About Me

My name is Bryné Hadnott and I’m a digital storyteller based in the Bay Area. Once upon a time, I was a planetary scientist studying how prebiotic molecules are produced on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Since then, I've taken my experience coding in Python, passion for design, and love of journalism to create multimedia stories that center science and community. I've used a variety of different media including 3D animation, interactive data visualization, and news websites. My written work has been featured in KneeDeep Times and The Guardsman.

Featured Articles

• The Day of the Dead and the ‘Underworld’ Sun

As a reporter for the student-run newspaper The Guardsman, I covered Argentinian astronomer Isabel Hawkins' lecture for the Harlow Shapley Program at City College of San Francisco on October 14, 2026. I reported on her discussion about the Mayan calendar and the astronomical origins of Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. After the lecture, I interviewed students and faculty on how they stayed connected to their cultural heritage while studying astrophysics.

• My Morning Cleaning Up the Oakland Estuary

While browing Coyote Media Collective's calendar, I found an estuary cleanup at the Jack London Aquatic Center for Creek to Bay Day on September 19, 2026. I pitched a story on the cleanup to KneeDeep Times and worked with the editor to develop a first-person feature that described what it was like picking up debris on the shoreline. Throughout the day, I interviewed volunteers and coordinators about the flood of plastic waste and community stewardship of the Oakland Estuary.

• ‘Student Journalists Can Make Powerful Change’: Reporters and Lawyers on the Fight for Press Freedom

For another assignment from The Guardsman, I attended a series of panels hosted by University if California, Berkeley's journalism department and the Student Press Law Center. I listened to stories from First Amendment lawyers suing the Trump administration for attacks on press freedom and student journalists defending their right to report on issues affecting their community. Through reporting and interviews, I developed a story that focused on the power of collaboration in the face of attacks on free speech.

Writing Portfolio

I’m interested in the intersection of science, tech, and culture. You can find links to all of my articles below.

In my free time, I've been exploring ways to create data visualizations using Python packages like seaborn and Plotly. To explore making an interactive map for a personal project, I used United States unemployment data from Plotly to create a time-changing chloropleth map. In 2020, I volunteered to create a heat map for Brand New Congress to better understand voter data. In 2024-2025, I volunteered with the Critical Ecology Lab to develop a time-changing chloropleth map showing European colonization over time. Click on the visualizations below for a full-sized version.

Art

Undoctored

The upcoming documentary UNDOCTORED is centered around mental health crises I experienced in 2016 as a graduate student and in 2023 as a data storyteller at Stanford University. It’s a harrowing story of how isolation, loneliness, and a lack of supportive community created a turbulent storm of mental unrest that rattled my sense of self. The documentary explores themes of institutional betrayal, mental health, and the importance of self and companionate love. It's the film I wish I’d had when I started applying to graduate school in 2014.

Design

While working as a Data Storyteller at Stanford University's Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), I designed posters for the Stanford Program for Inspiring the Next Generation of Women in Physics (SPINWIP) and title cards for the Discover Our Universe public lecture series.

Contact

Interested in collaborating? Feel free to reach out or schedule a time to meet with me using the links below.

• Email
• Calendly
• GitHub
• LinkedIn