Rika Kanaoka

Rika is a Data Visualization Specialist for the USC Schaeffer Center. Her job is to visualize technical data and other information through charts, infographics and illustrations.

She has a passion for learning technical topics and translating them into simple language that suits the target audience. Prior to this position, she obtained seven years of experience as an infographics journalist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, working with award-winning journalists and editors​; she also worked as a graphic​s reporter for the Columbia Missourian and as an intern at CNN Japanese Interactive. Besides infographics, she has also worked as a technical translator for various organizations, where she translated and edited Japanese and English documents for the IT and automotive industries, as well as for technical and engineering patent applications.

She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri – Columbia, where she found her expertise as a news graphics designer. Currently, she lives on a little farm with horses, dogs, cats and birds.