Nicole Dungca

Washington, D.C.

Investigative reporter

Education: Brown University, BA, Literatures and Cultures in English

Nicole Dungca is a reporter in The Washington Post's investigative unit. She was the co-host of Broken Doors, an investigative podcast that won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Radio and was a finalist in the Audio Reporting category of the Pulitzer Prizes. Before The Post, she was part of the Boston Globe's Spotlight Team, where she delved into topics such as racism in Boston, secret criminal hearings in Massachusetts, the state's burgeoning cannabis industry and transportation. Dungca has also covered education at the Oregonian, and written for the Times-Picayune and Providence Jou
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Latest from Nicole Dungca

What we know about the Smithsonian’s human remains

The Smithsonian’s human brains were taken mostly from Black and Indigenous people and other people of color. Read key findings from The Post’s investigation.

December 15, 2023

Search the Smithsonian’s records on human remains

The Smithsonian holds over 30,700 human remains, but never released a full inventory. The Post offers a starting point to learn more about the collection.

December 15, 2023

Former employees say Smithsonian resisted action on human remains

Interviews with former Smithsonian employees show they faced resistance from Natural History Museum anthropologists when seeking to repatriate human remains.

December 15, 2023

Smithsonian targeted D.C.’s vulnerable to build brain collection

The Smithsonian museum’s collection of human remains contains dozens of brains from vulnerable Washington, D.C., residents, many taken without consent.

December 14, 2023

Introducing “The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop”

Grenada’s revolutionary leader was executed in a coup in 1983, with seven others. The whereabouts of their remains are unknown. Now, The Washington Post’s Martine Powers uncovers new answers about how the U.S. fits into this 40-year-old Caribbean mystery.

October 12, 2023

Smithsonian returns woman’s brain to family 90 years after it was taken

The family of the woman, Mary Sara, had no idea her brain had been taken until informed by reporters.

September 8, 2023

    How The Post illustrated ‘Searching for Maura’

    “Searching for Maura” is part of The Washington Post’s investigative series about the Smithsonian’s collections of human brains and remains.

    August 23, 2023

    Revealing the Smithsonian’s ‘racial brain collection’

    The Smithsonian’s human brains collection was led by Ales Hrdlicka, a museum curator in the 1900s who believed that White people were superior.

    August 23, 2023

      How The Post reported on the Smithsonian’s brain collection

      In 2022, Post reporters learned the museum collected the brains of four Filipinos at the 1904 World’s Fair. The discovery would spark a year-long investigation.

      August 16, 2023

      Paghahanap kay Maura

      Mula Pilipinas, nagtungo si Maura sa 1904 World’s Fair para maitampok. Nang pumanaw siya, maaaring kinuha ng antropologo ng Smithsonian ang bahagi ng kaniyang utak.

      August 16, 2023