Sophomore Natasha Heisenberg wins Pulitzer Center Fellowship

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting has awarded a fellowship to Wake Forest University sophomore Natasha Heisenberg. The $3,000 award will support reporting on the environmental impact of whaling in the Faroe Islands, a self-governing region off the coast of Denmark.

“Whaling takes place in the summer and has been a component of Faroese culture for over a thousand years,” Heisenberg wrote in her application for the program. “While these hunts have been regulated since 1948, activists have called upon the Faroe Islands to end these practices altogether. Proponents of the hunts have argued that the tradition is an integral aspect of Faroese culture and the whales serve as a food source for those who live on the islands.”

Heisenberg in an environmental studies major from Mount Kisco, NY. She hopes to raise awareness about the environmental and health impacts of the whale hunts. “Since the legacy of whaling in the Faroe Islands is largely underreported, I would like to increase knowledge of this practice, examine the intricacies of these hunts in terms of the law and investigate the cultural aspects of this transition.”

Heisenberg credits an introduction to journalism course and Justin Catanoso’s “News Literacy” course for sparking her interest in investigative reporting.

“Natasha is a talented young student journalist whose application to report on controversial whaling practices in the seas off Denmark stood out among a host of really ambitious and high-quality applications for the 2022 Pulitzer Fellowship,” said Catanoso, journalism professor of the practice who has overseen the Pulitzer fellows application process at Wake Forest since it started in 2012. “She’s excited to get started on this important story, and I’m confident she’s going to have a memorable experience and produce some great journalism.”

The journalism program at Wake Forest is a member of the Pulitzer Center’s Campus Consortium, which brings foreign correspondents to campus and provides annual funding for the fellowships to students for international reporting projects. The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting raises awareness of underreported global issues through direct support for quality journalism across all media platforms and a unique program of education and public outreach.

When completed, the work of Heisenberg and other reporting fellows will be published on the Pulitzer Center website. Wake Forest’s journalism program also provides support for the fellowship. Heisenberg is the University’s tenth fellowship recipient.