Columbia Journalism Investigations Staff and Fellows
Staff
Director and Editor Kristen Lombardi
Kristen Lombardi heads Columbia Journalism Investigations, where she has the privilege of helping produce great investigative stories while training the next generation of investigative reporters. Under her editorial leadership, CJI fellows have dug into the neglect of those living in climate disaster zones, the mental-health toll of climate-fueled disasters and the unequal consequences of dangerous heat, among other stories, while winning accolades from the Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Association of Health Care Journalists, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Peabody Awards and more.
Before joining the school in August 2018, Kristen spent 11 years as an investigative reporter at the nonprofit newsroom The Center for Public Integrity, covering environmental and social justice issues. She has been a journalist for more than 25 years and has received numerous national and regional awards, including the Robert F. Kennedy Award, the Dart Award for Excellence in the Coverage of Trauma, the Edward R. Murrow Award and the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service. In 2013, President Barack Obama signed a law addressing problems exposed by her 2009-10 Public Integrity investigation, “Sexual Assault on Campus.” She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and an Ochberg Fellow at the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. She graduated from University of California at Berkeley and has a master’s degree in journalism from Boston University. She has taught investigative skills classes at Columbia and served as a master’s adviser for students in the Stabile investigative-reporting program.
Investigative Team
"Journalism is not an easy field to succeed in. CJI takes in young reporters who have shown promise and skill but need a few more nudges in the right direction. The program provides mentorship and advice that helps those eager journalists produce world-class, award-winning investigative reporting on par with some of the best stories in the country."
Oishika Neogi, '24 M.S. Stabile
Neogi is an investigative reporter based in NYC, covering criminal justice, healthcare and politics. She has worked at an investigative outlet in New Delhi, and collaborated with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Forbidden Stories, Al Jazeera and various local news outlets in India.
Neogi was also a media fellow with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) South Asia, where she reported on children orphaned by the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
Curtis Brodner, '24 M.S. Stabile
Brodner is an investigative reporter based in New York City. He has reported on labor, housing and policing issues.
Before joining CJI, Brodner was a metro news reporter for 1010 WINS. He also ran a volunteer news organization called Protest_NYC that covered the 2020 protests against police violence.
Willow Higgins, '23 M.A. Politics
Before joining CJI, Higgins was an investigative reporter on Evangelical efforts to combat sex trafficking in Texas.
She has worked as a city council reporter and an editor at a fact-checking company, and was an editorial intern at Texas Monthly.
Ryan Kost, '23 M.A. Politics
Kost is an investigative and narrative journalist from Arizona.
He has more than a decade of experience working in newsrooms, including as a staff writer for The San Francisco Chronicle, The Oregonian and The Associated Press.
CJI’s Global Migration Team
"The CJI program's editors are resistant to the quick-hit or quota, affording fellows the rare opportunity to earn deep trust with sensitive sources, craft compelling narratives and expose harm-causing systemic failures for maximum accountability."
Jazzmin Jiwa, '24 M.S.
Jiwa is an international journalist and documentary maker who has reported on issues at the intersections of migration, conflict and human rights in more than 15 countries.
Her long and short-form print, photo, audio and video work has been published by Time, BBC, Reuters, CBC Radio, Al-Jazeera, Slate and others.
Carla Mandiola, '24 M.S. Data
Mandiola is a reporter, covering culture, technology, and justice issues for magazines and newspapers in Chile and across South America.
Her work has been recognized by such awards as the Cyber Security Journalism Award from ESET in Spain, and the Excellence in Journalism Award in Chile.
CJI’s Cross Border Data Team
"Working on the cross-border data team for Columbia Journalism Investigations gave me a unique opportunity as a young reporter. It provided a scaffold of mentors and continued learning that equipped me to dive straight into what I do best: digging deep into systems and structures and exposing wrongdoing."
Johanna Hansel, '24 M.S.
Hansel is an international investigative and data journalist covering science, the environment, and health.
She has worked with GEO, DIE ZEIT, Doclights, and at North German Broadcasting in her native Germany.
Carla Samon Ros, '24 M.S.
Samon Ros is an international reporter covering the environment, labor rights, politics and economics.
Before joining CJI, she worked as a foreign correspondent for the world’s largest wire service in Spanish, EFE, in Brazil and Peru.