Rebekah Jones

Rebekah D. Jones (born July 1989) is an American whistleblower[3] and geographer specialized in Geographic Information System (GIS) data science to track hurricanes, epidemiology, and climatology. In September 2018, she became a GIS Analyst at Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee.[2][4] From November 2019 until May 2020, Jones was geographic information sciences manager for the Florida Department of Health, where she led the agency's geospatial response during Hurricane Michael,[5] Hurricane Dorian, and most recently, tracking the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida.[1][2][6][7]

Rebekah D. Jones
Bornc.July 1989 (age 31)[1]
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSyracuse University[2], Louisiana State University, Florida State University
OccupationGeographer
Known forfloridacovidaction.com, COVID-19 Whistle-blower[3]
Home townWiggins, Mississippi[2]

Jones made headlines in May 2020 after alleging that the Florida Department of Health pressured her to strategically align COVID-19 case data with Florida's goal to reopen the state. State records indicate that Jones was fired for violating Health Department policy by making public remarks about the data.[8] Despite protests by Nikki Fried, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Jones was not reinstated.[9] The Urban and Regional Information Systems Association of GIS professionals wrote a letter to Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, stating among other things, "While all the facts have yet to be made public, we are concerned that the actions taken potentially put the public at risk and prevented a certified GIS professional from following the Code of Ethics that guides all GIS professionals working in government, non-profit and private sector positions."[10] The American Association of Geographers also wrote a letter to DeSantis titled "Geography Matters" to emphasize the role of geographic data scientists in public health and epidemiology. Rebekah Jones was among the 683 signers of the letter but was not otherwise mentioned therein.[11]

Months later, Jones would summarize the episode saying: "They never actually denied what I was saying. They said I was insubordinate, that I didn’t listen to my superiors, and that was true. They asked me to do something wrong and I didn’t do it."[12]

Education

Jones graduated cum laude from the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University with dual degrees in Earth Science and Journalism in 2012. She received a dual master's degree in geography and mass communication at Louisiana State University in 2014.[2]

Jones was also a graduate student in the Department of Geography at Florida State University from 2016 through 2018[13] where she completed course work with an emphasis on data science and was working on a doctoral dissertation titled "Using Native American Sitescapes to Extend the North American Paleotempestological Record through Coupled Remote Sensing and Climatological Analysis".[6][14][13] According to Jones, her doctoral work is in progress.[2]

Alternate COVID19 dashboard

Within weeks Jones launched an independent dashboard using the same data science software and data extraction techniques, but using open data and offering instructions to others wishing to set up their own dashboards. Her dashboard offers more information than the official Florida dashboard, and explains calculations for aggregated data per county. Her second dashboard also gained more views in the first 48 hours than the original dashboard she built at the Florida Department of Health.[15]

Her story gained international attention before she was interviewed by CNN's Chris Cuomo.[16] Her story, also presented by Rachel Maddow, suggests that Florida was hiding information about COVID-19 hospitalizations since late May 2020.[17] Additionally, she appeared on multiple television and radio programs, including NPR,[18] CBS Miami,[19] and became a widely recognized source for primary data and information about Florida's COVID-19 cases. She was profiled by The Washington Post[20] and Time[21] after she founded the non-profit group Florida Covid Action.

Rebekah Jones continues to work with COVID-19 researchers to identify sources for missing Florida COVID-19 data as of July 2020 according to the COVID Tracking Project.[22]

References
  1. "Ousted manager was told to manipulate COVID-19 data before state's re-opening, she says". Tampa Bay. Retrieved 15 June 2020. Jones was 30 years old in May 2020
  2. Jay Cox (31 March 2020). "Alumna Tracks the COVID-19 Outbreak". Syracuse.edu. Syracuse University. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  3. ‘Can’t trust the information’: Nikki Fried questions Florida’s COVID-19 data Nikki Fried pleads Rebekah Jones’ case to national audience, by A.G. Gancarskion, May 23, 2020, on Floridapolitics.com "Fried ... decried Jones’ dismissal, whose whistleblower claims that the state was massaging data have been countered by an administration contention that she was fired with cause for insubordination."
  4. Rebekah D. Jones. "Quantifying the Impact of Hurricanes, Mid-Latitude Cyclones and Other Weather and Climate Extreme Events on the Mississippi-Alabama Barrier Islands Using Remotely Sensed Data B.A". Academia.edu. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  5. Florida Department of Health’s Hurricane Michael GIS Response, presentation by Parker Hinson, Rebekah Jones at the 2019 Esri User Conference Presentations, July 8–12, 2019 in San Diego, California
  6. Geraghty, MD, MS, MPH, GISP, Este; Lanclos, Ryan (20 April 2020). "COVID-19: Dedicated Scientist in Florida Made Quick Moves to Map the Disease". esri.com. Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI). Retrieved 23 June 2020.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. "Rebekah Jones @GeoRebekah , the fired GIS data scientist from Florida, Launches new #Coronavirus Dashboard, FloridaCOVIDAction". GISuser.com. 2020-06-12. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
  8. "Public remarks prompted Florida virus data curator's firing". Associated Press.
  9. Letter from Florida cabinet member, the Agriculture Commissioner, to governor Ron DeSantis filed May 19, 2020, "saying DeSantis’ approach was “right out of the Donald Trump playbook.” (letter on Florida government website)
  10. URISA Statement Regarding Recent Events in Florida, June 19, 2020 on Urisa.org
  11. Geography Matters letter dated May 29, 2002, with multiple signers from various locations.
  12. Luscombe, Richard (12 August 2020). "Ousted expert on Florida's Covid plan: 'They're not listening to the scientists'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  13. Sassoon, Alessandro Marazzi; Waymer, Jim (22 May 2020). "Accusations fly around dismissed Health Department official, but questions about COVID-19 data persist". Florida Today. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  14. Rebekah D. Jones. "Rebekah Jones Academic Record". Academia.edu. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  15. https://wolf-badger.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=a9f9e4975bce4557a196b7bd8fafe438#usage
  16. Chris Prime Time on facebook, May 23, 2020
  17. Rachel Maddow Show, Jun 13, 2020, on MSNBC
  18. WMFE
  19. CBS Miami
  20. Washington Post
  21. "Fired Florida Data Scientist Creates Competing COVID-19 Tracking Site and Suggests State Is Hiding Important Information". TIME Magazine.
  22. Glassman, Rebecca; Lacan, Olivier (8 July 2020). "Florida's COVID-19 Data: What We Know, What's Wrong, and What's Missing". The Atlantic Monthly Group. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
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