Sara Willa Ernst reports for Houston Public Media, where she covers health disparities related to factors including income that affect Houston communities. Ernst was a Reporting Fellow at New Hampshire Public Radio, working both in daily news and long-form podcasting. During her time there, she was a producer for the podcasts The Second Greatest Show On Earth and Outside/In. She co-reported a two-part podcast on sex education in New Hampshire, covering topics from the statewide curriculum, abstinence-based education, LGBTQ inclusivity, consent and more. Before working on the podcast team, she was a General Assignment Reporter in the NHPR newsroom, covering the charter school debate embroiling the Granite State and the 2020 New Hampshire Presidential Primary. After graduating from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Ernst interned for NPR in Washington D.C. She previously held internships at Nashville Public Radio and WBUR Boston. She was a Chips Quinn Scholar in 2018 and is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association.
Beat: Medical and health reporting in Houston
Houston has one of the world's largest medical centers. This reporter sheds light on the disparities in community health related to Covid-19, income, climate change, gun violence, diet, and proximity to our area's chemical industries and coal-burning power plants. This reporter has an interest in covering science, medicine and community health topics and has honed investigative reporting skills including how to FOIA, how to use data-mining techniques, and generally, a journalist who has an "investigative mindset."