Amancai Biraben is from Los Angeles, California. She has a bachelor’s degree in literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Before attending the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, she worked for the Associated Press, where she wrote about immigration and politics. Her interests intersect between policy, migration, housing, the environment and culture. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, and is a dual citizen of Argentina.
Elisabeth Campbell is a graduate student at Columbia Journalism School. She earned a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Central Florida. She has experience in print and photojournalism, with interests in social injustice and culture reporting.
Rosalind Ding is a reporter who focuses on social justice, business, technology, agriculture and the environment. Besides writing stories, she also does data visualization, video and photojournalism. She was previously based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, covering local community-based stories, and earned both a B.S. in applied economics and a B.A. in journalism from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
Email: nd2860@columbia.edu, X: RosalindDing
Martina Italiano was raised in Rome, Italy. In 2019, she moved to New York City and graduated from New York Univeristy with a bachelor’s degree in film and television. She has a background in TV, with experience at large media organizations including Disney, NBC and Paramount. Her main reporting interests include financial products, startups and white-collar crime.
Annabelle Jiang is a graduate student at Columbia University, pursuing a master’s degree in computer science and journalism. She holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With a passion for media and a strong technical background, Annabelle explores the intersection of AI, data analysis and storytelling, focusing on innovative ways to integrate journalism with technology.
Mason Leath is a full-time master’s student at Columbia this year who is originally from Charleston, South Carolina. He has previously worked at NBC, FOX 5 DC and the U.S. Department of State.
Email: mpl2159@columbia.edu.
Delan Li is a student reporter pursuing her master’s degree at Columbia Journalism School. She was born and raised in Beijing. She is interested in covering social justice, race and gender and environmental crises. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Connecticut. Check out her award-winning article The Climate Necessity Defense.
Email: dl3751@columbia.edu
Trebor Maitin is a Columbia Journalism School student. He graduated with a government and law degree from Lafayette College, where he was the managing editor of the campus newspaper. Trebor hopes to write about government in his native Pennsylvania, known to some as the center of the universe.
LinkedIn: Trebor Maitin
Augostina Mallous is an master’s student at Columbia Journalism School with a passion for investigative and broadcast journalism. She is an advocate for human trafficking awareness and prevention, having led initiatives with New Jersey’s Coalition Against Human Trafficking. Her background in dance and community service fuels her interest in covering stories on social justice, arts and women’s rights.
LinkedIn: Augostina Mallous
Blythe Reis is a full-time master’s student at the Columbia Journalism School. She is from Connecticut and graduated in 2024 from Syracuse University with a double major in broadcast journalism and political science. Blythe reported the 2024 New Hampshire Primary and had her work used at multiple broadcast stations across the country. She hopes to pursue a career in political journalism after she graduates.
Vahini Shori is a master’s student at Columbia Journalism School and an alum of Rutgers University–New Brunswick. Before Columbia Journalism School she worked at Kaleidoscope, a small podcast studio telling some of the world’s biggest stories. She loves audio and people and hopes to continue reporting about the things that make our world exciting.
Johanna Sommer is a journalist interested in covering arts and culture, specifically in the intersection of music and labor in the streaming era. She is from Buffalo, New York, and graduated from SUNY Purchase in 2023 with degrees in journalism and literature.
Fred Voon is a Singaporean master’s student at Columbia Journalism School. He has experience as a writer in marketing and advertising, at a food magazine and in English education. He holds a degree in English literature from the National University of Singapore.
LinkedIn: Fred Voon
Carmen Xiao is a Chinese journalist passionate about covering arts and culture stories, particularly exploring their intersections with social issues. She graduated in 2024 from the University of Macau with a degree in communication and creative media. Carmen has produced short films documenting the lives of migrant workers in China and written pieces about subcultures.
Email: sx2391@columbia.edu