Alexander Besant covers Morrisania. Alex is originally from Toronto, Canada, but now calls New York home (for the time being). Alex holds a BA in Political Science and French and an MA in International Relations. Alex has worked as a journalist in Beirut, Lebanon, where he covered local politics and in Washington DC where he covered Capitol Hill for Hearst Newspapers. Alex also writes freelance travel articles for a variety of publications in the US and Canada. Email Alexander.

Amara Grautski covers Fordham and University Heights. She hails from Boston, where she earned a B.A. in Journalism from Northeastern University. She was a two-time editor and staff writer for The Huntington News, the college’s independent student newspaper, and a correspondent for the sports department of The Boston Globe. Email Amara.

Brent Ardaugh covers Belmont. Originally from Illinois, he graduated from Purdue University and the Boston University School of Public Health. His main interest is health reporting. Email Brent.

Caitlin Tremblay covers Community District 9 which includes Soundview, Parkchester, Unionport, Castle Hill, and Classon Point. Caitlin is a native of Halfmoon, NY (near Albany, NY) and graduated from SUNY Buffalo in 2010 with a B.A. in English and history, concentrating in Shakespeare and Early Modern England. She has written and worked for Generation Magazine (Buffalo, NY), The Spectrum (Buffalo, NY), Artvoice (Buffalo, NY) and The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY). Email Caitlin, or follow her on Twitter.

Catherine Pearson covers Morrisania. She grew up in Connecticut and graduated from New York University in 2006. Catherine has worked as an associate editor with Power & Motoryacht magazine and as a contributing reporter with The Block Island Times. Email Catherine.

Connie Preti covers Fordham. Born in Argentina but raised between Brazil and Colombia, she graduated from Saint Andrew’s University in Buenos Aires. There she was editor and a reporter for the college monthly magazine, 284. She has been blogging for over eight years and loves to tweet. Email Connie or follow her on Twitter.

David Alexander covers Longwood and Hunts Point. Originally from Los Angles, David earned his Bachelors degree from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communications in 2006. Upon graduation he moved to Tel Aviv, where he spent the last three years producing a feature documentary film and freelancing short video content. Email David, or follow him on Twitter.

Elettra Fiumi covers Hunts Point and Longwood. Born and raised in Florence, Italy, Fiumi graduated with honors from Mount Holyoke College and then worked for Travel+Leisure, Departures, and Black Ink, published by American Express. She has also freelanced for New York Magazine online and blogged from a tall ship. Email Elettra.

Elisabeth Anderson covers Norwood. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Communication she worked as a corporate strategy consultant at Changing Our World, a philanthropy-focused consulting firm. This native New Yorker currently serves as a trustee of her high school alma mater, Marymount School. Email Elisabeth, or follow her on Twitter.

Irasema Romero covers Kingsbridge. Originally from Mexico, she studied public relations at Brigham Young University, where she wrote for the collegiate newspaper, The Daily Universe. Prior to Columbia, she was media coordinator at the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas. Email Irasema.

Nick Pandolfo covers Mott Haven. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, he graduated from the Eugene Lang College at the New School, where he studied education. He has interned at City Hall News/The Capitol and also published travel articles while backpacking Asia and Australia for a year. Email Nick.

Nicola Kean covers Soundview. Originally from Wellington, New Zealand, she graduated from Victoria University with an honours degree in political science. She worked for a regional daily paper in New Zealand, and then for Unlimited, a bi-monthly business magazine. Email Nicola, or follow her on Twitter.

Stephanie Apstein covers Highbridge. Originally from Boston, she graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where she was the sports editor and editor-in-chief of her college weekly, The Trinity Tripod. Email Stephanie, or follow her on Twitter.

Yardena Schwartz covers West Farms, Bronx Park South, and East Tremont. Hailing from New Jersey, Yardena graduated from the University of Delaware, where she was a founding editor of the online music magazine aUDio. In 2008 she traveled to New Hampshire with The New York Times to report on the presidential primary there, and has since worked in news production at ABC News and NBC’s Today Show. Email Yardena, or follow her on Twitter.

Yiting Sun covers East Tremont. Originally from Tianjin, China, she graduated from Tianjin Foreign Studies University, where she studied English; and Nanjing University, where she took American Studies courses. While in college, she worked part time as a social news reporter for Tianjin Morning Post. Email Yiting.

Zach Schonbrun covers Highbridge. Born and raised in Massachusetts, Zach graduated from Syracuse University in May 2009, where he was a staff writer for The Daily Orange. He covered baseball for two seasons for MLB.com and has contributed freelance work to the Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, and The New York Times. Email Zach.