Véronique LaCapra

Science Reporter

Science reporter Véronique LaCapra first caught the radio bug writing commentaries for NPR affiliate WAMU in Washington, D.C. After producing her first audio documentaries at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies in N.C., she was hooked! She has done ecological research in the Brazilian Pantanal; regulated pesticides for the Environmental Protection Agency in Arlington, Va.; been a freelance writer and volunteer in South Africa; and contributed radio features to the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. She earned a Ph.D. in ecosystem ecology from the University of California in Santa Barbara, and a B.A. in environmental policy and biology from Cornell. LaCapra grew up in Cambridge, Mass., and in her mother’s home town of Auxerre, France.

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HIV Photography Project

6:15 am

Thu March 24, 2011

Photography project gives women new perspective on living with HIV

Next image Previous image

Credit (Véronique LaCapra/St. Louis Public Radio)

Tamika Taylor Jackson decided to participate in Michelle Teti’s photography project to show how she has transformed her life since her HIV diagnosis.

Credit (Tamika Taylor Jackson)

“I took this picture because this is a hole in the street. Deep, sunken in, broken, and it need to be repaired. When I looked at this, it made me think about how I looked and how I felt when I was diagnosed.”

Credit (Tamika Taylor Jackson)

“I collect shoes, because they are…my step-by-step process. Every time I achieve an accomplishment or a goal, I buy me a shoe. I take it one day at a time, and every time I progress, I say, let me go find me a shoe somewhere.”

Credit (Tamika Taylor Jackson)

“This little raggedy apartment - is where I [lived when I] was first diagnosed in 2001. I lost my house. And I had to move out and find myself something just to stay off the streets. So, me, my kids, moved into this little thing.”

Credit (Tamika Taylor Jackson)

“Then I moved into the next house. I was like, ‘This is progression ‘cause I'm doing it on my own.’”

Credit (Tamika Taylor Jackson)

“That [last] house is where I reside now. I don't have no rent assistance from anybody now. I'm thankful. I'm blessed. I went from being out on the street to my house going to me owning – owning my own house.”

Credit (Tamika Taylor Jackson)

“I read My [Daily] Bread every morning. I read health, I read wealth, I read wisdom, I read spiritual healing. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel more confident and stronger about myself.”

Credit (Tamika Taylor Jackson)

“I have to take 17 pills every day. And I get tired of taking medication. But…you got to do what you’re supposed to do: you got to take your medicine, you got to live a healthy life…you got to communicate, you got to interact.”

By Véronique LaCapra

More than a million Americans are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. About a quarter of them are women, and in St. Louis and throughout the country, African-American women are disproportionately affected.

An HIV diagnosis can lead not just to debilitating medical problems, but to social stigma and isolation. But as St. Louis Public Radio’s Véronique LaCapra reports, a photography project is giving some HIV-positive women a new way to look at their disease and its challenges.

Health Research

5:48 pm

Mon March 21, 2011

Lab-grown gut microbes could help combat malnutrition, gastrointestinal diseases

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis were able to grow and manipulate individual collections of human intestinal microbes, like these E. coli, in the laboratory. (Wikimedia Commons/Rocky Mountain Laboratories/NIAID/NIH)

By Véronique LaCapra

Scientists have taken another step toward understanding human nutrition.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have shown they can grow entire collections of human intestinal microbes in the laboratory.

Washington University microbiologist Dr. Jeffrey Gordon says his team then transplanted the bacterial communities into previously germ-free mice, to see how the lab-grown bacteria would respond to a human diet.

Nuclear Energy

4:48 pm

Fri March 18, 2011

Callaway is prepared for "worst case" disasters, says Ameren

By Véronique LaCapra

View Callaway nuclear power plant in a larger map

Missouri’s sole nuclear power plant was built to handle “worst case” natural disasters.

That’s what Ameren officials told reporters Friday morning, at a press conference called in response to the nuclear crisis in Japan.

EPA / Air Pollution

4:05 pm

Wed March 16, 2011

EPA proposes first-ever national air pollution standards for power plants

Credit (Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio)

Ameren’s 2,400-megawatt plant near Labadie, Missouri, is the state’s largest coal-fired power plant.

By Véronique LaCapra

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed the first-ever national standards for air pollution from power plants.

The new rules would require many power plants to install technologies to control mercury, arsenic and other toxic air pollutants.

Environment Missouri's Ted Mathys says the new standards would help protect the health of Missourians.

Ameren Missouri lawsuit

5:27 pm

Tue March 15, 2011

Ameren to U.S. district court: dismiss EPA lawsuit

Ameren's Rush Island power plant near Festus, Missouri. (Google Maps)

By Véronique LaCapra

Ameren Missouri is asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the company by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The suit filed in January alleges that Ameren violated the Clean Air Act by making multi-million-dollar modifications to its coal-fired power plant in Festus without installing required pollution controls and obtaining the necessary permits.

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