Telling Her Story: A Multi-Year Campaign on Women in STEMM, Leadership, and Antarctica
ABOUT: As part of the client's ongoing commitment to spotlight the work of their researchers, this three-story campaign highlights an award for an early-stage female researcher, Dr. Kristina Burrack. Dr. Burrack was handpicked as part of Homeward Bound's roster—a global year-long women’s leadership program, empowering women in STEMM to develop leadership skills, to learn how to secure funding for future research projects, culminating in a two-week voyage to Antarctica.
Dr. Burrack Bound for Homeward Bound
Role: Interviewer | Writer | Editor | Visual Curator | Publisher
Duties: This is the first story of a three-story campaign. I led this story from start to finish—interviewing the subject, crafting the narrative, and refining the piece through multiple editing rounds, including scientific peer review for factual accuracy. I also sourced, curated, and captioned all supporting visuals, and independently published the final story on WordPress. This project highlights my ability to manage both the editorial and visual direction of a story while ensuring on-brand digital publishing.
Published in: HHRI News, 2023
Summary: As part of HHRI’s mission to spotlight researchers creating real-world impact, I profiled Dr. Kristina Burrack, a malaria immunologist and infectious diseases researcher selected for the global Homeward Bound leadership program. This story explores her evolution from collegiate athlete to scientific leader and how the program helped grow her confidence, grow her leadership abilities, navigate high-stakes relationships, and secure research funding.
“And so being able to study human diseases, and have an impact on treatments or vaccines…where it wasn’t necessarily impacting this patient today, but I might impact hundreds or thousands or millions of people…in five years, or 10 years, you never really know…when your discovery might be applied in some way.”
Dr. Kristina Burrack completes year-long STEMM leadership program, Homeward Bound
In retrospect, I'm very thankful because it helped me just think about where I want to be and how I get there. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't fully appreciate how much of a potentially good leader I already was or how a lot of the characteristics of what I would consider a good leader I already employ or do, said Dr. Burrack.
Role: Interviewer | Writer | Editor | Visual Curator | Publisher
Duties: This is the second story of a three-story campaign. I led this story from start to finish—interviewing the subject, crafting the narrative, and refining the piece through multiple editing rounds, including scientific peer review for factual accuracy. I also sourced, curated, and captioned all supporting visuals, and independently published the final story on WordPress. This project highlights my ability to manage both the editorial and visual direction of a story while ensuring on-brand digital publishing.
Published in: HHRI News, 2024
Summary: As part of HHRI’s mission to spotlight researchers creating real-world impact, I profiled Dr. Kristina Burrack, a malaria immunologist and infectious diseases researcher selected for the global Homeward Bound leadership program. This is a retrospective story, reflecting what Dr. Burrack learned from Homeward Bound, including how it changed her view around impostor syndrome, improved her leadership abilities, and how it impacted the way she views and interacts with her research.
To Antarctica & beyond; Infectious Diseases researcher Kristina Burrack, PhD, completes Homeward Bound trip
Role: Interviewer | Writer | Editor | Visual Curator | Publisher
Duties: This is the third story of a three-story campaign. I led this story from start to finish—interviewing the subject, crafting the narrative, and refining the piece through multiple editing rounds, including scientific peer review for factual accuracy. I also sourced, curated, and captioned all supporting visuals, and independently published the final story on WordPress. This project highlights my ability to manage both the editorial and visual direction of a story while ensuring on-brand digital publishing.
Published in: HHRI News, 2025
Summary: As part of HHRI’s mission to spotlight researchers creating real-world impact, I profiled Dr. Kristina Burrack, a malaria immunologist and infectious diseases researcher selected for the global Homeward Bound leadership program. This story focused on a two-week expedition exploring the sights and wonders of Antarctica's peninsula and the environmental impact of climate change on the world's southernmost continent.
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Antarctica is “the highest, driest, windiest, and coldest continent in the world.” It rained several days during the trip, and rain used to be highly unusual. Burrack explained why rain is so bad for the environment. “Baby penguins die if they get wet from rain because … their feathers aren't waterproof yet. Luckily, when we were there, I think all of the baby penguins were old enough that they wouldn't have died from the rain.”