Reporters

Name: Nicole Ki
Hometown: Hicksville, New York
Favorite story I’ve covered: My story from Undemocratic: Secrecy vs. The People with the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism on the declining influence of Wisconsinites on democracy.
Favorite journalists: Debarati Roy, Walt Bogdanich, Sonia Narang
Dream job: Investigative/Multimedia journalist in NYC
Favorite spot in Madison: The Pier at the Edgewater overlooking Lake Mendota

Name: Izabela Zaluska
Hometown: Buffalo Grove, Illinois
Favorite story I’ve covered: Speaking with UW experts about Wisconsin’s juvenile justice system for The Badger Herald
Favorite journalists: Sarah Koenig, Jessie Opoien, Sarah Stillman
Dream job: Investigative reporter writing about topics related to the criminal justice system or politics
Favorite spot in Madison: Dane County’s Farmers’ Market

Name: Nina Bertelsen
Hometown: St. Paul, MN
Favorite story I’ve covered: Diving into UW-Madison’s funding, the growth of private giving and how it’s entangled with the state’s biennial budget and legislative control
Favorite journalists: Gina Barton, Eli Saslow, Karen Herzog, Adam Harris, Mark Rosenberg
Dream job: Agriculture or Higher Education beat reporter for The Denver Post
Favorite spot in Madison: Greenbush Bakery for $1 doughnuts after midnight

Name: Mason Muerhoff
Hometown: Kenosha, Wis.
Favorite story I’ve covered: Covering UW-Madison research on urban foxes and coyotes
Favorite journalists: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Vann R. Newkirk II
Dream job: Wildlife photographer
Favorite spot in Madison: Frautschi Point

Name: Pawan Naidu
Hometown: Modesto, CA
Favorite story I’ve covered: Covering the labor dispute between California State University (CSU) and California Faculty Association (CFA)
Favorite journalists: Bob Woodward, Jenna Johnson and Nate Silver
Dream job: White House Correspondent for the Wall Street Journal
Favorite spot in Madison: The Terrace. The first week I was here I went with a group of friends; and the mix of the lake, sunshine, chairs, live music, beer, and the people there made me think I’m going to be here a lot.

Name: Taylor Palmby
Hometown: Janesville, Wis.
Favorite story I’ve covered: Investigative piece about sexual assault in the prison system
Favorite journalists: Sarah Koenig, Payne Lindsey, Dana Schwartz, Sam Escobar
Dream job: Investigative Podcast Reporter or Magazine Editor
Favorite spot in Madison: Eno Vino, the view of the city is incredible, the food is even better and the memories top them both.

Name: Gerald Porter Jr.
Hometown: Chicago, IL.
Favorite story I’ve covered: A feature story for the Daily Southtown on Gerresheimer, an international medical glass manufacturer, and their Chicago Heights plant.
Favorite journalists: Bill Simmons, Dexter Thomas Jr., Angela Rye, Shea Serrano
Dream job: Broadcast news journalist
Favorite spot in Madison: Village Pizza

Name: Teodor Teofilov
Hometown: Sofia, Bulgaria
Favorite Story I’ve Covered: The impact of Foxconn on the people that live where the factory will be built
Favorite Journalists: Sarah Stillman, Walt Bogdanich
Dream Job: Magazine Reporter, hopefully the New Yorker
Favorite Spot in Madison: Any place with good coffee

Name: Amelia Rufer, Editor and Teaching Assistant
Hometown: Brookfield, Wis.
Favorite story I’ve covered: Analysis of firearms recovered in D.C. homicide cases from 2009 through 2014
Favorite journalists: Dominick Dunne, Michael Sokolove, Nate Silver
(Slacker) Dream job: Netflix Content Tagger (yes, “taggers” get paid to watch Netflix at home!)
Favorite spot in Madison: Bradbury’s. I’m a sucker for Nutella, and their homemade version of the hazelnut spread with bananas, almonds and whipped cream all stuffed in a crepe is, in a word, exquisite.

