Jess is an award-winning public radio reporter, multimedia producer and independent documentary filmmaker. She’s filed stories for many news outlets, including NPR and American Public Media. She’s also been a regular contributor to West Virginia Public Broadcasting and its podcast Inside Appalachia, and to the digital news site 100 Days in Appalachia.

Jess joined Georgia Public Broadcasting after a stint as a newsroom managing editor, producer and reporter at Ohio Public Radio station WYSO.

She’s covered lots of different beats over the years. But health reporting is a particular passion. Some of her favorite recent health projects include: Born Exposed, a multimedia documentary exploring the opioid epidemic’s impacts on women, infants, children and communities in Southern Appalachia; TruckBeat, a national public health journalism project at WUOT in Knoxville, part of AIR’s Localore: Finding America project; and a multimedia series on PTSD and combat-related trauma on military veterans and families across Minnesota.

Jess was previously a reporter and producer at Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul. Before getting hooked on the craft of audio storytelling, she worked in the New York City film and TV industry, and on PBS shows for Oregon Public Broadcasting, THIRTEEN and Bill Moyers. She has a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.