Laura Joyce Robertson

Investigative journalist

I’m a journalist who grew up in Tioga County, New York, a rural area where Appalachia meets the Rust Belt. Combining my interest in document and data-driven investigations with my Persian language skills and rich knowledge of rural America, I cover the carceral system, the environment, and other things. I’ve reported from New York, Tajikistan, and Alaska. My story on deaths in New York jails won the 2025 Nellie Bly Cub Reporter award from the New York Press Club. My work has received funding from the Overseas Press Club and the Fund for Investigative Journalism. When I’m not writing, I moonlight as a jazz and opera singer.

Currently I’m based in the rural Alaska tundra, where I cover subsistence food ways, climate science, local politics, sports, and more for The Nome Nugget.