Speaker Bios

Alex Derlago is a managing editor of Wilsonville Broadcast Network and has been involved with the program throughout high school. He is a writer, editor, podcaster, and sportscaster. Outside of school, Alex has covered games for OSAA and Table Rock sports. His work has appeared in Wilsonville Lifestyle magazine. Ryan Williams is the sports editor for Wilsonville Broadcast Network and has been involved with the program throughout high school. He is a writer, editor, podcaster, and sportscaster. As a varsity football and lacrosse player, he brings an athlete's perspective to his reporting. Sydeny Hanson is a managing editor of Wilsonville Broadcast Network. She has been involved in the program thoruhgout high school, serving as a writer, broadcaster, designer, and section editor. Hanson produces work in English and Spanish.

Amy Jack is the journalism adviser for The Quiver Yearbook, and Arrow News Magazine at Sherwood High School. She loves coffee, scrolling Tik-Tok, and unicorns.

Audrey Krake, Iris Hochstettler, Clara Wood, and Claire Lenarduzzi are senior editor in chiefs at west Linn high school’s yearbook and journalism publications.

Beth Zilk is a Certified Journalism Educator and has been advising yearbook for 17 years at Mountain View High School. Their yearbooks have won multiple awards through CSPA and NSPA and have been featured in Yearbook Discoveries and Folio Magazines. She has been on the OJEA board for seven years and is a JEA Mentor.

Camilla Mortensen is the editor-in-chief of Eugene Weekly, an alternative news weekly, covering all of Lane County as well as statewide issues, and printing more than 25,000 papers a week in addition to its digital reach. Eugene Weekly publishes features, solutions journalism, investigative pieces and arts and culture reporting and is locally and family owned. Camilla started off as an environment reporter, and prior to her career in journalism, she earned a doctorate in comparative literature and a masters degree in folklore and mythology, and worked on a thesaurus for the Library of Congress. In addition the Weekly, she teaches journalism courses at the University of Oregon — including solutions journalism. She is the advisor for the Lane Community College newspaper, The Torch, and is on the board of the rural newspaper the Highway 58 Herald in Oakridge.

Charlie Butler is a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, ESPN, Men's Health and Portland Monthly, among other publications.

Damian Radcliffe is a journalist, researcher, and professor based at the University of Oregon. He holds the Chambers Chair in Journalism and is a Professor of Practice, an affiliate faculty member of the Department for Middle East and North Africa Studies (MENA) and the Agora Journalism Center, and a Research Associate of the Center for Science Communication Research (SCR). He is an expert on digital trends, social media, technology, the business of media, the evolution of present-day journalistic practice and the role played by media and technology in the Middle East. Damian is always a three-time Knight News Innovation Fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, an Honorary Research Fellow at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture Studies (JOMEC), and a Life Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). In Spring and Summer 2023 he was a Visiting Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. With nearly 30 years of experience in the media industry, Damian has worked in editorial, strategic, research, policy and teaching roles in the USA, Middle East and UK. This includes roles in all media sectors (commercial, public, government, regulatory, academic, and nonprofit/civil society) and all platforms (print, digital, TV and radio). For more information see: https://journalism.uoregon.edu/directory/faculty-and-staff/all/damianr

Dr. Kevin Curry is an associate professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Linfield University. He teaches courses on video production, podcasting, advertising and public relations, and media law. Before becoming a professor, he worked professionally as a film and video producer, as well as a communication strategist in politics, business and higher education.

Ed Madison is an associate professor at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and the executive director of the Journalistic Learning Initiative (JLI), a nonprofit whose mission is to empower students to discover their voice, improve academic outcomes, and engage in self-directed learning through project-based storytelling. Since 2015, JLI has positively benefited more than 6,000 students at 20+ middle and high schools in Oregon and California. Madison has a 27-year track record as an executive producer/director of network television, film, and commercial projects. His own subsequent companies have provided services for most of the major networks and studios, including CBS, ABC, A&E, Paramount, Disney, and Discovery. He has contributed to the success of many top-rated series that helped to define the lifestyle/travel television genre, including Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous, A&E Top 10, and Entertainment Tonight.

Genie Westfall has been working with schools for 20 years as a sale representative for Varsity Yearbooks. She helps her schools not only learn the basics, but take their books to the next level. She also is director of Yearbooks Northwest, a three day summer yearbook workshop.

