Stories by Laura Isensee

Laura Isensee is a journalist based in Houston, Texas. She has covered education, politics and diverse communities, and her work has been published by NPR, Reveal, Marketplace, the Miami Herald and Houston Public Media, among others. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and earned a masters degree in journalism from Columbia University.

An illustration of a woman on a pastel background

TechnologyMay 18, 2026

The programmer whose code underpins the Internet

Sharla Boehm, a math teacher, spent her summers coding. She’d go on to build what would eventually evolve into the Internet

Katie Hafner, Samia Bouzid, Laura Isensee, The Lost Women of Science Initiative

A view of a computer class with students typing and the words "The CIC @ Northeastern" on it

TechnologySeptember 25, 2025

Computer Punch Cards, Coding Pipeline Problems, and the Future of Women in AI

Carla Brodley, founding executive director of the Center for Inclusive Computing at Northeastern University, explains how to make computer science education more accessible to everyone

Katie Hafner, Laura Isensee, The Lost Women of Science Initiative

A portrait of a woman with a pastel background and the words "June Bacon-Bercey"

MathJune 19, 2025

The Weather Expert Who Answered the $64,000 Question

As the first trained Black TV meteorologist, June Bacon-Bercey always worked to help women and people of color to follow in her footsteps

Carol Sutton Lewis, Christie Taylor, Laura Isensee, The Lost Women of Science Initiative

An illustration of a book with the words "brave the wild river" on it

EnvironmentDecember 5, 2024

An Incredible Story of Scientific Questing, Botany and Danger on the Colorado River

This is a science adventure story. Take a wild journey down the Colorado River in the company of two pioneering botanists: Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter.

Carol Sutton Lewis, Laura Isensee, The Lost Women of Science Initiative

An illustration of a particle accelerator and a woman working at a drafting table

Particle PhysicsAugust 8, 2024

This Researcher Helped Create a Machine to Pursue the ‘Quest for Everything’

Helen Edwards was a particle physicist who led the design and construction of the Tevatron, a machine built to probe deeper into the atom than anyone had gone before.

Samia Bouzid, Katie Hafner, Laura Isensee, The Lost Women of Science Initiative

DiscriminationJuly 11, 2024

Nancy Hopkins and Her Tape Measure Took on M.I.T. for Discrimination

Nancy Hopkins used a commitment to justice and a tape measure to take M.I.T. to task for discrimination. The impacts of her fight are still being felt today.

Julianna LeMieux, Laura Isensee, The Lost Women of Science Initiative