Back
Live Digital
datapolicyresearch

Habitat Files

A visual explainer on a major change to Endangered Species Act habitat protection.

Visit live site →
Habitat Files
Role Research, writing, data structuring, information design, interaction design, front-end build
Timeframe July 2026
Context Independent public-interest project
Audience People who care about wildlife but do not always find policy language easy to follow

In July 2026, the federal government finalized a rule removing the definition that explicitly allowed certain habitat destruction to count as prohibited “harm” under the Endangered Species Act.

I created The Habitat Files to make this technical policy change easier to understand through data, visual storytelling, and interaction.

I researched the rule, reviewed agency and legal sources, combined species data from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries, and gathered habitat-loss and recovery figures from public sources.

I then wrote, designed, and built an interactive explainer that makes the policy change visible through data, comparison, and plain language.