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Glenn Krake, CJE has advised the national award-winning student media publications program at West Linn High School in West Linn, OR for 18 years. He serves as the Oregon JEA State Director and in addition to being named CSPA National Journalism Adviser of the Year - Special Recognition in 2023, and JEA National Yearbook Adviser of the Year - Special Recognition in 2024, Glenn Krake counts among his greatest accomplishments “that one time in 11th grade when I printed a giant chicken on the front page of my high school newspaper.” Follow him on Instagram @gkrake or his alter-ego: DJ Krakenn on spotify.

Jessica Hume-Pantuso is an award-winning photojournalist and digital storyteller. She is the former photo editor of the Corvallis Gazette-Times and Albany Democrat-Herald.

John Sutter is an award-winning environmental journalist, documentary filmmaker, and media educator with more than 15 years of experience in climate storytelling and investigative reporting. He spent over a decade at CNN, where he covered climate change and human rights issues, helped lead coverage of major events, including the Paris climate talks, and served most recently serving as a senior investigative reporter and climate contributor. His independent work has been supported by the National Geographic Society, Sundance Institute, Sandbox Films, the Catapult Film Fund, and the National Science Foundation, among others. Sutter also regularly leads workshops and trainings on multimedia journalism, climate communication, op-ed writing, and media strategy for organizations such as the Poynter Institute, The Carter Center, AFP, and PBS Digital.

Julia Boboc is an award-winning audio storyteller and senior journalism student at the University of Oregon. She is currently a reporting fellow for Eugene's NPR affiliate station, KLCC, the host and producer of the UO School of Journalism and Communication's podcast, 'One Cool Story', and the president of the SOJC's Audio Club. She hopes to use her experience in audio to bring stories about humanity and empathy to the airwaves.

My Name is Kaitlyn Falcon and I a freshman at the university of Oregon and I plan to major in Journalism with a focus more on Photojournalist. I was on yearbook staff for two years in High School and was photo editor my senior year. I love taking photos such as nature, sports and portrait.

Kathy Beers spent 29 years in the classroom and 22 years advising the award-winning yearbook at Timber Creek High School in Fort Worth. She is now a Creative and Adobe Specialist for Walsworth Yearbooks where she loves to help guide advisers and staffs through their crazy ideas on the journey to make their yearbook vision a reality. Kathy is a wife, mother of two very creative adult daughters, and a dog mom.

With over 20 years of professional experience, Kym Rohman has worked as a designer in large agencies, small studios, and in-house for small businesses and non-profits. After graduating with a BFA in Communications, she moved to New York City to work in music publishing at companies such as the Harry Fox Agency and MTV Networks. While at MTV she became interested in the creative side of the industry. She left music to work as a producer, managing content creation for a digital signage start-up, before going back to school to study graphic design at Parsons, The New School. After graduating from Parsons, as a digital designer at Weber Shandwick, she designed 360-degree media campaigns for Unilever USA. She also designed editorial websites for large brands such as Aetna and Excedrin. She has worked as an in-house designer on marketing teams for The Jewish Museum, a fine art museum on Museum Mile, and Mondo, a tech and digital recruitment agency. She currently works as a freelance designer for small businesses and non-profits such as The Clinton Foundation and Healthier Generation.

Lindsay Schnell is an award-winning sports reporter at The Athletic, where she works as a senior writer covering colleges. From 2017-2024, Lindsay was a sports enterprise reporter at USA TODAY, where she wrote extensively on women's sports. Previously she worked at Sports Illustrated, The Oregonian and ESPN.com. She won the 2025 APSE Billie Jean King award for excellence in women's sports coverage, and was the 2005 Oregon High School Journalist of the Year. She is a graduate of Oregon State University and lives in Portland.

Maggie Troxell is a 2025 SOJC graduate now working as a full time sports media contractor with experience at the University of Oregon under GoDucks and professional experience working with the NBA, NFL, Olympic Trials, NCAA, Big Ten, Snoop Dogg, USATF, and USA Basketball.

Alex is a senior at FAU.

Margot Kalmanson and June Baeck: We are two senior Editors-in-Chief from Grant High School's Grant Magazine. Last year at OJEA our magazine won "Best in Show" for the News Magazine category. We have contributed to our publication for three years, two of which being EICs.

Michelle Balmeo, MJE, is in her 21st year advising student media, and she currently advises The Whirlwind news staff and The Pedigree yearbook staff at West Albany High School in Albany, Oregon. She has served as a JEA curriculum leader and mentor, Outreach Academy instructor, Partner Project lead, and a contributor to the JEA Digital Media Committee’s blog, in addition to contributing to the textbook Journalism: Publishing Across Media. Balmeo has been recognized as a California and Oregon Journalism Teacher of the Year, an NSPA Pioneer, a JEA Medal of Merit recipient, and a Dow Jones News Fund Distinguished Adviser. She is a past president and current board member of Oregon JEA.

