{"id":230865,"date":"2023-09-15T10:15:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T14:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=230865"},"modified":"2025-07-24T14:05:48","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:05:48","slug":"alum-named-2023-pulitzer-center-reporting-fellow","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2023\/alum-named-2023-pulitzer-center-reporting-fellow\/","title":{"rendered":"Alum Named 2023 Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin sphnews-block-editorial-leadin is-style-side-by-side has-media has-wider has-box has-media-focus-center-middle\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2023\/09\/Barbara-Espinosa-Barrera-headshot.jpeg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Headshot of Barbara Espinosa Barrera standing against a railing overlooking a river at sunset\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/09\/Barbara-Espinosa-Barrera-headshot.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/09\/Barbara-Espinosa-Barrera-headshot-477x636.jpeg 477w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/09\/Barbara-Espinosa-Barrera-headshot-500x667.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/09\/Barbara-Espinosa-Barrera-headshot-755x1007.jpeg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/09\/Barbara-Espinosa-Barrera-headshot-750x1000.jpeg 750w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/09\/Barbara-Espinosa-Barrera-headshot-600x800.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/09\/Barbara-Espinosa-Barrera-headshot-675x900.jpeg 675w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Barbara Espinosa Barrera<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Pulitzer Center<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlum Named 2023 Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Recent MPH alum and former Public Health Post Fellow Barbara Espinosa Barrera will return to the region of Ecuador where she grew up to report on local efforts to mitigate the effects of future volcanic eruptions.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar sphnews-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">September 15, 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/authors\/megan-jones\/\">Megan Jones<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p>Barbara Espinosa Barrera, a recent master of public health alum and former Public Health Post fellow has been named a <a href=\"https:\/\/pulitzercenter.org\/blog\/announcing-2023-pulitzer-center-reporting-fellows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2023 Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Pulitzer Fellowship program is part of a long-standing collaboration between the School of Public Health, the&nbsp;Boston University <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/com\/\" target=\"_blank\">College of Communication<\/a>,&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pulitzercenter.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting<\/a>&nbsp;through BU\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/pghs\/\">Program for Global Health Storytelling<\/a>. Pulitzer fellows explore the intersection of journalism and public health while developing a multimedia project on an underreported health crisis. This year, Espinosa Barrera was selected along with COM student <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pulitzercenter.org\/people\/mandile-mpofu\" target=\"_blank\">Mandile Mpofu<\/a>, who will be reporting on&nbsp;efforts to combat climate change in Namibia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At SPH, Espinosa Barrera (SPH\u201923) studied environmental health and wrote articles on topics such as the benefits of&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.publichealthpost.org\/research\/reaping-the-benefits\/\" target=\"_blank\">urban agriculture<\/a>&nbsp;and dangers of&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.publichealthpost.org\/databyte\/freaking-fracking\/\" target=\"_blank\">fracking<\/a> for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publichealthpost.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Public Health Post <\/a>(PHP), SPH\u2019s daily population health magazine. Now as an alum, she works to address air pollution as an environmental justice and health equity organizer for the greater-Boston nonprofit GreenRoots. She will use the Pulitzer Fellowship opportunity to apply her skills and expertise to a new challenge this winter: returning to the region of Ecuador where she grew up to report on local efforts to mitigate the effects of future volcanic eruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI went to school in Latacunga, one of the towns that is being threatened by the active volcano Cotopaxi. It\u2019s very historical. It&#8217;s very beautiful. It has small town vibes\u2014everybody knows each other,\u201d says Espinosa Barrera, who was forced to flee the farm where she spent her childhood and move with her parents to Ecuador\u2019s capital city of Quito when, after lying dormant for over a hundred years, Cotopaxi erupted in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The main danger, Espinosa Barrera says, is when volcanic activity melts sections of the massive glaciers capping Cotopaxi\u2019s summit, creating rivers of mud and debris called lahars. These massive mudflows gather destructive momentum as they rush down the volcano\u2019s steep slopes towards the thousands of people living in the valleys below. Local leaders aim to develop infrastructure to protect Latacunga and other down-stream communities, she says, but although activists have implored the Ecuadorian government, including the president, for assistance, so far there has been little acknowledgement of their plight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think [the activists\u2019] efforts are remarkable, and I want to bring them to a bigger audience,\u201d says Espinosa Barrera, who plans to cover the story in both English and Spanish so that she can pitch the piece to a major Ecuadorian news outlet in addition to publishing to the Pulitzer Center website. \u201cI hope that by telling the story, people internationally and nationally are going to be more supportive of this effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While nervous to be writing about such an important and deeply personal issue, Espinosa Barrera says she feels well-prepared from her time at PHP. \u201cI had all these amazing experiences at PHP. I felt like my writing had never been better and that if I was going to apply to a fellowship like this one, it would be [now].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Espinosa Barrera developed a passion for translating science into something anyone can understand, she says\u2014and not only through writing, but also through short-form videos, like the reels she learned to create for PHP\u2019s social media accounts. Impressed by their power, she would love to create a reel to accompany her Pulitzer story, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat is my hometown, those are my friends, that is my family,\u201d says Espinosa Barrera of the Cotopaxi region. \u201cI am just really thrilled at the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Applications for the 2024-2025 Public Health Post Fellowship program are open now, and interested on-campus MPH students are encouraged to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/public-health-post\/public-health-post-fellowship\/\">apply<\/a> by October 6.<\/em> <em>To learn more<\/em>, <em>consider<\/em> <em>attending an informational session with the PHP editorial team from 5-6 pm on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/calendar\/?eid=285779\">September 20<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/bu.edu\/sph\/calendar\/?eid=285780\">September 27<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories is-style-card has-two sphnews-block-editorial-relatedstories\">\n\t\t<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-title\">Related<\/h3>\n\t\t<ul class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"5169\" height=\"3446\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/IMG_7396.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/IMG_7396.jpg 5169w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/IMG_7396-636x424.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/IMG_7396-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/IMG_7396-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/IMG_7396-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/IMG_7396-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/IMG_7396-755x503.jpg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/IMG_7396-1500x1000.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/IMG_7396-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/IMG_7396-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/IMG_7396-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/IMG_7396-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/IMG_7396-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 5169px) 100vw, 5169px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>Public Health Post<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2024\/public-health-post-reflecting-on-8-years-training-public-health-communicators\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">Public Health Post: Reflecting on 9 Years Training Public Health Communicators<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">August 24, 2024<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Barbara Espinosa Barrera, a recent master of public health alum and former Public Health Post fellow has been named a 2023 Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow. The Pulitzer Fellowship program is part of a long-standing collaboration between the School of Public Health, the&nbsp;Boston University College of Communication,&nbsp;and the&nbsp;Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting&nbsp;through BU\u2019s&nbsp;Program for Global Health [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22210,"featured_media":230867,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[2094,2261,2265,3768,4483,3177],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/230865"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230865"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/230865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":231018,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/230865\/revisions\/231018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230865"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=230865"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=230865"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=230865"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=230865"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=230865"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=230865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}