox Communication. Here I am interviewing Ned Lamont, the future Governor of Connecticut.
2006-2009
National Public Radio & television
On weekends, I started working as a local news anchor at WNYC, the New York City affiliate of National Public Radio (NPR). From 2007-2008, I served as local host for All Things Considered, NPR’s flagship afternoon news program, at member station WSHU in Fairfield, Connecticut. During this time, I also filed reports for the national NPR news service, including reporting from Paris for American Public Media’s morning economic news show, Marketplace. On television, I moderated a number of political debates, and was trained as a reporter for News12, a local 24-hour news station in southwestern Connecticut.
2009-2010
Radio France Internationale & France24 television
My world news journalism continued in Paris. I served as a host and reporter for the English Service of Radio France Internationale, and then a web content editor for France24 television, in the city’s suburbs. This picture is the France24 studios.
2009-2011
University of Paris
In 2009, I felt inspired by my news reporting to turn my career towards emergency medicine. So, I went to Université Paris-Sud, now known as Université Paris-Saclay, where I did a foundational year in biomedical sciences. I continued studying medicine for a year at Université Paris 5 René Descartes, now known as Université Paris Cité. All these studies were in French.
2011-2015
Columbia University
I continued biomedical sciences at the School of General Studies of Columbia University in New York City. While there, I volunteered as the Chief Clinical Research Associate for the Emergency Department of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. I also was employed as a researcher for Columbia Health. This picture is in Nicaragua, where I went on medical mission trip organized by the school.
2015-2018
University of Turin & Emergency
I continued studying medicine at the University of Milan, Italy, but my interest turned towards the administration of medical education. Soon I was hired by the University of Turin as a consultant, helping the school develop an English language medical school. I also volunteered as a translator and editor for Emergency, a Milan-based international humanitarian medical organization. This picture is of the Politruck, a mobile clinic in Milan particularly for people without documentation or access to the national health care system.
2017-2026
Umeå University
As I continued working for the University of Turin, I began to wonder how to combine my original education in cognitive science with my interests in emergency medicine and media. So I went to beautiful and progressive Umeå University in northern Sweden for a 2-year Master’s of Science degree in cognitive science, with a thesis on the ethics of artificial intelligence in emergency medicine. I then did another 1-year Master’s of Science in human-computer interaction and social media, with a thesis on the ethics of online shaming. I subsequently entered a PhD program, studying artificial intelligence ethics. My dissertation, which I’ve written and is now under peer review, is on human-computer interaction and death-and-dying. How have digital technologies changed the way we die and grieve? The empirical research for this dissertation is in the intensive care unit of Umeå University Hospital. I hope to defend the dissertation in January 2026. During my time in Umeå, I have also served on many university boards as the elected representative of the PhD students to the Student Union. In this picture, I’m in traditional Swedish academic garb.
2026-?
Bringing it all together
As I look to the future, I wonder how to combine my academic and journalistic experiences. I very much miss radio and television, and dream about returning to broadcasting someday. But I’ll always be interested in science, and drawn to helping people particularly through humanitarian medical work. I’m also curious if it’s possible to integrate my religious studies with my work. This picture is from the Chinese Scholar Garden on Staten Island, New York City.