2024-2025

Bianca Morales

Bianca Nicolle Morales Borges is the cultural expressions and community values reporter for the TucsonSentinel, an online publication in Tucson, Arizona. While Morales worked on earning her bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Central Florida, she interned as a reporter for the West Orange Times & Observer. A bilingual reporter, Morales hails from Puerto Rico and has worked as a contributor at the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and a freelance reporter with the Oviedo Community News in Oviedo, Florida. When she’s not reporting she’s dancing, reading, hiking, swimming or surfing.

Hunter McLaren

Hunter McLaren covers the city of Hastings, Michigan and surrounding Barry County communities for The Hastings Banner. McLaren has reported for Michigan’s MLive.com news site, covering breaking news and community stories, including NASCAR races at the Michigan International Speedway. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Central Michigan University. There, he worked as a reporter, photographer and associate editor of Central Michigan Life, the student paper. McLaren’s reporting has taken him to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Madison Lammert

Madison Lammert covers child care and early childhood education across Wisconsin for the Post-Crescent, which is based in Appleton, Wisconsin and part of the USA Today network. Previously, she reported for the Republic-Times, the only local news source dedicated to Monroe County, Illinois. Lammert graduated summa cum laude from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications, and was editor-in-chief of the student paper, The Alestle, which won multiple Illinois College Press Association awards under her leadership. Lammert’s photos of a Black Lives Matter protest took home a College Media Association Pinnacle Award.

Sophie Austin

Sophie Austin covers the California Statehouse for The Associated Press in Sacramento. Before joining the AP, Austin was a data fellow at The Center for Public Integrity while earning a master’s degree in journalism and public affairs at American University. She has covered local and environmental news as an intern for The Dallas Morning News, and as an Emma Bowen Foundation Fellow at PolitiFact, she wrote political fact checks and climate policy stories ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Austin holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from American University, where she was editor-in-chief of the Eagle, the student-run newspaper.

Bobby Brier

Bobby Brier covers mental health issues, especially issues affecting rural New Jerseyans, for NJ Spotlight News, a nonprofit news organization. Previously, Brier reported for New Mexico In Depth, covering the housing crisis across New Mexico and tracking bills in the state Legislature aimed at addressing the problem. His stories on the economic impact of a new professional soccer stadium in Albuquerque, and the financial contributions of land developers to political action committees in the lead- up to the city’s mayoral election earned an award for political news coverage from the Society of Professional Journalists. Hailing from Scranton, Pennsylvania, Brier has reported on arts and culture for The Scranton Times-Tribune. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, and a master’s degree in journalism from New York University.

Iris Kwok

Iris Kwok reports on climate and transportation for Berkeleyside, a nonprofit digital news site that covers Berkeley and the East Bay in California. As a freelance journalist, she has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, Sfgate, a news site, and KQED public media, covering stories about race and diversity, music, and their intersection. Kwok was a 2021 Asian American Journalists Association Voices fellow, where she reported on the exodus of journalists of color from the news industry. A recent graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Kwok studied political science, music and journalism. Outside of journalism, she is a cellist with an affinity for cats and foggy weather.

Maria Gardner Lara

Maria Gardner Lara reports on the issues affecting the growing Latino community in DeKalb, Illinois for Northern Public Radio, a member station of NPR that’s based in DeKalb. Previously, Gardner Lara reported on state politics and policy for the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago. As an intern for the Laredo Morning Times, she reported on issues at the U.S.-Mexico border, international trade and immigrant rights’ protests. She holds a master’s degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois Springfield, and a bachelor’s in sociology from the University of Illinois Chicago.

Srishti Prabha

Srishti Prabha is an education reporter for The Observer, which serves the Black community in Sacramento, California, and for CapRadio, an NPR station in Sacramento. Before joining Report for America, Prabha was the managing editor of India Currents, a nonprofit magazine for the Bay Area community, covering the intersection of immigration, cultural identity, health and more in the South Asian community. Prabha’s first language is Hindi, and Prabha holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Northeastern University. Prabha came to journalism as a Public Allies Fellow working at East Palo Alto Today, addressing the effects of gentrification in East Palo Alto, California. Since then, Prabha has won awards from the San Francisco Press Club and the California News Publishers Association.

Caitlin Looby

Caitlin Looby covers the Great Lakes for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Previously, her work appeared in GQ Magazine, The New York Times, Mongabay and on Southern California Public Radio. As a freelancer, she’s also edited books, dissertations, poetry collections and even restaurant menus. A former scientist, Looby spent 12 years hiking through tropical cloud forests to study soil microbes and climate change. She holds a master’s degree from Kean University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine. In her free time, Looby heads outdoors, paddling, hiking, camping and playing with her two dogs. Fun fact: she’s lived in every time zone in the continental U.S.

Isaiah Murtaugh

Isaiah Murtaugh is an education reporter at the Ventura County Star, which is part of the USA Today Network and based in Camarillo, California. As a freelance podcast producer, he created a historical documentary series for Reckon Radio and wrote and produced episodes for “The Whistleblower,” a series from The GroundTruth Project and Boston’s WGBH public radio. Murtaugh has reported audio and print stories on religion and politics, and his work has appeared in The Guardian, USA Today and Religion News Service. He calls Los Angeles home, and holds a master’s degree in specialized journalism from the University of Southern California. A train lover, shoe skeptic and songwriter, Murtaugh has performed Americana music under a stage name.