Mary Margaret Clouse is a native of Appalachia with a lifelong interest in all aspects of storytelling. As a journalist, she is particularly interested in covering the struggles and triumphs of underrepresented communities. She hopes to pursue investigative and literary work throughout college and beyond.
Elena Durazo is a geographer who is excited about meaningful interactions between people and places at all sorts of scales, as well as the nuance that can be added to storytelling with spatial analysis tools. When she’s not writing or making maps, she enjoys long-distance backpacking, rock climbing, and mucking about in gardens.
Bettina Johnston is a sophomore double majoring in journalism and English. She is also a photojournalist and lifestyle writer for The Collegian. With her love for story-telling through the mediums of both photography and writing, she hopes to do these two things for the rest of her life. Bettina looks forward to studying abroad in London in the fall.
Logan Jones-Wilkins is a graduating senior studying journalism and PPEL. As a reporter, he specializes in sports and culture features, having covered Jackson Ward, urban bike infrastructure, and the Berlin Marathon for Richmond area publications. In May, Logan will start working as a full-time cycling journalist.
Kate Kimmel is a senior studying journalism and political science. She has worked as an intern at the Henrico Citizen, Henrico County’s newspaper, and as a research fellow for the Virginia Press Association. After graduation, she will be living in Amelia Island, Florida, where she hopes to cover the DeSantis presidential campaign as a freelance.
Claire Le Du A student-athlete (tennis) from Caen, a city in Normandy, France, Claire Le Du is fascinated by storytelling and the sports aspect of journalism, especially as an international student. This summer, Claire will work as an intern at a television news company in France.
Jackie Llanos is a senior studying journalism and anthropology. Combining techniques from both fields has allowed her to delve into storytelling in Richmond with Virginia Mercury and Virginia Public Media and in Tennessee with Nashville Public Radio. After graduation, she will travel to Puerto Rico as part of a reporting fellowship for the Pulitzer Center.
Aidan Lubin is a sophomore majoring in journalism. As the founder of BrawlerBible Media, a martial-arts media company, his inclination to humanize athletes has drawn him to the storytelling aspect of journalism. This summer, Aidan will continue to expand his coverage of mixed martial arts.
Anna Ridilla is a graduating senior majoring in journalism with a minor in art history. She covered dining, arts, and education with Richmond Magazine, and spent last summer covering local news at the Daily Camera in her hometown of Boulder, Colorado. Having worked as an editorial assistant for the selection of the Tomaž Šalamun Prize in her publishing class, Anna is now pursuing a career in book editing.
Evelyn Zelmer is a student from a small Rust Belt town, Newark, OH, and comes to this slow journalism project both out of lived experience with food insecurity and out of a love for poetry, map-making, and storytelling. Their written work can be found in The Messenger Literary Journal and the American National Biography.