Justin Falcone

Working at the intersection of research and communication, Justin is passionate about using data visualization and digital storytelling to communicate evidence-based environmental science. As the founder and principal of Xemplify, Justin helps mission-driven organizations craft data-driven narratives that bridge public awareness and actionable change. He has developed visualizations and interactive reports for research profiled by ABC News, the Washington Post, Aljazeera, the Wall Street Journal, and the Associated Press.

Justin received an MSc from the University of Oxford, and a BA from Johns Hopkins University. A Bloomberg Scholar and Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Johns Hopkins, Justin graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was selected to receive the Harry S. Truman Scholarship and a Fulbright Research Fellowship. Justin’s academic work focused especially on climate change communication, and the application of data visualization in engaging American audiences with evidence-based science. In 2017 while at Oxford, Justin coined the concept of charismatic landscapes, suggesting that certain landscapes can be considered charismatic and thus prioritized for protection in the way that certain animal species have been. As a student, Justin also participated in NSF and NASA affiliated research in California and Oman, where he used GIS and collected spatial data in the field.

As a response to his Woodrow Wilson and Fulbright Fellowship supported field work in Kiribati, French Polynesia, Fiji, and Vanuatu, Justin created a multimedia exhibition entitled In the Wake: Rising Seas, Vanishing Nations. This exhibition juxtaposed Paul Gauguin’s paradisiacal images of the South Pacific with the realities that communities there face today on the frontlines of climate change.

In his free time Justin is an avid photographer; his environmental themed photography reaches an audience of over 16,000 personal followers on Instagram. Justin is also a member of the Himalayas to Ocean expedition, a University of Oxford Environmental Change Institute sponsored project that documents climate impacts in Nepal through multimedia outputs and digital storytelling.