Kirsten Berg
Kirsten Berg is a research reporter with ProPublica.
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Kirsten Berg is a research reporter at ProPublica.
Her collaborations with colleagues in the newsroom have received numerous honors, including the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, a Selden Ring Award, an Investigative Reporters and Editors Award and medal, and recognition as a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
She has contributed to investigations on a range of topics, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s hobbled response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise and ramifications of Chinese transnational repression and organized crime, and the federal judiciary’s repeated failures to provide ethical oversight for its judges.
Prior to joining ProPublica, she was an editor at Future Tense, the deputy director of the New America Fellows Program, and a reporter at the New England Center for Investigative Reporting. She was also once an intern at ProPublica.
You can email her securely at [email protected].
How 3M Execs Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe
Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people’s bodies. Her bosses halted her work.
A Marijuana Boom Led Her to Oklahoma. Then Anti-Drug Agents Seized Her Money and Raided Her Home.
A year after authorities arrested Qiu He, the Chinese immigrant has yet to be charged with a crime. She and others say anti-Asian bias plays a role in the state’s crackdown on the pot industry: “I don’t feel secure here.”
A Diplomat’s Visits to Oklahoma Highlight Contacts Between Chinese Officials and Community Leaders Accused of Crimes
After a mass murder at a marijuana farm, a Chinese diplomat visited an organization that has been the subject of investigations.
黑帮、金钱与凶杀：华人有组织犯罪主宰美国地下大麻交易
奥克拉荷马州的一起谋杀案导致四人丧生，同时为外界揭示了美国蓬勃发展的非法大麻生意如何被华人黑帮主宰，并帮助被指与中国威权政府有联系的帮派成为全球有组织犯罪体系中的强者。
Gangsters, Money and Murder: How Chinese Organized Crime Is Dominating America’s Illegal Marijuana Market
A quadruple murder in Oklahoma shows how the Chinese underworld has come to dominate the booming illicit trade, fortifying its rise as a global powerhouse with alleged ties to China’s authoritarian regime.
We’re Investigating Mental Health Care Access. Share Your Insights.
ProPublica’s reporters want to talk to mental health providers, health insurance insiders and patients as we examine the U.S. mental health care system. If that’s you, reach out.
Skipping School: America’s Hidden Education Crisis
Absenteeism has nearly doubled since the pandemic. With state and federal governments largely abdicating any role in getting kids back into classrooms, some schools have turned to private companies for a reimagined version of the truant officer.
The Judiciary Has Policed Itself for Decades. It Doesn’t Work.
The secretive Judicial Conference is tasked with self-governance. The group, led by the Supreme Court’s chief justice, has spent decades preserving perks, defending judges and thwarting outside oversight.
United Nations Seems to Boost Plastics Industry Interests, Critics Say
Ahead of a groundbreaking treaty to reduce plastic pollution, a group of independent scientists fear that the United Nations is legitimizing industry-backed proposals such as chemical recycling.
The Inside Story of How the Navy Spent Billions on the “Little Crappy Ship”
Littoral combat ships were supposed to launch the Navy into the future. Instead they broke down across the globe and many of their weapons never worked. Now the Navy is getting rid of them. One is less than five years old.