Julia Cooper
ReporterJulia Cooper reports on all things Florida Keys and South Dade for WLRN.
Before joining the team full-time, she was WLRN’s Fall 2023 Intern and graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s in Journalism and minor in Women’s Studies.
During her time at UF, she served as an audio producer and multimedia journalist for WUFT News, North Central Florida’s NPR-affiliate. She also served as a photojournalist for The Independent Florida Alligator and the Gainesville Sun, and reported for the statewide Fresh Take Florida news desk — you can see some of her reporting here.
Cooper also contributed to the award-winning project, The Price of Plenty which was a collaboration between journalists from the University of Florida and University of Missouri. That project was funded by a grant from the Pulitzer Center’s nationwide Connected Coastlines reporting initiative.
Her contributions to the audio news documentary Surviving Ian were recognized with a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award, she won first place in general assignment reporting from the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists and placed in the Hearst Journalism Awards for the Audio News and Features category.
Julia can be reached at jcooper@wlrnnews.org.
-
In recent years, balloon-related power outages have slowly increased across the lower Florida Keys. Here are some tips on how to help avoid the disruption - and to be safe.
-
A second audit of the Tourist Development Council reinforced allegations that a contractor used a fake company to request reimbursements for services and submitted misleading financial receipts.
-
Marathon's building allocations are set to run out in July. At a packed city council workshop, council members weighed concerns over resident safety and overdevelopment in the Florida Keys.
-
A Florida Senate committee advanced a wide-sweeping bill that would require someone who loses an environmental court case to cover the winner's legal fees. “This bill will shut down my nonprofit,” one environmental group leader told the committee.
-
An official report showing the possibility of development beyond previously determined limits in the Florida Keys has activists, developers and local government officials alike worried the state could put at risk the area's sensitive environment and residents' safety during a hurricane.
-
The next round of Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA forms, is set to start on Dec. 31. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that 610,000 new students will be eligible for a Federal Pell Grant. 1.5 million students will also be eligible to receive a maximum Pell grant award.
-
Miami-Dade commissioners decided Tuesday not to give developers more time to comply with their lease for the Miami Wilds waterpark and hotel project — one more nail in the coffin of a controversial deal.
-
The Art of Transformation program is being credited with helping revive what just a few years ago was one of South Florida’s most struggling cities, Opa-Locka.
-
Monroe County is considering a measure for the 2024 general election ballot that would change its form of government. It’s a way of getting much-needed funding for infrastructure projects in the Florida Keys.
-
The peaceful protest at Monarch High School in Coconut Creek came after the school's principal and four staff members were reassigned over allegations that a transgender student was allowed to play on a girls' volleyball team.
-
Sundial host, Carlos Frías, spoke with author Carl Hiaasen before a live audience at the Miami Book Fair. They talked about his new book, "Wrecker," and growing up in Florida.
-
SundialSundial host, Carlos Frías, spoke with author Carl Hiaasen before a live audience at the Miami Book Fair over the weekend. They talked about his new book, "Wrecker," and growing up in Florida.