Skip to main content

Area of Expertise

I'm interested in great narratives on just about anything taking place on Canada's East Coast.

I was the Globe’s Atlantic Bureau Chief based in Halifax, Nova Scotia until 2019. Since joining the bureau in 2017, I reported reported on veterans with PTSD, municipal governance issues, cannabis policy, fisheries issues, health and legal developments ... and Newfoundland's loss of the local delicacy 'Potted Meat'. I now contribute to The Globe as a freelance reporter.

I grew up in Owen Sound, Ont. and have been scribbling things down on paper for just about as long as I can remember. The journalism bug bit me in the early days of university after I'd mustered the gumption to poke my head into the graffiti-covered door of The Gazette. The daily student newspaper at what was then U.W.O. took any and all volunteers and I settled nervously into a desk in Sports. It was all down hill from there. I moved into news and was fortunate to land internships at the National Post and the Toronto Star that helped launch my career. I went on to work at the Edmonton Journal before taking a study break to deepen my investigative chops for a year at Columbia University in Manhattan. Stints at the Dallas Morning News and the Toronto Star deepened my interest in investigative reporting. I learned the ropes from great partners and was nominated for several awards for my work exposing corruption and fraud in the medical, school and charitable communities. One series of reports provided the basis for a U.S. federal investigation that led to a conviction and jail time for a Dallas-area fraudster. I landed at the Globe mid-way through the war in Afghanistan and did two rotations in our Kandahar bureau. After the deadly 2010 earthquake in Haiti I spent months in a temporary bureau in Jacmel, reporting on the slow rebuilding efforts. I was recognized for my work on both of those respective assignments with an Emmy and a National Newspaper Award, among other honours. Throughout my time at The Globe I have covered major breaking news events and written in both short and long form. My subject interests cover an almost bizarre range, from global food to automotive news. I'm clearly a fan of variety! From Halifax, I cover Atlantic Canadian news in what has been my favourite assignment to date.

Why did you become a journalist?

I'm fairly certain I was just born with the urge to tell stories, pursue truth, effect change. Journalism seemed not only the obvious way to go about doing that, but to make a living at it!

24

Years in Journalism

Education

Columbia University (M.Sc., 2005)

University of Western Ontario (Hons. BA, 2003)

Honours & Awards

National Magazine Award (2015)

National Newspaper Awards - Multimedia (2010)

Emmy Award - News and Documentary (2009)

Knight Science Journalism Fellowship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2010)

EpPy Award (2009)

Webby Award (2009)

Texas Associated Press Managing Editor Award - Star Investigative Report of the Year (2006)

Professional affliations

Association of American Journalists and Authors

Languages spoken

English

Latest articles