Laura Kurtzberg

Laura Kurtzberg is an assistant professor at Florida International University and the data visualization lead for Ambiental Media. She is passionate about pursuing projects at the intersection of data journalism, cartography, and design. She earned her MFA in Interactive Media from the University of Miami. Laura also holds a BA in Information Science from the University of Arizona, where she remembers her first forays into data communication with groups at Biosphere2 (the space colony training ground featured in 'Spaceship Earth') and The Santa Fe Institute (a complexity science incubator and Cormac McCarthy's favorite place to hang out).

Thanks to lessons learned in a family of nurses, 2nd generation Filipina builds a career in art

By Laura Kurtzberg | June 10, 2021

When Noelle Mongcopa was a young girl, she felt compelled to draw and create art, spending hours copying her favorite images of Dragon Ball Z and Pokemon characters. Today, she has channeled her creative force into her career as a toy designer and product manager. However, the choice to pursue an artistic career wasn’t an obvious one. Mongcopa grew up in a family of medical professionals, where becoming a nurse was not only a family tradition, but also considered a responsible financial decision. Both her mother and her father immigrated to the United States from the Philippines in search of more professional opportunities, and worked as nurses for many years.