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Martina Nacach Cowan Ros

Welcome to my portfolio! I’m an Argentine-Peruvian student at Boston University pursuing a dual degree in Journalism and International Relations. I’ve covered stories across politics, culture, and business, driven by a curiosity to understand the people and ideas shaping our world. Through my reporting, I aim to tell stories that connect global issues to the human experiences behind them, and I plan to keep on learning as much as I can. 

Cambridge Day •

Losing Simon's to construction would be ‘heartbreaking’ - Cambridge Day

Prapti Sekhon and Diego Lasso are two of the many regulars at Simon’s Coffee Shop. They meet there every other day, trading stories, life updates and advice over a small table and a few cups of coffee.
Lasso, 67, known as the “mayor” of Simon’s, travels from Roxbury to Simon’s every day to read the newspaper – yet he rarely gets to it, interrupted by conversations with other customers. Sekhon, 31, intentionally signed a lease on an apartment based on its proximity to the coffee shop.
Simon’s and...
Cambridge Day •

An experiment in project-based education grows - Cambridge Day

At an exhibition last week, the students of NuVu High School showed off architectural models, a prototype of a ropeless lobster trap and a three-course meal. All of these are examples of the “new view” of education this project-based school in Cambridge provides to its 27 students.
Creativity and collaboration are the main ingredients at work in NuVu, which began as Saeed Arida’s 2009 Ph.D. dissertation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture and Planning. Arida wan...
Cambridge Day •

Digitizing the legacy of The Group School - Cambridge Day

Scattered across homes throughout Cambridge are faded curricula, pictures and worksheets stored in boxes that preserve the memory of The Group School, an alternative high school run democratically by students and teachers in the 1970s.
Now, more than 50 years after the school’s founding, these boxes are being opened and their contents digitized onto a new website dedicated to the school’s legacy, with the intention of inspiring educators and students today.

Among those trying to keep this memor...
Cambridge Day •

Close to a quarter of Cambridge lab space sits vacant. What happens to it now? - Cambridge Day

Four years ago, it was nearly impossible to find lab space for rent in Cambridge. Now nearly a quarter of it stands vacant.
Only 0.3% of Cambridge lab space was vacant in the third quarter of 2021, when rents averaged $113 per square foot, according to the real estate firm CRBE. Now the vacancy rate is 22% and rents have fallen to $93 per square foot. All told, 4 million square feet of state-of-the-art equipment and bench labs meant for life-saving discoveries instead sit empty.

These figures r...
Cambridge Day •

Here is what the most cited engineer in history has to say about biotech and research right now - Cambridge Day

Robert Langer, the world’s most cited engineer, has seen ups and downs in the biotech industry over the past 40 years, so he isn’t overly worried about the current slowdown. What concerns him is the spread of scientific misinformation.
Langer has won more than 220 major awards, written more than 1,600 articles, owns 1,500 patents and has been involved in dozens of startups, including co-founding Moderna, maker of a widely distributed Covid vaccine. His h-index of 319 – a measure of both the prod...
Cambridge Day •

Massachusetts backs AI-powered biotech startups with BioHub program - Cambridge Day

Thirteen artificial-intelligence-focused life science startups graduated Tuesday from a 12-week Cambridge program that gave them access to lab space, business training and tech support.
These companies are part of the first cohort to go through the AI Bio Accelerator Program, part of the new AI BioHub, a space in Kendall Square dedicated to the integration of biotech and AI resources. This program started when the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the state’s economic development agency fo...
Cambridge Day •

Biotech headwinds have Cambridge industry pros helping students transition to workforce - Cambridge Day

When Lila Neel walks through the streets of Cambridge, she imagines that any passerby could hold in their mind the cure for a sick child or parent. She said Cambridge, one of the biggest biotech clusters in the world, is a “beacon of hope” for people suffering from diseases and other health issues.
But signs are emerging that funding for research and development could become an impediment. The flow of money slowed industrywide in 2024 and the first half of 2025, according to the 2025 MassBio Ind...
The Week UK •

Champagne problems: migrant vineyard workers treated 'like slaves'

Three people have been jailed by a French court for the "human trafficking of undocumented migrants" working "like slaves" picking grapes for the champagne industry, said France24.A director of recruitment company Anavim, from Kyrgyzstan, and her two male associates, one from Georgia, one from France, were sentenced on Monday. The Anavim director, who was also found guilty of "concealing employment of workers", will serve two years in prison with another two years suspended, while the two men wi...
The Week UK •

Bangkok: the new 'international capital of fine dining'

Bangkok has outperformed Paris and Lima with six entries in the world's top 50 restaurants listing, sealing "its reputation as an international capital of fine dining", said The Times. It is the first time the Thai capital, better known for its "cheap and cheerful street food", has had more entries than any other in The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025, considered the "most influential rankings of its kind" in the culinary industry.The "quiet revolution" that has reshaped Asian fine dining is "o...
The Week UK •

