Sasha Chavkin is a senior reporter for The Examination, where he covers the food industry. He specializes in cross-border investigations and environmental and public health issues.

From 2013 to 2020, Sasha was a reporter for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. At ICIJ, he investigated topics including the global medical device industry, offshore secrecy and forced displacement caused by World Bank development projects. His stories have led to the worldwide recall of Allergan breast implants associated with elevated cancer risks, a reorganization and budget increase for enforcement of the World Bank's social and environmental safeguards, and the forgiveness of billions of dollars in federal student debt held by disabled former students who had been trapped by a flawed Education Department program.

In 2020, Sasha was on a team named as Pulitzer Prize finalists for the FinCEN Files, a project on the role of global banks in industrial-scale money laundering. Sasha has also shared in honors including the George Polk Award, the Investigative Reporters & Editors award, the Barlett & Steele Gold Award and the Overseas Press Club award. He was a 2021-22 Ted Scripps Fellow in Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and from 2022-23 was a Rainforest Investigations Fellow for the Associated Press and the Pulitzer Center.

Sasha holds a dual masters degree in journalism and international affairs from Columbia University, and a list of his awards and fellowships is below. You can follow or contact Sasha on Twitter (DMs are open) at @sashachavkin.

Awards and fellowships

Rainforest Investigations Network Fellow, 2022 and 2023. Fellowship from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to report for the Associated Press on global deforestation.

Ted Scripps Fellow in Environmental Journalism, 2021-2022. Fellowship at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Research focus on how environmental crime and corruption are fueling climate change.

FinCEN Files investigation named Pulitzer Prize finalist, 2021. 

FinCEN Files investigation named winner of Investigative Reporters & Editors' Tom Renner Award (for Covering Organized Crime or other Criminal Acts), 2021.

Implant Files investigation named winner of Barlett & Steele Gold Award (top award), shared with Kaiser Health News, 2019. 

Implant Files investigation named winner of Association of Health Care Journalists first place award in Investigative category, 2019.

Implant Files investigation named winner of Overseas Press Club award for best investigative reporting in any medium, 2019.

Implant Files investigation named winner of Scripps Howards award in the Business/Financial Reporting category, 2019.

Paradise Papers investigation named winner of George Polk Award for Financial Reporting, 2018. 

Paradise Papers investigation named winner of Investigative Reporters & Editors' Gannett Award for Innovation in Watchdog Journalism, 2018.

Evicted and Abandoned investigation named winner of six journalistic awards, 2016.
Won awards from the Overseas Press Club, Online News Association, New York Press Club, National Headliner Award, Society of Professional Journalists and New York State Society of CPAs.

Evicted and Abandoned investigation named finalist for five awards, 2016.                                                                                                                        Finalist for the Loeb Award, Investigative Reporters and Editors award, John B. Oakes award, Society of American Business Editors and Writers “Best in Business” award and D.C Chapter of Society of Professional Journalists award.

Island of the Widows investigation selected as one of “100 Great Stories” by Columbia Journalism School graduates for Columbia Journalism School Centennial, 2013.

Mystery in the Fields investigation named winner of two journalistic awards, 2012.
Won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and Sidney Hillman Foundation. 

Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship, awarded May 2010.  
Awarded to the top five students in Columbia Graduate School of Journalism class of 2010.  

Middlebury Fellowship in Environmental Journalism, September 2008 - June 2009.                                                                                                     Fellowship in environmental journalism directed by Bill McKibben. 

United States Fulbright Scholar, affiliated with Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú and Caretas magazine, August 2005 – June 2006.  Lima, Peru. Area of study: Journalism.