Name: Andrew Bahl
Hometown: Baltimore, Md.
Assigned to cover: Wisconsin’s 85th Assembly District, New Hampshire’s U.S. Senate race
Favorite story I’ve covered: The passage of Wisconsin’s Right-to-Work law last year
Favorite journalists: The Washington Post’s John Feinstein and David Maraniss, The Baltimore Sun’s Dan Rodricks and Erica Green and The New York Times’ Andrea Elliott.
Dream job: Covering politics or education for The Washington Post.
Favorite spot in Madison: The outdoor deck at the state Capitol.

Name: Max Bayer
Hometown: San Francisco
Assigned to cover: The Wisconsin 94th district assembly and Ohio Senate races.
Favorite story I’ve covered: The solidarity protest in Madison in response to the events unfolding at the University of Missouri.That was the first time I was on the ground at an event like that and the energy was electric.
Favorite journalists:Frank Bruni, from The New York Times, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight, and ESPN senior baseball writers Buster Olney and Steve Kurkjian.
Dream job: I really want to run Google, but I don’t know how to write computer code.

Name: Noah Broder
Hometown: Ridgefield, CT
Assigned to cover: Hillary Clinton and the 18th State Senate District in Wisconsin
Favorite story I’ve covered: The impacts of diversity initiatives on the UW campus
Favorite journalists: Myself
Dream job: General Manager of the Miami Dolphins
Favorite spot in Madison: Anywhere with free food

Name: Chris Bumbaca
Hometown: Rockville Centre, New York
Assigned to cover: Wisconsin’s 75th Assembly District race between Rep. Romaine Quinn (R) and challenger Joe Huftel (D), as well as the open Indiana U.S. Senate seat between Rep. Todd Young (R) and former Senator Evan Bayh (D).
Favorite story I’ve covered: Feature story about the admissions process for student-athletes for The Badger Herald.
Favorite journalists: Mike Vaccarro, Steve Politi, Wright Thompson, Andy McCullough, Jeff Passan, anyone at The Kansas City Star and Wisconsin State Journal, Tim Layden, Richard Deitsch, Jesse Temple, Marc Carig, Jared Diamond and Eli Saslow.
Dream Job: Sports Illustrated features writer or presidential speechwriter
Favorite spot in Madison: The Camp Randall Stadium press box.

Name: Peter Culver
Hometown: Madison, Wis.
Assigned to cover: The Assembly race in District 70 (Tomah), between Republican incumbent Nancy VanderMeer and her Democratic challenger Mark Holbrook. I am also covering the Pennsylvania Senate race between Republican incumbent Pat Toomey and his Democratic challenger Katie McGinty.
Favorite story I’ve covered: My coverage of the 2016 awards season, especially my piece discussing the results of the Golden Globes.
Favorite journalists: Rachel Maddow, Brooke Gladstone and Anderson Cooper.
Dream job: Working for the A.V. Club as a film critic, and my favorite place in Madison is the Frederic March Play Circle in the Union.

Name: Will Hoverman
Hometown: Minnetonka, Minn.
Beat: Wisconsin US Senate Race, Wisconsin Assembly District 72
Favorite story in portfolio: Interviewing a homosexual Syrian Refugee
Favorite journalists: Jamelle Bouie, Chris Hayes, Matt Taibbi, Jelani Cobb
Dream Job: Chief Political Correspondent for NBC News
Favorite Spot in Madison: Michelangelo’s Coffee

Name: Kerry Huth
Hometown: Appleton, Wis.
Assigned to cover: District 24 for the Wisconsin State Senate race, as well as the U.S. Senate race in New Hampshire.
Favorite story I’ve covered: My first story was on the hunting mandates for wolves in Wisconsin. I can’t say why it has stuck with me, but I’m never going to forget it.
Favorite journalists: I’m a huge fan of Joel Stein. He writes about important issues but always seems to spin it in a humorous way, which I really appreciate in today’s world.
Dream job: I would love to write for a food magazine, such as Bon Appetit. The idea of being paid to explore food sounds deliciously delightful.
Favorite spot in Madison: My Madison heaven is an early Saturday morning strolling the Dane County Farmers’ Market, coffee in hand and nowhere to be.

