WRITING

Dilpreet Raju

Before joining Illinois Times, Dilpreet Raju reported on disparity in Illinois through a variety of topics including public health, criminal justice policy, and a burgeoning marijuana industry for Capitol News Illinois as a reporting fellow. His stories and photos were picked up by dozens of outlets, including some neighboring state media. Raju's passion for journalism began in high school while focusing on arts writing. He went on to graduate from American University in Washington, D.C. with a bachelor of science degree in biochemistry. While studying for his bachelor's, he worked all four years on The Eagle, a student newspaper. Raju then pursued more journalism education, earning a master's degree in journalism with a special focus on health, environment, and science from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He held editing positions in both undergraduate and graduate publications.

Gabrielle Nelson

Before joining Buffalo's Fire, Gabrielle Nelson worked as an environmental reporting intern at the nonprofit publication Bridge Michigan, covering climate change, renewable energy and the Great Lakes. At Bridge, she broke the story on an International Energy Forum report about a looming copper shortage, which prompted discussion in the mining and EV industries. Nelson loves learning something new with every environmental story she writes, but before she found this love for environmental journalism, she wrote for her college radio station, Impact89FM, covering entertainment news. She also trained as a live DJ for the station where she often played songs by Pearl Jam and Coldplay. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in journalism and minors in global studies and gender studies. Nelson hopes to combine her love of environmental journalism with her narrative writing style from entertainment news to tell the stories of North Dakota's indigenous communities and their deep ties to the land at Buffalo's Fire.

Russell Sun Eagle

Prior to joining Crosswinds News, Russell traveled the state of Oklahoma capturing stories of Indigenous athletes. In 2021, he created the Okie Podcast, showcasing indigenous actors, athletes, comedians, entrepreneurs, filmmakers, and musicians from across the United States. Russell attended the Institute of American Indian Arts, studying Cinematic Arts. Russell won host of the year in 2023, and best documentary short award at the Will Rogers Motion Picture Festival in 2024. He loves creating and learning, working on his passion projects, and helping people in any way he can.

Sean Scott

Sean Scott is the incoming religion, politics and society reporter for The Maine Monitor. Before joining The Monitor staff, Scott served as the founding editor for the Oxford Free Press, a nonprofit print and digital newsroom which launched in Ohio in June 2024. He began his journalism career at The Miami Student, Miami University's student newspaper, while studying journalism and urban and regional planning. He wrote about everything from local elections to faculty unionization and served as editor-in-chief in his senior year. His work for The Student and the Free Press has earned local, statewide and regional awards, as well as a national award for campus reporting. While in college, Scott also held internships with The Cincinnati Enquirer and the Journal-News in Hamilton, Ohio. Scott spends much of his free time with his two cats, Ghost and Nymeria.

Dylan Eubank

Dylan Eubank is a 2025 graduate of Brigham Young University, where he currently serves as editor-in-chief of The Daily Universe. He previously worked as a senior reporter, covering a range of campus and community issues. Dylan is passionate about exploring other cultures, learning new languages and traveling all over the world. He spent several years living in Europe, where he learned and studied both Russian and Lithuanian. Dylan aims to pursue a career in journalism that highlights global perspectives, different faiths and brings attention to underrepresented communities both locally and internationally.

Haajrah Gilani

Haajrah Gilani covers religion for the Houston Chronicle. Before joining Report for America, she led political coverage for the Las Vegas Sun. Her reporting has brought her to growing voting blocs at the Republican National Convention, inaugural celebrations alongside donors for President Donald Trump in Washington and cryptocurrency moguls in Puerto Rico. Gilani holds a master's degree from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and a bachelor's in journalism from Temple University in her native Philadelphia.

Adam Smith-Perez

Prior to joining Investigative Post, Smith-Perez produced podcasts, fact-checked and reported for The Nation. Smith-Perez has also worked extensively as a freelance fact-checker for several outlets, including Mother Jones, Ambrook Research, Noema Magazine, and HarperCollins. He started his journalism career reporting on COVID's impact on immigrant communities in his hometown of Boston, where he worked for an immigrant and refugee advocacy non-profit writing newsletters. As a student at Columbia Journalism School, Smith-Perez reported more extensively on the housing and overdose crisis. Following his graduation, he hosted and produced a segment about Hepatitis C for VICE News, and was a fellow at the Columbia Age Boom Academy, where he honed his reporting and research skills on the aging, housing and health beats. He holds a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists, and a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Dina Weinstein

Prior to joining the Henrico Citizen newsroom, Dina Weinstein reported for Virginia Commonwealth University’s News website focusing on people, programs, trends, and events in higher education. She also spent this year researching, presenting, and publishing stories about VCU’s first Black School of Nursing graduate through a Virginia Humanities fellowship. Weinstein's award-winning articles and interviews have been published in dozens of publications and outlets, including a recent Henrico Citizen series about refugees. Before moving to Richmond, Weinstein advised the student newspaper at Miami-Dade College in South Florida while reporting on higher education, the arts, parenting, civil rights anniversaries, and Jewish life for numerous publications worldwide. Weinstein earned a master’s degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's of fine arts from Boston University. A Spanish speaker, Weinstein enjoys reading, cultural activities, cycling, and nature.

Abby Weiss

Prior to joining Chestnut Hill Local, Abigail Weiss wrote features and trending stories for Hearst Connecticut Media Group. There, she wrote about entertainment, the environment and interesting people in the Nutmeg State. Weiss holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Syracuse University, where she minored in environmental science and history, as well as served as the digital managing editor for the independent student newspaper, The Daily Orange. Her profile about Joe Biden’s first wife, Neilia, for The D.O. received Associated Collegiate Press Awards and qualified her for the 2022 Hearst National Writing Championship, where she won third place and the award for best reporting technique. As an intern for InsideClimate News, she wrote in-depth stories about environmental justice in Connecticut, national climate trends and California agriculture. She’s was also a contributing writer at Callaway Climate Insights, and interned for The New York Post’s news team.

Holly Bartholomew

Before joining Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB), Holly spent more than six years reporting for the West Linn Tidings, a local paper based in the suburban community outside Portland. During that time, Holly covered local elections, public safety issues, economics and whatever else was happening in the community. The Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association recognized Holly’s work on several occasions, awarding her first place in the best writing category in 2024 and naming her the runner-up for Story of the Year in 2023 for her coverage of police and prosecutors’ alleged mishandling of a major sexual abuse case. When she’s not working, Holly enjoys spending time with friends and family, playing or watching soccer and searching for the best dessert she can find.