Eli Chen Email & Phone Number

Durham, North Carolina, United States

My core duties as a digital news producer include pulling copy relevant to North Carolina audiences from the Associated Press, North Carolina NPR stations and other publications that allow republication; copy-editing, image searching and editing, and publishing reporters' stories; monitoring local, regional and national news for content to share across our social media platforms. I also cover stories that center Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in North Carolina. My stories have included how Chinese American folks processed the fatal shooting of UNC professor Zijie Yan in 2023, the difficult experiences of Indian nationals with H-1B visas who are stuck in the massive backlog of green card applications, and how Hmong American families largely depend on bilingual and younger family members to help with applying for social service programs due to a lack of accessible interpreters. I also draw comics and have illustrated mine and others' reporting at WUNC, including the Embodied podcast's abortion travel episode and the Scorched Workers project on how outdoor workers are impacted by worsening extreme heat in North Carolina. I am also increasingly doing community engagement work to help raise awareness of our news coverage and help promote media literacy in the greater North Carolina community - that has included giving a misinformation talk for AAPI high schoolers at NC Asian Americans Together's Youth Leadership Institute in 2024 and proposing and assisting with the creation of a zine (self-published short book) based on the reporting for the Scorched Workers project in collaboration with local artist Antonio Alanis for release at the 2024 Hispanic Book Fair with El Centro.

I'm senior editor of the Overheard at National Geographic podcast, which features narrative stories and interviews from Nat Geo photographers, explorers, journalists and scientists who are pushing the boundaries of human knowledge about our planet and universe. I work with our executive producer of audio to manage producers, edit scripts, produce copy for marketing and approve story ideas for upcoming seasons. I also serve as a guest host and producer for several episodes.Important note: my position will be eliminated by the end of June 2023 as a result of restructuring at National Geographic and its parent company, Disney.

Greater St. Louis Area

I co-produce and co-host The Story Collider shows in St. Louis. I look for storytellers in scientific and non-scientific communities. I also review pitches from people who live in the St. Louis region and coordinate with St. Louis Public Radio's staff in recording, marketing and setting up the shows. I shared my own personal story at The Story Collider's first show in St. Louis in May 2017. Note: After I stopped producing the St. Louis shows in 2021, I joined the organization's Artistic Advisory Board in June 2022.

St. Louis

- Report spots and feature-length stories on the latest scientific advances and environmental issues in the St. Louis metro area- Reports on long-range subjects, such as the West Lake Landfill Superfund site, one of the most publicly scrutinized Superfund sites in the country

Dover, Delaware Area

- Reporting on general assignment stories throughout the state of Delaware for the daily newscast- Produce 5 to 10 minute features on the latest advances in science in Delaware- Host interviews with local scientists about their research and/or their perspective on trending national/international science news- Manage WDDE's partnership with climate change storytelling project iSeeChange, a localore initiative with the Association of Independents in Radio- Instrumental in providing near-weekly science coverage on WDDE's newsmagazine, The Green- Anchored on weekends until Feb. 2016- Act as backup anchor and operates board for Morning Edition & All Things Considered shifts- Participates in on-air fundraising

New York, Ny

Assist producers in researching topics and guests for programs; writing promotional materials; generating a daily science newsfeed for staff; pitching ideas for online multimedia content. Past projects include WSF's panel at New York Comic Con 2013 and WSF's Annual Gala. Current projects include the robotics exhibit for WSF 2014.

New York, Ny

Worked on the show's 2013 tour dates at Salt Lake City, Utah; Stanford, Calif.; Seattle, Wash. Researched potential guests on topics that included microbiology, neuroscience and climate change. Helped with screening calls and live-tweeting during the regular weekly show.

New York, Ny

Research, fact-check, pitch and write articles for a quarterly environmental magazine.

New York, Ny

Reported features for a live podcast show run by third-semester students at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism.

New York, Ny

Assisted with the production of weekly segments for a live radio talk show broadcast on NPR's Talk of the Nation.

New York, Ny

Edited scientists' field notes for the Scientist At Work blog and edited segments for the weekly Science section podcast.

Bronx, Ny

Reported and pitched stories on the environment and parks beat in the South Bronx neighborhoods.

Champaign, Il

Wrote reviews, columns, features for the music, community and food sections; and edited the music section.

Urbana, Il

Edited and maintained a database of scientific studies for a comparative genomics website based out of Schook Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Master Of Arts (M.A.), Journalism, Health & Science Reporting

Bs, Environmental Communications; Creative Writing

Activities and Societies: President of Tree House Society (Childhood-themed recreation club), Head student coordinator of Earth Week.