In the Spring 2025 semester, eight journalism students at the University of Connecticut spent three months investigating overflow problems in Hartford’s sewage treatment system, the environmental orders and repair work to fix the system, and the effect of those sewage overflows on one neighborhood. The class was led by adjunct professor Christine Woodside. Learn more about the team below. This project website was designed and produced by Associate Professor Marie K. Shanahan.
UConn Journalism adjunct professor Christine Woodside is a journalist specializing in environment, American history, and mountain adventure. Her series for the Connecticut Health Investigative Team on sewage overflows in Bridgeport, Connecticut won a Publick Occurrences Award from the New England Newspaper and Press Association in 2020. She is the author of three books and the editor of Appalachia Journal.
Julianna D’Addona is a sophomore at the University of Connecticut, where she is majoring in journalism and minoring in political science and digital marketing & analytics. Julianna is a resourceful, dynamic reporter who is passionate about connecting with people through her work.
Mia Jaworski is a senior journalism major from West Hartford, Connecticut. Upon graduation, she will be writing for We-Ha.com and be a English Teaching Assistant in Madrid, Spain, with hopes of continuing to write about education, environment, and people focused stories.
Justin Doughty is a senior at UConn, with an interest in human development and psychotherapy. Originally from Southington, Connecticut, he now lives in Hartford with his daughter and his two cats. Justin will continue his academic pursuits in the fall as a graduate student at UConn’s School of Social Work.
Elijah Polance is a sophomore at the University of Connecticut, majoring in journalism and English. He works as a staff writer for The Daily Campus and is the incoming managing editor for UConn’s literary magazine, the Long River Review.
Desirae Sin is a senior at the University of Connecticut, majoring in Political Science and Journalism. She wrote for their student-run newspaper, The Daily Campus, as a columnist reviewing various video games each week in The Backlog. Desirae spent the Fall 2025 semester with the Connecticut Mirror as a reporting intern.
Noa Climor is a Journalism and English major and Mortensen Scholar at the University of Connecticut. She is interested in journalism, writing, editing, and media-related jobs. She serves as social media editor of The Daily Campus.
Sofia Acosta is a May 2025 graduate from the University of Connecticut with degrees in Journalism and Communication and a minor in Film Studies. She is a first-generation student from Colombia who aspires to use her photography skills for journalistic storytelling.
Charlotte Harvey is a junior majoring in Journalism at UConn. She was born and raised in Manchester, Connecticut and lived on the south shore of Long Island before moving back to Connecticut. She aspires to be a legal journalist writing about the courts and law, or a foreign correspondent working in Russia and Russophone countries in the former Soviet Union.
