About

I’m Ashley Belanger, an investigative science journalist based in Chicago. Currently, I work as a senior tech policy reporter for Ars Technica.

In my reporting, I’m most interested in tracking how science informs social policies. Most recently, I was awarded a fellowship from Knight Science Journalism to conduct a 9-month investigation through spring 2021, reporting on how America fails to protect against sexual violence.

I got started doing youth advocacy reporting for Teen Vogue, including Wedlocked a 5-part series on child marriage in the U.S. Then I joined MIT’s Graduate Program in Science Writing to expand my reporting skills. While there, I received an Honorable Mention for the Obermayer Prize for Graduate Student Writing for a piece on the ethics of experimenting on human subjects. In spring, my investigative reporting on pandemic conditions at Florida domestic violence centers was funded by the National Geographic Society.

In summer 2020, I was an intern for GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting, where I got to contribute to investigations for outlets like The Boston Globe and Frontline. I have served as contributing writer and research assistant for Undark Magazine, Knight Science Journalism, Gastropod, and MIT News. Before that, I served as associate editor for Orlando Weekly. While there, my writing was recognized by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia.

View my resume here.

I earned a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Florida and an M.S. in Science Writing from MIT. I have written for Teen Vogue, National Geographic, Knight Science Journalism, Ars Technica, The Gainesville Sun, Orlando Weekly, Metro Times, Burrow Press’ Fantastic Floridas, and more. I’m also proud to have contributed to this incredibly rich, first-ever biography of Curtis Mayfield and this biography about peerless Jazz musician Arthur Briggs, both by author Travis Atria. In 2019, I kicked off research for my first biography.

In my free time, I experiment with writing structure in independent zines, seek out new hiking spots to photograph, mimic textures I see through hand-stitched embroidery, and revisit counterculture history somewhat obsessively.