Name: Emily Neinfeldt
Hometown: Elkhorn, Wis.
Assigned to cover: The Wisconsin State Assembly race between incumbent Gordon Hintz and Jordan Hansen.
Favorite story I’ve covered: A piece I wrote for The Badger Herald on UW alum Matt Desmond’s book EVICTED and how high eviction rates in Milwaukee contribute to higher levels of violence.
Favorite journalists: I really enjoy reading The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Dream job: My dream job would be writing long-form feature stories for a magazine.
Favorite spot in Madison: Vilas Zoo

Name: Briana Reilly
Hometown: Chilton, Wis.
Assigned to cover: The state Senate race in District 30 between incumbent Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, and Republican challenger Eric Wimberger, along with the national Senate race between U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis, and Democrat Russ Feingold.
Favorite story I’ve covered: A feature on student homelessness at the UW-Madison, entitled “In the shadows: UW’s homeless students struggle to succeed.”
Favorite journalists: Wisconsin reporters Jessie Opoien and Jason Stein and New York Times’ N.R. Kleinfield.
Dream job: A career in international reporting, covering specifically China and southeast Asia.
Favorite spot in Madison: Vilas Park

Name: Luke Schaetzel
Hometown: Germantown, Wis.
Assigned to cover: Wisconsin’s 32nd State Senate District, Florida’s U.S. Senate race
Favorite story I’ve covered: Homelessness in Madison and Wisconsin
Favorite journalists: CBS’s Edward R. Murrow (past), CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Fox New’s Shepard Smith
Dream job: Feature writer for Time Magazine
Favorite spot in Madison: Monona Lakefront path

Name: Paige Scobee
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minn.
Assigned to cover: Senate District 10 and the Indiana U.S. Senate race between Evan Bayh and Todd Young.
Favorite story I’ve covered: A multi-media project I did on mental health resources on the UW-Madison campus.
Favorite journalist: Anna Palmer, co-author of Politico’s Playbook and Washington correspondent
Dream Job: Senator, but my back-up plan is political consulting.
Favorite spot in Madison: Tenney Park

Name: Lauren Ann Sklba
Hometown: Racine, Wis.
Assigned to cover: Wisconsin’s 51st Assembly District and Donald Trump
Favorite story you have covered: Video journalism story covering Madison’s growing creative community
Favorite journalists you read/watch/listen to: Ezra Klein, Arwa Damon, Delayed Gratification
Dream job: writer for travel magazine or international lifestyle publication
Favorite spot in Madison: The Arboretum and Picnic Point

Name: Hayley Sperling
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minn.
Assigned to cover: Wis. Senate district 12 and Hillary Clinton
Favorite story you have covered: Covering the GOP debate in Milwaukee for The Badger Herald
Favorite journalists Liz Plank, Jenna Johnson, Amy Chozick, Anderson Cooper, Jessie Opoien, Hunter Walker
Dream job: Breaking news somewhere or sending tweets for someone
Favorite spot in Madison: The Chazen

Name: Madeline Sweitzer
Hometown: Wauwatosa, Wis.
Assigned to cover: Wisconsin’s 81st Assembly District, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump
Favorite story I’ve covered: Fighting Bob Fest 2016
Favorite publications: PolitiFact, The New York Times, Wisconsin State Journal, The Cap Times
Dream job: Investigative reporter with PolitiFact
Favorite spot in Madison: Bascom Hill

Name: Riley Vetterkind
Hometown: Holcombe, Wis.
Assigned to cover: Ohio U.S. Senate Race, Wisconsin Assembly District 68
Favorite story in portfolio: Reporting on student wages
Favorite publications: The New York Times, NPR, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The Cap Times
Dream Job: Feature reporter for NPR
Favorite Spot in Madison: Picnic Point

Name: Evan Winter
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minn.
Assigned to cover: District 14 State Senate race between incumbent Senator Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) and Waupaca Mayor Brian Smith, as well as Pennsylvania’s Senate race between Katie McGinty (D) and incumbent Senator Pat Toomey (R).
Favorite story I’ve covered: Music culture and resources on the UW-Madison campus.
Favorite journalists: Jamelle Bouie, Sarah Kendzior and Sam Sanders.
Dream job: Favorite spot in Madison: is a stretch of Williamson Street that includes some of my favorite restaurants, a thrift store, the skate park and the co-op.