Teal Davis

I am a journalist following the intersection of the environment, natural resources, land use and science. Currently, I am an environment reporter for Wyoming Public Radio and High Country News’ Western Environmental Reporting Collaborative through Report for America.

Previously, I have covered everything from healthcare access, nutrition assistance programs and wildlife migration research across Wyoming. Before reporting in Wyoming, I produced a nationally recognized investigation into a $1.3 million surveillance system with AI facial-recognition capabilities installed at San Diego State University and covered the growing aquaculture industry in the city.

I have focused on accountability and solutions reporting and believe journalism is a critical public service.

My by-lines have been featured in Wyoming Public Radio, High Country News, inewsource, KPBS, Times of San Diego, Casper-Star Tribune and Wyofile, among others.

I aim to continue working within climate and investigation-focused news reporting.

Connect:
Tealdavisreports@gmail.com
LinkedIn
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Portrait by Petrina Tran
My reporting includes coverage of the Wind River Reservation, shared by members of the Eastern Shoshone and the Northern Arapaho tribes.

Selected work

Ocean farming: Aquaculture research works to bring new industry to San Diego

Researchers from the University of California San Diego, San Diego State University and Hub SeaWorld are working in tandem with the Port of San Diego in hopes of establishing seaweed and shellfish farms off San Diego’s coast in the near future. Researchers say the farms could offer opportunities for new food sources, help to purify the water and can be used in fertilizers to lower climate impact.

“We’ve got great tools to measure if we’re doing things right,” said Norm Abell, an operator at one of the Port of San Diego’s research locations.

Nutrition’s role in mule deer decline

Matthew Bowers, a research scientist with Wyoming Game and Fish, turned his back to the small helicopter as its quick blades kicked up dust, grass and debris from nearby shrubs. Cedar Hincke stepped behind the white trailer connected to his truck to avoid the cloud. Hincke, as soon as the small helicopter landed in the dirt clearing, stepped around the trailer and began refueling and collecting tangled nets from the aircraft.

The two men were in the hills about 12 miles down an unpaved road near Jeffery City late last week.

Bowers and Hincke were out collecting data samples and supporting capture crews for the Mule Deer Monitoring Program, a research project aimed at identifying the causes of declining mule deer populations across the state.

SDSU to spend $1.3M on AI-enabled surveillance cameras

The San Diego State University police department upgraded more than 1,300 surveillance cameras on campus with systems that have artificial intelligence capabilities including feature recognition, “unusual behavior” tracking and license plate readers.

Plans of the project were discovered through an investigation by The Daily Aztec with costs of over $1.3 million for the installation and software updates which were implemented this academic year.

Resume

Sarah Teal Davis, ResumeDownload