PHOTOGRAPHY

Amaya Edwards

Prior to joining Santa Cruz Local, visual journalist Amaya Edwards worked as the visuals intern for the San Francisco Chronicle and freelanced for different news organizations throughout the Bay Area, including the Oaklandside and San Francisco Chronicle. Edwards earned a bachelor's degree in photojournalism with a minor in race and resistance studies at San Francisco State University in 2022. She was a recipient of the Fran Ortiz grant during her time at SFSU, allowing her to work on her documentary photo essay about Black women doulas and their commitment to Black maternal health justice in and around Oakland.

Arielle Robinson

Prior to joining the Arkansas Times, Robinson covered general assignment stories for Verite News in New Orleans as a newsroom fellow. She has also freelanced in Georgia for the Atlanta-Journal Constitution and covered city council, as well as issues related to race, at the Cobb County Courier. She also has completed a CNN internship and a ProPublica mentorship program. Robinson got her start in journalism at her university newspaper, The Sentinel, where she served as a reporter and editor. While there, she was president of her school’s Society of Professional Journalists chapter. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international affairs and a minor in gender and women’s studies from Kennesaw State University. Robinson enjoys reading, spending time in nature and journaling in her free time.

Lev Gringauz

Before joining Silicon Prairie News, Lev Gringauz reported on the Jewish communities of Minnesota and Cincinnati for Jewfolk, Inc., and was a regular freelancer for MinnPost, covering the business of media in Minnesota. His writing career started with making love songs for high school sweethearts. On a two-year leave of absence from college, he fell into journalism while exploring Ukraine and Belarus, where his parents were born. Lev cut his teeth with internships at The New York Jewish Week and MinnPost. As a freelancer he developed a niche in enterprise philanthropy reporting, while also writing stories on subjects ranging from cybersecurity issues to the intersection of AI and journalism. Lev speaks Russian (begrudgingly), has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota, and his favorite journalism movies are “The Paper” and “Spotlight.”

Gabriella Chavez

Gabriella Chavez covers growth and development on the Gulf Coast of Alabama for Gulf Coast Media. Chavez graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and an outside concentration in public health and health sciences. During her senior year, Chavez worked on an international reporting project in Costa Rica, where she explored the limits of ecotourism, focusing on the intersections between tourists and animals. Her journalism career began in college, where she reported for WUFT News and the Independent Florida Alligator, the university’s independent, student-run paper. As the El Caimán reporter, she covered the Hispanic and Latino community beat, reporting on issues affecting local Latinx populations, including cultural events, education, immigration and local policy. At WUFT News, she covered stories on science, environment and weather in North Central Florida. Chavez was born in Miami, Florida, was raised in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and is fluent in Spanish. Outside of the newsroom, she enjoys reading and running.

Brett Phelps

Before joining Mirror Indy, Brett Phelps documented stories in Boston and the New England area during his co-op at The Boston Globe. He also covered community news stories during his photojournalism internships at The Indianapolis Star, The Chautauquan Daily, and the Nelson County Schools. During college, Phelps served as the print and web visuals editor of Western Kentucky University’s Talisman cultural and lifestyle magazine. Phelps thrives on telling human-interest stories and has been recognized for his work by the Hearst Journalism Awards, White House News Photographers Association, Adobe Digital Edge Awards, Ohio Valley Emmys, Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, College Photographer of the Year Award Program, National Press Photographers Foundation, and Associated Collegiate Press. He graduated in 2025 from Western Kentucky University with a B.A. in visual journalism and photography and a B.S. in marketing. In his personal time, he enjoys traveling, attending concerts, hiking, and playing the piano.

Lyric Aquino

Aquino is an award-winning multimedia journalist with a passion for writing about all things relating to science, the environment and Indian Country. Originally from Ohio, she is a proud member of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo with ancestry from Isleta Pueblo and the Jicarilla Apache Nation. She earned two bachelor’s degrees, in anthropology and journalism, from Kent State University. Aquino holds a master’s degree in science, health and environmental journalism from New York University, where she worked as editor-in-chief for Scienceline and as a science writing intern at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Prior to joining Underscore Native News, Aquino held a fellowship at Grist, where she reported on climate change and global Indigenous affairs. One of Aquino’s passions is reporting on the intersection of traditional ecological knowledge and Western science, as well as Indigenous litigation and issues. In her spare time, she can be found fawning over reptiles, geeking out over Lord of the Rings and exploring her surroundings.

Hali Mecklin

Before joining the Uvalde Leader-News as a Report for America corps member, Mecklin covered arts, culture and local news for Los Angeles Magazine. She also served as managing editor at Annenberg Media, the University of Southern California’s digital news outlet, and reported on LAPD’s response to pro-Palestinian encampment protests and the subsequent cancellation of main-stage commencement. During her time at Annenberg Media, she won best student arts or entertainment news story at the 2024 LA Press Club National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards for her reporting on the Syrian antiquity trade in Los Angeles. Before starting at USC, she began her career in journalism at 16 as an intern with the Santa Barbara Independent. During COVID-19 she took a break from reporting to work at the zoo as a giraffe experience specialist, where she helped guests feed and learn about endangered Masai giraffes. She loves Vietnamese food, abstract expressionist painting and her pet pug.

Camilla Forte

Camilla Forte is a visual journalist based in Chicago. Before joining Borderless Magazine as a Catchlight/Report for America corps member, Forte was the multimedia producer for The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit newsroom focused on covering innovation and inequality in education. She holds a B.A. in photojournalism from Columbia College Chicago. As a student, she was a Borderless Pathways Photo Fellow, participated in the New York Times Institute and was the director of photography of the Columbia Chronicle. Forte is a member of Diversify Photo, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the National Press Photographers Association. She is a big fan of the Great Lakes, reading for pleasure and kindness.

Maria Crane

Prior to joining the Fort Worth Report, Crane worked as a freelance photojournalist in North Texas, including an internship with the Denton Record-Chronicle. Crane was the Spring 2024 photography fellow at The Texas Tribune where she covered politics and policy in Texas, and she was a part of the Eddie Adams Workshop XXXVII in Fall 2024. Crane has dual bachelor's degrees in photojournalism and political science as well as a master's degree in journalism from the University of North Texas. At UNT, she was photo editor of the North Texas Daily and Managing Editor for Hatch Visuals, a student run photo agency.

Tabius McCoy

Before joining The Atlanta Voice, Tabius McCoy was a visual journalism fellow at the Connecticut Mirror, where he reported on a variety of topics across the state, including politics, social justice, education, and culture. During his time at The Connecticut Mirror, he produced a written and photographic documentary on the 50-year history of Connecticut hip hop, making it one of the first publications in the nation to document and tell the history of Connecticut’s hip hop scene. McCoy's journalism journey began during his senior year at Georgia Tech, where he was a writer and photographer for The Technique and a weekend jazz radio personality for 91.1 FM WREK Atlanta, the university’s campus station. After graduating, he attended the Columbia School of Journalism, where he discovered his passion for photojournalism. In his spare time, McCoy enjoys weightlifting, running, and discovering new music to add to his Spotify playlist.