Elisa Lagos, a native of New Yorker and daughter of Colombian immigrants, has experience working in the journalism business for five years. She began as a financial reporter for the international news network, France24, before joining the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at NYU as a graduate student in the Reporting the Nation program. Since then she has covered the housing crisis in Navajo Nation, the problems facing undocumented immigrant women who are victims of domestic abuse, and has worked with MSNBC and ABC News.

Rhea Mahbubani is a master’s student in the Reporting the Nation concentration at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. She graduated cum laude from Soka University of America in May 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in international studies. A speaker of Hindi, Marathi and Spanish, Rhea interned at Artemisa Noticias in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She wrote for amNewYork’s Features Desk and used her photography skills to create multimedia content during her internship at The Local: East Village, a blog at the New York Times. This fall Rhea will be reporting and writing for both the print and online versions of The New York Observer.

An Ohio native, Rachel Morgan spent the first year of her career at a small daily newspaper in Ohio reporting on everything from city hall to county fairs. While a graduate journalism student at New York University, Morgan interned for the New York Daily News, US Weekly and the New York Observer. She placed second in the Associated Press of Ohio’s Enterprise Reporting category in 2010 and also won first place in feature reporting in 2010 in the Native American Journalists Association Media Awards for her story on a family’s devastating loss because of uranium contamination.

Amanda VanAllen plans to waste no time in small-media markets. This native Chicagoan and self-proclaimed big-city girl is now taking strides to become a major metropolitan reporter. A current graduate student in the Reporting New York Program at New York University, she is sharpening her broadcast, writing and multimedia skills. She has interned at NBC’s multimedia unit, BET’s documentary unit, and CNN. After her last semester of study, she plans to take the journalism world by storm.

Kelly Knaub’s interest in journalism comes from a desire to write, tell stories and appease her endless curiosity about the world. She spent five years teaching English to immigrants and refugees in New York City before embarking on her master’s degree in journalism at New York University last fall. Kelly previously lived in Mexico for two years and traveled all over Central America. Her experience as a human rights observer in Chiapas inspired her to become a journalist. Kelly most recently spent the summer in Havana, Cuba, as a blogger for Havana Times.

Sarah Tung is a third-semester graduate student at the NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute with a concentration in Reporting the Nation. Originally from California, she feels fortunate to have grown up in a true cultural melting pot. She has a great love for photography and meeting interesting people. Sarah has interned with Time Magazine, Hong Kong and BET’s documentary unit.

Amanda Plasenciais a Cuban-American from Miami, Fla. Born to immigrant parents, she is excited at the prospect of exploring the untold stories of immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border. At New York University, Amanda received her bachelor’s degree in music with a minor in communications. She will be returning to NYU as a new member of the graduate Reporting New York program at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. She is also a proud member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Liz Wagner is a graduate student at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute in the Reporting New York program. A local television reporter for four years, Liz decided to head back to school and pursue her passion for long-form reporting and documentaries. She is currently assisting the director of her graduate program with a documentary about uranium contamination on Navajo Nation, and continues to report for the News 12 Network in Brooklyn and the Bronx, and contribute to NYU’s professional publication Pavement Pieces. She has previously worked for CNN, ABC, NBC and KRNV, the NBC affiliate in Reno. She received a B.A. in broadcasting from USC.

A native New Yorker, Sophia Soloway recently went through a major career change when she jumped from the fashion industry to journalism. She is currently working toward a master’s degree in journalism at New York University and just finished an internship with WPIX where she discovered her love of local news. Sophia found being the first on the scene at fires, crimes and other major events throughout the city to be an incredible adrenaline rush. When she previously worked as a personal shopper, her favorite part of the job was talking to people and hearing their stories — now, she feels the same way about journalism.

The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, had a big impact on Jonathan Walczak and inspired him to enter journalism. As he grew up, he witnessed history firsthand — visiting Ground Zero in 2001, driving through New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and standing in torrential rain as then-Sen. Barack Obama wept and spoke to 30,000 the day before the 2008 presidential election. From 2007-08, he interned in the national press office of the John Edwards for President Campaign. In 2009, he completed a four-month investigation into a 36-year-old cold case murder, helping to reopen the case. Later that year, he was elected editor of his college newspaper, and worked with a team of 50 to transform it into an award-winning publication. After graduating with a B.A. in mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, he worked as a general assignment reporter for The Asheville Citizen-Times, where he focused on politics. He especially enjoys long-form journalism, investigative journalism and photojournalism. Jonathon is currently a graduate student at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and the editor of Pavement Pieces, the institute’s online, award-winning publication.

Rachel Wiseis a multi-platform journalist and Master of Arts candidate in the Reporting New York program at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Rachel has about five years of experience in reporting, photography, multimedia production, page design, copy editing, and Web design/management. She has worked for daily, weekly and online publications throughout Florida prior to moving to New York City in 2009. For the last year, Rachel served as the editor of Pavement Pieces, the online publication for NYU graduate students, and has been working as a production assistant on a documentary film about environmental hazards in Navajo Nation. Most recently, she completed an internship with the Dow Jones News Fund. Rachel is most passionate about photojournalism, multimedia, editing and documentary work.

Nick DeSantis is a Master of Arts candidate at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. In addition to his work as a journalist, Nick serves as the Director of Communications for Choose Responsibility, a non-profit organization dedicated to engaging the public in an informed and dispassionate conversation about the unintended consequences of the 21 year-old drinking age. He graduated from Middlebury College in February of 2008 with a B.A. in English and American Literatures. He is originally from upstate New York.

Emily Canal began working as a journalist before she had her driver’s license and is currently continuing her studies in the Reporting the Nation program at New York University. She graduated from Emerson College in 2009 and worked at The Boston Globe for two years while earning her degree. She spent the year after college working at POLITICO before moving to New York. Emily is currently interning with The New York Observer and has held internships with The Washington Post, Cape Cod Times and Mass High Tech.