Below is a directory of individuals regularly helping the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting and its publication, The Maine Monitor, achieve its mission to deliver fearless, independent, citizen-supported, nonpartisan journalism that informs Mainers about the issues impacting our state and inspires them to take action.
Jump to section: Senior Leadership | Newsroom Staff | Monitor Local | Development | Audience Engagement | Contributors
Senior Leadership
Executive Director
Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm is the Executive Director of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, which operates The Maine Monitor. Micaela joined MCPIR/The Maine Monitor after retiring as a Senior Foreign Service officer. Micaela represented the United States around the world for 26 years, leading U.S. diplomatic teams, and advancing U.S. principles of democratic governance, most importantly, the importance of a free and vibrant press.
Micaela spent most of her career in the Middle East and Southeast Europe and served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Skopje, North Macedonia, and at the U.S. embassies in Zagreb, Cairo, Baghdad, Tunis and Kathmandu and at the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem, where she led the Public Affairs Section and was the Consulate Spokesperson for four years.
Micaela holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from Brown University and a Master’s Degree in National Security Studies from the National War College. A native of southern New England, Micaela, her husband Todd, and three children have called Maine home since 2017, and live in Belfast. When not avidly devouring news reporting, you might find her and her family sailing in Penobscot Bay, hitting the ski slopes across Maine, or hiking new paths with their two rescue dogs.
Micaela is on the board of the Maine Press Association, serving as Second Vice President and chair of the Scholarship Committee, and is on the board of the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition, which aims to broaden knowledge and awareness of the First Amendment and state laws aimed at assuring public access to government proceedings and government records.
Editor
Kate Cough is the editor of The Maine Monitor, previously serving as environmental reporter and enterprise editor for the newsroom. As an eighth generation Mainer, Kate believes her responsibility as editor is deeply personal — shaping and implementing The Monitor’s coverage of the issues that matter to people, the place she calls home and where she is raising her family, is about serving her community and our future Maine.
Kate has received recognition from the National Headliner Awards, Maine Press Association and National Newspaper Association, among others. She lives in Bar Harbor.
Contact Kate:
gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689etak1763049689
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Interim Editor
Stephanie McFeeters is the deputy editor of The Maine Monitor, and is serving as the interim editor this fall. She joined the newsroom after spending eight years at Harper’s Magazine because she wanted to return to local news in New England, where she got her start as a reporter, and to do so at an organization that was thinking critically about the kinds of stories it was telling and why.
She works with The Monitor’s journalists to ensure their stories are nuanced, accurate and fair, and relies on her experience as a fact checker to accomplish this. She lives in Portland.
Contact Stephanie: gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689einah1763049689pets1763049689
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Interim Deputy Editor
Erin Rhoda is the interim deputy editor at The Maine Monitor. She previously worked at the Bangor Daily News for 13 years, starting as the newspaper’s editorial page editor before helping form the newspaper’s investigative team, Maine Focus, in 2014.
In addition to being the editor of Maine Focus, she wrote stories centering on domestic and sexual violence, addiction, police accountability, public health and the future of rural communities. She believes in the power of stories to connect people and change lives. Erin lives in Bangor.
Newsroom Staff
Senior Public Health Reporter
Rose Lundy is a senior public health reporter for The Maine Monitor, with a focus on Maine’s aging care system. She is passionate about stories that highlight systemic problems affecting the most vulnerable in our community.
Rose was previously a 2022 ProPublica Local Reporting Network fellow and a 2020 Report for America corps member. Before that, she was a reporter for three years at a daily newspaper in southwest Washington state. She now lives in Portland, Maine. Her work has been recognized by the New England Newspaper & Press Association, Maine Public Health Association, National Newspaper Association Foundation, Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers and Maine Press Association.
Contact Rose:
gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689esor1763049689
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Health Care and General Assignment Reporter
Emily Bader is a health care and general assignment reporter for The Maine Monitor where she covers substance use, mental health and access to care. She is particularly interested in exploring how these issues affect Mainers’ everyday lives, how communities are seeking solutions and in serving as a watchdog on decision-makers.
