I’m Betsy Ladyzhets, an independent science, health, and data journalist currently focused on tracking the pandemic. I run the COVID-19 Data Dispatch, a publication that provides news, resources, and original reporting on COVID-19 data sources. I’m also a (part-time) journalism fellow at Documenting COVID-19, a project that obtains, publishes, and reports on COVID-related public records, housed at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation and MuckRock.

Previously, I worked as a data journalist at Stacker and volunteered for the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic. My freelance work has appeared in Science News, MIT Technology Review, Popular Science, The Open Notebook, and other national publications.

More clips | More about me | COVID-19 Data Dispatch | Work with me

‘Soooo frustrating:’ Infighting, bad predictions hindered Missouri response to Delta

Types

This investigation, based on hundreds of public records, revealed how miscommunication and a lack of preparedness hurt Southwest Missouri’s ability to address the Delta surge in summer 2021. The project was a collaboration between the Missouri Independent and Documenting COVID-19.

Are US booster shots sapping the world’s vaccine supply?

Types

Popular Science talked to six experts from around the world, all of whom agreed that the major pharmaceutical companies that developed COVID-19 vaccines have limited amounts they can supply to lower income companies.

COVID-19 testing in schools works. So why aren’t more doing it?

Types

This Science News feature explores major hurdles to routine COVID-19 testing programs in K-12 schools, which include: a lack of clear guidance on how testing programs should work, obtaining tests, gaining consent from parents and communicating the value of testing to families and staff in increasingly polarized environments.

Opening: Five school districts that kept their communities safe

Types

In the COVID-19 Data Dispatch’s “Opening” series, Betsy Ladyzhets identified and profiled five school communities that successfully reopened during the 2020-2021 school year. In each one, the majority of the district’s or school’s students returned to in-person learning while case numbers remained low.

Inside the Delaware schools that deployed rapid COVID tests to protect kids

Types

In Delaware, a state program enables public schools to easily set up routine COVID-19 testing using rapid antigen tests. This article examines at the program’s successes and challenges.

What science tells us about reducing coronavirus spread from wind instruments

Types

Wind musicians struggled to find evidence that would free them from musical lockdown, so they partnered with researchers to get some answers. This feature was Science News’ cover story for the magazine’s August 14, 2021 issue.