This week, we begin sharing Stories of COVID-19 once again, starting with stories about the ways COVID-19 has impacted our working lives.

Part 1: When a bug gets stuck in her ear while she’s in the field tagging alligators, Laura Kojima isn’t sure how to get it out without putting herself and her work at risk due to COVID-19.

Part 2: When she finds herself unemployed at the start of the pandemic, Shashi Mostafa takes a job working in a factory that produces medical equipment.

Laura Kojima is a graduate student with the University of Georgia looking at the consumption risk associated with alligator movement off of the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site, a former nuclear reactor plant that has reservoirs that are occupied by alligators that is connected to a river where public hunting occurs.

Shashi Mostafa is a conceptual artist who makes fictional narratives that humanize the overlooked. As a director, screenwriter and photographer, her goal is to instigate social change with her films and photo series. Exploring the dark parts of humanity, she creates pieces that brew empathy, challenge oppression, and project power. In addition, she is a social media content creator and host for Waste-Ed, a sustainability channel, and In the Now, a kindness and social justice channel. Both exist across various online platforms, but she mainly makes videos for TikTok and Instagram.

As always, find photos and transcripts of our stories at storycollider.org.

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