Erin X. Wong
Hi and welcome. I'm a reporter covering supply chains and climate change.
Currently, I'm an editorial fellow at High Country News, a magazine that covers people and landscapes in the western U.S. My writing has been published in Bloomberg, Grist, Rest of World, Slate and Seattle Met. My editing work has appeared in Logic(s).
MISSION & ORIGIN
I have an ongoing fascination with material supply chains, including the labor behind logistics and the transformative process from mining to assembly.
Prior to journalism, I worked at the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, the host of China’s largest environmental database. There, I came to understand the vast impact of industrial production on the land, air and water. I saw how differences in cultural, political and economic context ensure that most impacts remain invisible to consumers.
I became a journalist to shed light on the communities behind supply chains. As a Stabile Investigative Fellow at Columbia Journalism School, I chose to report stories on port drivers, electric railways and the shipping industry.
I'm interested in:
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Visualizing product supply chains (e.g.)
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Creative supply chain storytelling (e.g.)
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Using data to track cross-border investigations (e.g.)
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Culturally sensitive longform narrative reporting (e.g.)
I owe much of my worldview to the brilliant teams at:
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Bloomberg Green
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Rest of World
SELECTED WORK
The great solar build-out (High Country News, April 2024)
A proposed bottle-deposit bill in Washington would help low-income communities (HCN, February 2024)
How waste pickers are fighting for recognition in the UN global plastics treaty (Grist, November 2023)
Millions of People Collect Plastic for a Living. What Happens If It Goes Away? (Slate, June 2023)
China's EV Giant BYD Is Picking up Speed in Jordan (Rest of World, May 2023)
Louisiana’s Vanishing Coastlines, Captured from Above (Bloomberg, April 2023)
Tech’s Very Bad Year, in Numbers (Rest of World, March 2023)
Myanmar Energy Ties Are Flying Under the ESG Radar (Bloomberg, December 2022)
As the Third Pole Melts, Climate Diplomacy is Hard to Come By (Bloomberg, November 2022)
How Climate Change Affects Cities’ Daily Temperatures, Mapped (Bloomberg, October 2022)
How to Save the Planet in Less Than Two Hours (Bloomberg, October 2022)
There Are Critical Minerals Hiding in Your Junk Drawer (Bloomberg, October 2022)
Scooters and 3-wheelers Are Really What’s Driving an EV Revolution (Rest of World, September 2022)
How One Seafarer Made It Home While Others Are Still Stranded (Labor New York, October 2021)
How to Shut Down a Coal Plant Without Shutting Down Its Community (Post Alley, August 2021)
The Black Farmers Collective Grows Food and Community above I-5 (Seattle Met, June 2021)
Environmental Justice Arrives in Washington State Law (Seattle Met, May 2021)
Younger Generations Boost Chinatown-International District Businesses (Seattle Met, March 2021)
FACT-CHECKING
Logic(s) Magazine, Issue 19
Seattle Met, Summer 2021
POINTS OF CONTACT
I'm actively looking for reporters, researchers and designers who are just as passionate about supply chain storytelling — visually and verbally — as I am.
I'm open to commissions for reporting, fact-checking and data retrieval. If you're an editor or potential collaborator, please feel free to reach out: erinxwong@gmail.com
Elsewhere, you can follow my film photography here and my Twitter-ing here.
I live in Oakland, where I may be found running, biking and cold water swimming.