Ren Larson is a data journalist with the ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Initiative. Ren uses statistical methods, geospatial analysis and database development to investigate stories and hold officials accountable. She previously worked for the Arizona Republic where she reported on elections, immigration, environmental contamination and wildfires. Larson's 2019 project "Ahead of the Fire," which analyzed nearly 5,000 Western communities for wildfire hazard and human vulnerabilities, won the MIT Knight Science Journalism's Victor K. McElheny award, a 2019 EPPY award for innovation and was a finalist for the Philip Meyer Award. She holds a masters of public policy and an M.A. in international and area studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to becoming a journalist, she was an urban planner, a case manager and a data analyst.