KneeDeep invites the next generation of writers, artists, photographers, and creators to share their work and POV in our magazine. Read about our growing team of new journalists, interns and cub reporters, and multi-media professionals here.
Aiyana Washington
is an undergraduate at Stanford University studying Earth Systems, science communication, and theater. As both a theater-maker and environmental advocate, her interests lie at the intersection of climate justice and artistic performance. She is especially captivated by human-environment interactions and exploring how multi-media storytelling can influence conservation attitudes and our perception of the natural world. Aiyana interned for KneeDeep in summer 2022.
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Alyson Wong
is a visual artist and writer who works at the intersection of culture, art, and the environment. She graduated from the University of California, Davis with a dual Bachelor's degree in Design and Cinema & Digital Media which led her to a career in animation in New York. She continues to expand her ability to tell stories and address social issues through her documentary photography and film work. Her fine art photo work has been featured in San Francisco gallery exhibitions and in her spare time, she enjoys sitting at the base of tall trees.
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Amber Manfree
is an independent geographer. Her specialties are spatial analysis, cartography, and natural resources management. Her knowledge of landscape change informs her graphic design and allows her to communicate science in insightful ways.
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Ayla Burnett
is a local beat reporter and master's student at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. Her work centers on climate change and environmental justice through an investigative lens. Her writing has been featured in a variety of different publications, including The Trouble, The Oaklandside, and the Point Reyes Light.
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Brittany Zendejas
is a Master's student at the Berkeley Journalism school with a focus on multimedia reporting. She currently works for the Investigative Reporting Program at Berkeley and interned for KneeDeep in the summer of 2021. She graduated from the University of California Irvine in 2019 with a degree in English and Literary Journalism. Her reporting has focused on local communities with a range in poverty, healthcare, and police misconduct. She hopes to continue reporting on underrepresented communities and create meaningful conversations pertaining to climate change, food insecurity, and everything in between.
2 Posts
Callie Rhoades
is a multimedia journalist and master’s student at the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. The majority of her work has been focused on climate change, outdoor recreation and freshwater issues. Her writing has been featured in Earth Island Journal, Berkeley Science Review, SKI Magazine and Oakland North. You can find her work at callierhoades.com.
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Hoi Shan Cheung
is a freelance journalist, who spent her summer interning for two media companies and developing various digital media projects. She graduated from San Jose State University with a bachelor's degree in Journalism in 2020. She is from Hong Kong, a coastal city that suffers from insufficient waste management and the urban heat island effect.
3 Posts
Justin Lai
Justin Lai is a San Francisco native, freelance writer, and professional tarot card reader. You can find him at torwards.com.
2 Posts
Katie Rodriguez
is a freelance journalist and a graduate student at Berkeley's Journalism School. Much of her work has focused on environmental issues, environmental policy, art, culture, and the human connection to the outdoors. She is also a portrait, landscape and documentary photographer. During her time at UCB, she plans to pursue investigative journalism telling stories of climate change and environmental justice. She covers late-breaking news from Marin City for KneeDeep. Find her other work at krodcreates.com.
2 Posts
Lilah Burke
is a freelance reporter in New York. Her work has appeared in the New Republic, the Revelator, Vegetarian Times, New York Focus, and Washingtonian Magazine. She was previously a reporter at Inside Higher Ed. She is interested in the challenges of environmental preservation and how people choose to navigate them. She was inspired to write about second-growth redwoods, the focus of her first article for KneeDeep, when visiting the beautiful forests and coasts of California.
2 Posts
Lonny Ivan Meyer
is a freelance photographer situated in the Bay Area. Most of his work focuses in photojournalism and the fine arts. He graduated from the University of California, Davis with a bachelor’s degree in international relations, drawing him toward a global political perspective in many of his works. Rooted in the desire to affect social change, his pieces reflect an alternative way of seeing, recording and understanding events and social relations. His photos can be found in KneeDeep articles. In his spare time, you can find him surfing and exploring the California coast, or brewing some delicious concoctions.
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Lujain Al-Saleh
is a labor organizer based in Oakland, California. She graduated with a Master of Public Health in Global Health & Environment from the UC Berkeley School of Public Health in 2020 and completed her undergraduate degree from the Environmental Science & Management program at UC Davis. Throughout the past decade, she has collaborated on a range of advocacy campaigns to address issues of environmental justice in the Bay Area and Central America.
2 Posts
Maylin Tu
is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. She grew up in Maine and Beijing, is proudly #carfree and writes about whatever interests her.
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Meka Boyle
is a freelance reporter and photographer in New York. She was previously a contributor at San Francisco Public Press where she wrote about nonprofits and community resilience in the Bay Area during the pandemic. Her work has appeared in San Francisco Public Press, Newsweek, ARTnews, DAZED, and Monterey County Weekly. She is interested in the ways communities and grassroots movements can organize to solve problems within their environments.
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Veronica Chan
is a landscape designer and artist. Born and raised in San Francisco, she currently works for SF Public Works. She graduated from Cornell University in 2018 with a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture and did her Bachelor’s work at the University of California, Davis. She is passionate about exploring climate resiliency and social justice through the lens of both landscape architecture and art. Her graphic illustrations can be found in KneeDeep articles and video. In her spare time, in the right season, she enjoys hunting mushrooms in the woods.
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Vrinda Manglik
is a climate professional and freelance illustrator based in Oakland, CA. She currently contracts as a Storyteller for Google (via Adecco), and has previously worked for environmental organizations including the Pisces Foundation, Sierra Club, Environmental Law Institute, and Natural Resources Defense Council. She has a master's in environmental management from the Yale School of the Environment and a bachelor's in liberal arts from Sarah Lawrence College. She loves being outdoors, art, and music.
3 Posts
Zack Boyd
is a master's student at Stanford University, who spent summer 2021 working on the Stanford Educational Farm and sharing ideas for how young people can contribute to KneeDeep. His studies combine Earth Systems and Environmental Communication. He grew up in rural Kintnersville, Pennsylvania and currently lives in Stanford, California.
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