Wonsan-Kalma: North Korea's new 'mammoth' beach resort

North Korea has opened a huge new beach resort on its east coast in a bid to boost its struggling economy.The Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area, which can accommodate 20,000 people, is a "pet project" for Kim Jong Un, who was pictured by state media "watching a man flying off a water slide in the resort", said France 24. Pyongyang has claimed North Korean visitors were "filled with joy at experiencing a new level of civilisation".Photos released by state media showed "children with tubes and inf...
MetroWest Daily News •

Why are there more unclaimed bodies in MA than ever before? Experts offer two reasons

James Avery’s body sat in a hospital morgue for four months after his passing, as his friend Jane Chaplain called 17 funeral homes and spoke with multiple Department of Transitional Assistance employees, trying to get funding for Avery's cremation last summer.

Chaplain recalls the experience as being a “nightmare,” as funeral homes tend to avoid cases that depend on reimbursement from the DTA, a state agency that offers payment assistance for eligible families who cannot afford funeral services...
The Milford Daily News •

'Left out of the building.' Mass. Senate president's photo exhibit touts prominent women

BOSTON — The idea came to Senate President Karen Spilka a few years ago, as she walked down the marble halls at the State House and noticed they were lined with images of men.

“Either by accident or design, women were left out of the building,” Spilka, an Ashland Democrat, said. “Women have played such a large role in Massachusetts history, but if you walk around the building, you would not think so. And that was pretty outrageous to me.”

The result is the creation of a photo exhibit called HE...
The Milford Daily News •

One-third of Mass. residents face food insecurity. How providers say it can be addressed

BOSTON — With about one in three Massachusetts residents facing food insecurity as of last year, the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program (MEFAP) on April 16 commemorated 30 years of supplying food banks with nutritious foods and celebrated the House Ways and Means' proposed fiscal 2026 budget request of $55 million.

MEFAP, created in 1995, supplies nearly one-third of the food purchased and distributed by the Food Bank Coalition of Massachusetts, which includes The Greater Boston Fo...
Boston University Statehouse Program •

Mass. physician assistants want more autonomy in providing health care. Why it matters

BOSTON — Facing a statewide health care workforce shortage, advocates for physician assistants spoke last week at the State House to support legislation that eliminates restrictive supervision requirements, as they aim to expand care access in underserved areas.

The Massachusetts Association of Physician Associates, which advocates for legislation that impacts physician assistants, hosted its annual Lobby Day, drawing students and legislators to discuss health care challenges. Physician assista...
The Milford Daily News •

'Last piece of life.' This Milford nonprofit helps families with high funeral costs

MILFORD — When unclaimed and abandoned bodies remain in morgues — or families face financial struggles while trying to bury their loved ones — a local nonprofit swings into action.

The Black Tie Coalition, founded in February 2024 by Milford resident Matthew Mazzuchelli, provides funeral assistance to those in need through funding and advocacy, removing a burden from overwhelmed and under-resourced hospitals and funeral homes.

Mazzuchelli, a licensed funeral director who serves as president of...
MetroWest Daily News •

What is Dignity Dozen + One? Elder care advocates explain agenda to Mass. legislators

BOSTON — Legislation to improve the quality of life for nursing home residents, older adults and people with disabilities — as well as their caregivers — was presented by Dignity Alliance Massachusetts during a State House briefing on Tuesday.The Alliance, a voluntary organization created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, unveiled the “Dignity Dozen + One” — 13 bills for the 2025-26 session that would restructure the nursing home model through public policy.Alliance co-founder Paul Lanzikos...
Milford Daily News •

Citizens for Milford created this video to inform residents of April 1 town election

MILFORD — In response to declining attendance and participation, a local residents advocacy group has produced a pre-election video project that informs voters about local candidates and issues from the comfort of their homes.Geri Eddins, chair and a founding member of Citizens for Milford, also pointed to a decline in the number of people seeking town office in recent years.“We haven't had a contested Select Board race since 2020,” said Eddins, who has lived in Milford for more than 30 years.Or...
Dallas News •

Man killed in Red Bird was family’s peacemaker, ‘the luckiest person in the world’

This story is part of The Dallas Morning News’ homicide project focused on sharing the stories of all people killed in Dallas in 2024.

It was Thanksgiving 2007 when 12-year-old Todderrius Watson stepped in to end a family squabble over the bigger piece of his grandmother’s staple dessert, a chocolate fudge cake with caramel icing.

Watson was the peacemaker, said his mother, Shanequa Nelson. He was with his grandmother in the kitchen when he overheard the disagreement and went to intervene.

“C...

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