HAMPTON — A local journalism student is receiving national recognition for her reporting, in collaboration with The New York Times, on land disputes and developmental pressures in Brazil.

Shannon Dooling, 31, of Hampton, traveled to the Amazon Basin with eight students and three faculty members from the International Reporting Program at the University of British Columbia.

“I jumped at the opportunity to give a voice to stories happening halfway around the world and to give a voice to people who don't have an opportunity to tell their story,” Dooling said.

The students produced two online videos for The New York Times, “Dying for Land” and “Damming the Amazon.” Dooling worked on “Damming the Amazon,” which focuses on construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam and its effects on the surrounding community. Both stories have been underreported by the mainstream media, Dooling said.

“It looks at land disputes and development pressure in Brazil, the price the country is paying for the accelerated growth they're going through, Dooling

Brazil this year, there's just no shortage of stories,” Dooling said.

Two groups of students, the Amazon group and the Southwestern group, researched events in Brazil and established contacts. In February, they flew to Brazil for two weeks.

They realized it was a different story outside of the classroom.

“Research and pre-reporting can only take you so far,” Dooling said. “When you're on the ground, you have to be ready for the challenges and obstacles that come your way.”

In addition to the technical and scheduling problems that can arise in video production, the group faced the larger challenge of a language barrier. Interviews were conducted with the assistance of a translator, transcribed and sent to a translation service with the video footage for verification.

An unwritten rule of journalism also came into play.

“The story is never what you think it is,” Dooling said.

The original story angle took a turn when the group discovered the Xikrin Indians, an indigenous community living on the Bacaja River in Para, Brazil, whose way of life is being threatened by the dam construction. The river, a tributary of the Xingu River, provides the community's main source of transportation and supports its agriculture. The villagers also hunt animals that drink at the river. The dam is expected to cause dry-season levels all year round, impinging on villagers' way of life.

“It's a matter of their actual livelihood,” Dooling said.

Having been told that construction will happen no matter what, the natives were grateful to tell their side of the story.

“That's a voice we were able to provide,” Dooling said.

The Brazilian government is in a tricky position with a large amount of money at stake, Dooling said. The country needs energy and development to support a growing economy and consumer class. The government is trying to jump on the momentum of the growth without heeding the social costs associated with unbridled growth.

Dooling and her team sought contacts for all the stakeholders.

“We were really just relating all the sides of the story so the audience could make up their own minds and have their own educated take on it,” Dooling said.

The experience was fascinating, but not frightening for Dooling. She had experience in international travel, having previously volunteered in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

“We were very well-prepared in terms of the risks involved with being a foreigner going into a place that has seen violence,” Dooling said. “Never, at any point, were we in a position where we felt endangered.”

She's impressed with the impact of the International Reporting Program at a time when mainstream media outlets have had to cut back on foreign correspondents and coverage.

“To have an opportunity to fill that void is a great niche for the school to continue to develop,” Dooling said.

The videos were well-received. “Dying for Land” is on its way to becoming the most emailed story in The New York Times' history.

Dooling graduated in May and is considering opportunities from media outlets. Her passion for storytelling hasn't faded, and she plans to continue bringing underreported stories to light.

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Julie Hanson may be reached at Jhanson@newstote.com.