Prior to joining The Monitor, Emily was a reporter for three years at local Maine papers. She has earned recognition from the New England Newspaper & Press Association, Maine Public Health Association, National Newspaper Association Foundation and Maine Press Association. She is a member of Investigative Editors & Reporters and the Association of Health Care Journalists.
Contact Emily:
gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689ylime1763049689
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Environmental Reporter
Emmett Gartner is an environmental reporter for The Maine Monitor. Having grown up on the Chesapeake Bay, Emmett has long been interested in stories of adaptation and accountability. He joined the newsroom in 2023 as a Roy W. Howard fellow and now explores how environmental policy aligns with Mainers’ lived experiences and where climate change complicates the status quo.
Previously, he reported for a daily newspaper in Maryland and spent separate summer stints working as a trail maintenance worker in Nevada, a wildland firefighter in Oregon and an environmental educator on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Contact Emmett: gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689ttemm1763049689e1763049689
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Government Accountability Reporter
Josh Keefe is a government accountability reporter for The Maine Monitor with a focus on Maine’s child welfare system and indigent defense system. Previously, he worked as an investigative reporter for The Tennessean in Nashville and Bangor Daily News. Originally from Veazie, he now lives in Portland.
His accountability reporting on Tennessee’s child welfare system, Maine county law enforcement, and the Maine Army National Guard has been recognized by the Sidney Hillman Foundation, New England First Amendment Coalition, Maine Press Association and Tennessee Press Association.
Contact Josh:
gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689hsoj1763049689
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Education and Workforce Development Reporter
Kristian Moravec is an education and workforce development reporter for The Maine Monitor. She has long been passionate in understanding the nuances and various perspectives of any topic. This value has placed her around the globe in various cultural exchange programs and has driven reporting on hard-hitting topics like the recent toxic firefighting foam spill in Brunswick.
Though Kristian originally hails from outside Chicago, she has spent the past decade living around the East Coast and abroad. She moved to Midcoast Maine in 2024 to cover local news in the region.
Contact Kristian: gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689naits1763049689irk1763049689
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Religion, Politics and Society Reporter
Sean Scott is a religion, politics and society reporter for The Maine Monitor, covering how religious institutions impact personal and political decision making across the state. A Report for America corps member, he is especially focused on how places of worship impact local communities and broader Maine society by influencing both policy and cultural discussions.
Before joining The Monitor, Sean launched a nonprofit newsroom in southwest Ohio, leading a small team of interns and contributing writers to provide weekly coverage. His in-depth reporting, breaking news and investigative work in Ohio, including during college, has won statewide and regional awards, as well as a national Mark of Excellence award from the Society of Professional Journalists for campus reporting.
Contact Sean:
gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689naes1763049689
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Rural Government Reporter
Daniel O’Connor is a Report for America corps member who covers rural government as part of the partnership between The Maine Monitor and Bangor Daily News.
Hailing from a small town in Connecticut, Dan’s interest in government reporting brought him back to rural New England, where he aims to shed light on the government, politics and cultural trends impacting rural communities across Maine. He arrived in Maine after attaining his master’s degree at Columbia Journalism School in New York City. He is based in Augusta.
Contact Daniel:
gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689leina1763049689d1763049689
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Housing Reporter
Taylor Nichols is a Roy W. Howard Fellow covering statewide housing issues for The Maine Monitor. Prior to joining The Monitor, Taylor worked for the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland while completing her master’s in data journalism. She also covered housing for Street Sense Media in Washington, D.C.
Taylor is passionate about making data publicly available and easy to understand, and believes in using local reporting to empower residents to create change in their communities. Her work has been recognized by Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Pulitzer Center.
Contact Taylor:
gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689rolya1763049689t1763049689
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Coming Soon!
Monitor Local
Editor, Monitor Local
Judith Meyer is editor of Monitor Local, an initiative of The Maine Monitor focusing on local news in Oxford, Franklin, Somerset and Washington counties.
Editor emeritus of the Sun Journal, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel and a real First Amendment nudge, she is president of the Maine Freedom of Information Coalition, serves on the board of the New England First Amendment Coalition and is a member of the Right to Know Advisory Committee to the Maine Legislature.
A journalist since 1990, she was named Maine’s Journalist of the Year in 2003 and inducted into the Maine Press Association Hall of Fame in 2021.
Contact Judith:
gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689yduj1763049689
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Development
Development Director
Amelia Metcalfe is the development director for the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, which operates The Maine Monitor. Amelia previously worked as a development specialist for Crisis and Counseling Centers.
At The Monitor, Amelia works to build support for impactful journalism that shapes the state she was born in, raised in and proudly calls home. She especially enjoys connecting with the members who make this work possible. Amelia lives in Hebron with her fiancé and the cat she rescued.
Administrative Coordinator
Deborah Fahy is the administrative coordinator for The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting and The Maine Monitor. Deb formerly clerked for the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety for the Maine State Legislature and before that served as executive director of the Harlow Gallery in Hallowell for nearly 15 years.
Deb stays connected to the arts through a number of volunteer roles, including the Hallowell Arts & Cultural Committee, the Artists Rapid Response Team and others. Deb lives in Hallowell where she and her husband Greg Fahy raised two sons and now spend time hiking, birdwatching and caring for two (indoor) rescue cats.
Development Assistant
Haydn Russell is a development assistant for The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, which operates The Maine Monitor. In his previous roles as an associate with the Stories of U Grant Project and senior intern with the Union College Office of Admissions, Haydn worked alongside members of local communities to report, produce, and distribute personal narratives to combat systemic inequities.
Haydn recently graduated Summa Cum Laude from Union College in New York with an interdepartmental major in English and political science, and has been inducted into the Sigma Tau Delta, Pi Sigma Alpha, and Order of Omega national honor societies. As a lifelong New Englander, Haydn is eager to serve Maine’s many communities by assisting The Maine Monitor’s mission to provide transparent, reliable, and equitable journalism. When he’s not reading and writing, Haydn can be found camping, hiking, and spending time with his family in New Hampshire.
Audience Engagement
Digital Editor
George Harvey is the digital editor for The Maine Monitor. He oversees digital and newsletter production and coordinates sharing the work of The Monitor’s journalists with media partners.
He has been recognized by the Maine Press Association and the National Newspaper Association. George serves on the Maine Press Association board of directors.
Contact George: gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689egroe1763049689g1763049689
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Audience Engagement Director
Amber Carter is the audience engagement director for The Maine Monitor. Throughout her nearly two-decade-long career, she has worked for several news publications in Maine, most recently serving as the assistant web editor for the Portland Press Herald.
She has a passion for telling significant stories through smart and engaging online media posts, while striving to convey unbiased, accurate, and thoughtful information. At The Maine Monitor, Amber focuses on building and fostering reader relationships by appealing to broad audiences with a concentration on strategic audience development.
Contributors
Washington County Reporter
As a freelance contributor to The Maine Monitor, Joyce Kryszak writes stories crucial to the people of the remarkable, rural, coastal community known as Washington County. She also contributes to the Downeast Monitor newsletter.
A Buffalo, New York transplant, Joyce previously reported for NPR and its affiliates, Voice of America, New England News Collaborative, The Environment Report, Native Voice, Buffalo News, and Down East Magazine. Her in-depth reporting on government, social justice, cultural affairs, and the environment earned her an Edward R. Murrow Regional Award, dozens of Associated Press awards, and Maine Press Association awards. Joyce, her husband, Alan, and their Great Pyrenees, Kashmir, live, work, and hike all over Downeast Maine. She lives in East Machias.
Contact Joyce:
gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689ecyoj1763049689
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Washington County Reporter
Jacqueline Weaver is a freelance contributor to The Maine Monitor with a focus on Washington County news. A veteran journalist, she contributes to the Downeast Monitor newsletter and lives in Gouldsboro.
She spent a decade of reporting on neighboring Hancock County for the Ellsworth American, and covered Jimmy Carter’s campaign as a rookie reporter for United Press International. She has freelanced for The New York Times and Reuters, among others.
Contact Jacqueline: gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689enile1763049689uqcaj1763049689
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Western Maine Reporter
Ben Hanstein is a freelance contributor to The Maine Monitor, and writes the weekly Western Maine Monitor newsletter. He lives in Farmington, where he runs a used bookstore and reports on stories that matter to western Maine.
Contact Ben:
gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689nimaj1763049689neb1763049689
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Climate Contributor
Chris D’Angelo is an award-winning journalist who has covered climate change and environmental issues for more than a decade.
He recently co-founded Public Domain, an investigative Substack focused on public lands, wildlife and government. Previously, he spent nine years as a reporter at HuffPost, where he spearheaded the outlet’s coverage of public lands and environmental policy. His work has also appeared in Reuters, High Country News, Grist, Vox, Mother Jones and other outlets.
Prior to HuffPost, Chris spent several years writing for daily newspapers in Hawaii. He lives with his wife and their dog in southern Maine. When not reporting down a rabbit hole, he enjoys fly fishing and making sawdust in his shop.
Contact Chris:
moc.l1763049689iamg@176304968968ole1763049689gnadm1763049689c1763049689
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Climate Contributor
Julia Tilton is a freelance reporter covering climate and the environment, contributing to The Maine Monitor and The Daily Yonder. At the latter, she co-hosts the Keep it Rural podcast, a biweekly podcast that digs into the nuance of the latest science and politics news impacting rural America.
Julia previously worked on NASA’s Curious Universe podcast and her reporting has been featured in news outlets from Nashville to Mexico. She grew up in southern New Hampshire and is partial to the mountains and forests of the Northeast.
Contact Julia:
moc.l1763049689iamg@1763049689notli1763049689tailu1763049689j1763049689
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Reporting Fellow
Alexa Foust is a reporting fellow for The Maine Monitor. She previously worked within the incarceration system and as a paralegal for three years before graduating from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism where she focused on New York City’s detention centers.
She was awarded the Silurian Press Club award for her interest in local accountability reporting. A former New Englander herself, she hopes to serve the Maine community by reporting on underrepresented communities.
Contact Alexa:
gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689axela1763049689
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Contributing Reporter
Tux Turkel is a freelance environmental and energy contributor to The Maine Monitor. He is a former staff writer at the Portland Press Herald who covered statewide energy, environmental and utility issues for over four decades. He lives in Yarmouth.
Contact Tux:
moc.l1763049689iamg@1763049689lekru1763049689txut1763049689
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Contributing Reporter
Murray Carpenter is a freelance contributor to The Maine Monitor with a focus on environmental topics. He has worked as a reporter for Maine Public, Maine Times, and The Republican Journal, and filed stories for The New York Times, NPR and The Washington Post. A resident of Belfast, he has authored books on caffeine (2014) and Coca-Cola (2025).
Contact Murray:
moc.l1763049689iamno1763049689torp@1763049689retne1763049689pracy1763049689arrum1763049689
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Reporting Fellow & Development Intern
Emily Hedegard is a reporting fellow and development intern for The Maine Monitor. She holds a bachelor’s in English and communications from the University of New England, where she served as editor-in-chief of the student paper, The Bolt. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in investigative journalism at Arizona State University.
She has contributed to a range of local papers and academic journals, including Saco Bay News, Portland Press Herald and Across the Disciplines. She is passionate about journalism that amplifies underrepresented voices and uncovers overlooked stories.
Emily is a Mainer — born and raised — who enjoys walking local trails (the Eastern Trail being her favorite), gardening and practicing yoga in her free time.
Contact Emily:
gro.r1763049689otino1763049689menia1763049689meht@1763049689hylim1763049689e1763049689
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Copy Editor
Elenita Muñiz copy edits stories for The Maine Monitor from her home on Cape Cod. She is in her third retirement career as concierge in a memory care residence, having previously spent over two decades in non-profit administration, six years with the Barnstable County Human Rights Commission, and two years as a caregiver for her mentor of 30 years.
An avid tapestry weaver, she shares a home in conservation upland forest with Judy, her partner of 36 years, a persistent cat, and their fourth German Shepherd Dog, Salty, and spends time with the grandchildren whenever she can.
Podcast Host
Genius Black, also known as Jerry Edwards, is a social innovator, entrepreneur, and musical artist based in South Portland that is a freelance contributor to The Maine Monitor. Naturally a storyteller and motivator, he focuses on collaboration and audio/video production as a craft. Genius curates a collaborative network and collective of musical talent, GEM CITY, driving the intersection of art, culture, and quality of place unique to Maine’s coast.
He holds a degree in Africana Studies and an English minor from Bowdoin College. Genius is a media and communications organizer for TheThirdPlace and a proud board member of Portland Media Center.
Contact Genius:
moc.l1763049689iamg@17630496897kcal1763049689bsuin1763049689eg1763049689
Podcast Archive:
Listen to Maine’s Black Future
Contributing Videographer
Roger McCord is a freelance videojournalist that contributes the Chasing Maine series to The Maine Monitor. He has had a wide-ranging career in journalism, spanning the gamut from writing/reporting to daily news photography to working on various news desks as an editor. The most recent incarnation is in video production, usually brief features and mini-documentaries in and about Maine.
His video journalism has been recognized by the Maine Press Association and has been a finalist for the New England Emmy Awards.
Contact Roger:
moc.l1763049689iamg@1763049689drocc1763049689mrego1763049689r1763049689
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Watch Chasing Maine
Contributing Photographer
Garrick Hoffman is an award-winning photographer with a passion for visual storytelling. Since beginning his career in photojournalism for a variety of southern Maine weeklies in 2017, Garrick has expanded his creative horizons, specializing in weddings, events, portraits, and lifestyle photography in addition to his photojournalism work. Garrick also delights in capturing the beauty of Maine & beyond with his landscape photography, leading to three awards by the Appalachian Mountain Club.
Garrick has had his work featured in a variety of publications, including TIME, Down East Magazine, Northern Woodlands Magazine and the Bangor Daily News, and has won an award from the Maine Press Association for his work in The Maine Monitor.
Contributing Photographer
Katherine Emery is a full-time freelance photographer specializing in portraiture and documenting meaningful stories of connection that shape our communities and our future. She lives on Mount Desert Island with her family, and is a member of Women Photograph.
Contact Katherine:
moc.y1763049689remee1763049689nireh1763049689tak@o1763049689fni1763049689
Senior Advisor
Longtime editor and media executive Pamela Maffei McCarthy held leadership positions at three great titles during the most transformative period in media history. Over her four decades in magazines, she was the deputy editor of The New Yorker, the managing editor of Vanity Fair, and the executive editor of Esquire, where she started her career as a proofreader.
In her 28 years at The New Yorker, Pam led the editorial department while positioning the magazine for a new generation and developing a sustainable business. She worked with editors David Remnick and Tina Brown to reimagine and reinvigorate the legendary title, introducing new writers and artists and collaborating with longtime contributors on new subjects and kinds of storytelling. With the advent of digital, she led the translation of The New Yorker onto the web and into apps, radio, e-books, streaming television, and social media.
Since leaving The New Yorker in 2020, Pam has advised journalism and literary organizations, and sits on the advisory board of the American Journalism Project. She also works as a volunteer with food security and sustainability groups. She lives with her husband, Joe McCarthy, in Brooklin, Maine and Brooklyn, New York.