Al Shaw
Al Shaw is a Senior News Application Developer at ProPublica.
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Al Shaw is a Senior News Application Developer at ProPublica. He uses data and interactive graphics to cover environmental issues, natural disasters and politics.
A year before Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston, Shaw was part of a team that produced “Hell and High Water,” which warned of the region's vulnerability to coastal storms. The project won a Peabody Award in 2017. Shaw's project, “Losing Ground,” about the century-long erosion of Louisiana's coast won a Gold Medal from the Society for News Design. His interactive maps surrounding FEMA's response to Hurricane Sandy were honored with the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi award. Before joining ProPublica, Shaw was a designer/developer at the political news website Talking Points Memo.
New in Trump Town: Staffer Resumes
After discovering that the resumes of political appointees include information not revealed on their financial disclosure forms, Property of the People used data from Trump Town and Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain as many staff resumes as possible.
Hurricane Florence’s Surge Is Expected to Hit Homes That Already Cost the Government Millions
The storm is pummeling coastal towns that are battling rising sea levels and have been repeatedly bailed out by federal flood insurance.
How the Army Corps’ Hesitation Nearly Destroyed a City
When the worst flood in nearly a century hit Cairo, Illinois, in 2011, the Army Corps waited before following an emergency plan designed to save a city of 2,800 people. See how that week unfolded and the delays and indecision that cost millions in avoidable damage.
Flood Thy Neighbor: Who Stays Dry and Who Decides?
One Missouri town’s levee saga captures what's wrong with America's approach to controlling rivers.
To See How Levees Increase Flooding, We Built Our Own
We ran water through a room-sized river model to show how levees can make flooding worse. Try it yourself.
How You Can Use Trump Town
Look through thousands of records on Trump administration appointees. Here’s how you can use them in your research.
How Overbuilt Levees Along the Upper Mississippi River Push Floods Onto Others
A new analysis of government data shows how levee districts that have raised their levees without federal permits would be better protected against future flooding, while those that follow the rules would see extra flooding.
New Model Shows Towns on the Wrong Side of an Illinois Levee District Are Treading Water
By building up their own flood protections, some communities have ensured they would be less affected by future floods, while their neighbors would fare worse.
How We Compiled Trump Town
We assembled an authoritative database of the people appointed to government positions by the Trump administration. Here’s how we did it.
What We Found in Trump’s Drained Swamp: Hundreds of Ex-Lobbyists and D.C. Insiders
For the first time, political appointee and federal financial disclosure information is publicly searchable.