Kayla Stefan is a senior Managing Editor of The Whirlwind news staff at West Albany High School in Albany, Oregon. She has been a media delegate in Youth and Government for the past three years, serving as editor in chief for the past two. Josh Gwin is the executive committee chair for the board of Oregon YMCA Youth and Government.

Natalie Pate is a K-12 reporter for Oregon Public Broadcasting. She previously worked for eight years at the Statesman Journal and as a freelancer. You may have seen her work in national publications, including USA TODAY and NPR. Natalie was also the host and producer of a limited-series podcast about youth with incarcerated parents, called "On the Outside." Natalie is a published children's book author and the journalism consultant for Willamette University's student newspaper, The Collegian. She is also a regular mentor/editor for the High School Journalism Institute (HSJI) every summer at OSU.

Nicole Vulcan is the Editor in Chief of the Source newspaper in Bend, Oregon, where she's led an award-winning team of journalists since 2016. Prior to working in print, she was a broadcast news producer at KPTV in Portland and KEVN in Rapid City, SD. In addition to her editing duties, she's currently at work on a book of journalistic non-fiction, titled "Self Medication," that covers Oregon's drug policy story in the modern age, along with her own family's experience with drug addiction and loss.

Pat Albright is a former journalist who worked for two Oregon daily newspapers in the early 70s before going into education. His first teaching assignment in 1975 was to advise the Axe newspaper and Eugenean yearbook at South Eugene High School. After two years as a temporary teacher, he secured a full-time position at Springfield High School where he served for 27 years and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2019. Albright served as editor of the 1980, 2008 and 2010 daily news program for the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. He is also a former chair of the Lane Community College Board of Education. While at Springfield he was also an active union leader serving as grievance chair and parliamentarian for Springfield Education Association. During his tenure there he received multiple commendations from SEA and OEA. Additionally he is the recipient of the Barss/Wohlers Member Rights Award for protecting member rights and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Oregon Education Association. Albright additionally served seven years as a home tutor for 4j after his retirement from Springfield from 2007 to 2015. He finished his teaching career with a short six-month stint at the International School of Panama in 2016. In 2007 he was elected to his first of two terms as a member of the Lane Community College Board of Directors where he served twice as chair. During his service at LCC he was also a delegate to the Oregon Community College Association and the American Association of Community Colleges. He concluded his service to LCC in 2015. He lives with his wife of 55 years in Eugene in a 100-year old house they bought in 1978. Their daughter is a 4j middle school counselor.

Raphael Pond is a former high-school English teacher and yearbook adviser. He has a degree in Professional Writing and a Master's in Teaching. He is also a published author in the sci-fi genre. Currently, Raphael works with Jostens Yearbooks. In this role, he helps schools tell their story and define their community through the pages of yearbook.

Sami Edge is the deputy editor on the Express Team at The Oregonian, which handles breaking crime and community news. She graduated from the University of Oregon in 2016 and got her start in journalism as a cub reporter in Santa Fe, New Mexico reporting on cops, court, crime and so much more. She started at The Oregonian in 2022 and has covered several beats including higher education and state politics.

Dr. Scott Selberg is an assistant professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Linfield University. He teaches a wide range of courses in media studies, with a focus on history and criticism.

Scotty Selberg is a veteran photojournalist and a recipient of multiple Emmy Awards and a National Murrow Award. Based in Washington D.C., he currently serves as a National Investigative Photojournalist for InvestigateTV and Gray Media. His recent work includes the joint ProPublica/InvestigateTV investigation that exposed railroads blocking streets and forcing children to risk their lives crawling under trains to reach school. Scotty’s nearly two-decade career, which began in 2003, has placed him on the front lines of history, capturing events like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, an investigation into an Alaska serial killer, and the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol. Originally from Alaska, Scotty holds bachelor's degrees in Mathematics (University of Alaska) and Film Studies (University of Utah).

My name is Ms. Selena Huggins. I was a yearbook advisor at 3 different schools!. I’ve created 11 yearbooks in my career. I’m also on OJEA Board.

Tarek Anthony is a University of Oregon senior studying journalism and political science. Before becoming editor-in-chief of the Daily Emerald, he was the Emerald’s investigations editor and newsletter producer and worked as a news reporter covering crime and local government in Eugene.

Tom Henderson has more than 45 years of experience as an editor and reporter. He has taught journalism at the high school and college levels and has won more than 100 awards for his work. He is a past president of the Oregon and Idaho chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists.