Maggie Baruffi, PR Director 
Whether it is reading a book, traveling to a new place or watching the latest documentary, Maggie’s desire to learn and explore new things is a driving force in her life. She feels at home in Wisconsin amidst the cheese and friendly Midwesterners, but dreams of ditching the winter for good to live in a beach house on the ocean. While her dream job is to be a professional movie or food critic, Maggie hopes to find a job in communications that allows her to continuously develop her skills and try new things.
Melissa Behling, Videographer
A native Wisconsinite hailing from Racine, Melissa will pursue a career in documentary production after graduating from UW-Madison. She believes videojournalism has the capability to inspire positive change and to give a voice to historically underrepresented communities. When she is not filming, editing or eating ice cream, Melissa loves playing the snare drum and does so professionally for the Milwaukee Bucks and Green Bay Packers.
Gabrielle DiBenedetto, Online Associate
Usually the loudest in the room, Gabrielle loves to talk and meet new people, leading her to attend school in the midwest from Boston (accent-less). Beyond words, numbers tell just as powerful a story. As a double major in economics and journalism, Gabrielle is an unapologetic data geek and sometimes a bit over-caffinated. Above all, she’s fascinated with how to present complex information clearly. After graduation, she’ll step out of the newsroom and take on a new challenge at a data research-haven in Chicago.
Maggie Doleschy, Marketing Director
While Maggie aspires to be a hot-shot surgeon for Seattle Grace Hospital and “dance it out” with Christina Yang, she’s decided to take her chances in the communications field. If you want to know what’s going on in Maggie’s life, just take look at her hair that day. It often reflects her state of mind and work load. She’s lucky to have a great group of friends who enjoy gently patting down the entanglement on top of her head. Maggie is captivated by nimble and persuasive storytelling that can transform products and brands. After graduation in May, she hopes to pursue a career in marketing or advertising.
Sadie Dorf, Photographer
When she’s not trying new resturants and cuisines in Madison and her hometown of Los Angeles, Sadie is behind the camera capturing every moment. An active lover of the outdoors, food and people, Sadie translates all she experiences through her images. She’s looking forward to studying abroad in New Zealand and documenting her travels through her pictures so check out her instagram for the latest “Sadie Updates.”
Allison Garcia, Managing Editor
Allison is obsessed with Rick Steves. As the daughter of a flight attendant, she often plans one-day European adventures based soley on his sage advice. While currently completing her senior year and working at the Wisconsin State Journal, she has dreams of writing travel news for a publication or doing public relations for one of America’s national parks.
Katie Hicks, Art Director
Katie is a senior studying journalism and political science. When she’s not fighting the good fight for political equality, she can be found drinking an ungodly amount of coffee or quoting Parks and Recreation. A proud moment was when Katie’s editor allowed her to publish a pun in a story headline and Ezra Klein said it was “good.” The character she most identifies with is the Pigeon Lady from Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. When Katie grows up, she wants to use her creative powers for good, not evil.
Maija Inveiss, Online Associate
When she is not frantically running around Madison writing, Maija is an avid stress baker and lover of anything with too much sugar. She dreams of one day living in New York City and spending all of her time camped out at the Richard Rodgers Theater re-watching Hamilton. Maija will graduate in May with degrees in journalism, strategic communications and French in hopes of working for a large news publication.
Kate Jungers, Lead Writer
Kate is a lover of politics, current events and foreign policy. You can find Kate watching Real Time with Bill Maher, reading Buzzfeed and doing headstands at your local yoga studio. While finishing her senior year at UW-Madison as an intern at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Kate is in the process of applying to law schools which she hopes to attend in the fall.
Brenna Koeneke, Copy Editor
With roots in Milwaukee, Brenna is a true Sconnie at heart but is itching to explore the West Coast post-graduation. Brenna loves words. Her passion for grammar and writing has been stitched into her soul ever since she can remember. She always takes the scenic route and loves all things dogs, fashion and indie-rock. But above all, Brenna strives to be a professional storyteller for a major publication.
Elizabeth Koskiewicz, Production Editor
Elizabeth will graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison this May, God willing. Her hobbies include forcing her friends to watch the same television shows that she does and finishing other people’s food at restaurants. Elizabeth spends her time on this side of the American Dream, hopefully peering over to creative design professions that provide enough to sustain running water and an Amazon Prime membership. Elizabeth loves her family very much and wants to make them proud, so she has decided to forgo her dream of playing as an offensive linebacker for the Green Bay Packers and pursue journalism and communication arts instead.
Madeline Makoul, Lead Writer
Since she was young, Madeline has been infatuated with the written word. After a childhood where her head was always buried in a book, Madeline decided to become a storyteller herself. She obsesses over current events, pop culture, old Youtube videos of Chelsea Lately, fashion, but most importantly, bagels. As a Chicago native, Madeline is ready to journey outside of the Midwest to pursue an editorial position at a major publication in New York City.
Sam Marchewka, Online Editor
Sam is a senior studying journalism, communication arts and the theory of barely getting by, to be honest. Other than fighting the inevitable struggle of the senior slide, Sam spends the the majority of his time complaining that more people don’t follow him on Spotify (cough cough). Upon graduating in May 2017, Sam is interested in any career in advertising that will allow him to pursue his main passions: defeating his mom in games of Scrabble, and keeping his emotions locked inside until they manifest as criticisms of the Green Bay Packers defense. As Curb’s dude-in-residence, he often wonders what the 20 other people on the staff are talking about.
Bailey Nachreiner-Mackesey, Editor-in-Chief
21 going on Liz Lemon, Bailey spends most of her time with a large black coffee in hand and behind her Mac writing, designing and creating. When she’s not on a rant about poor font choices or counterintuitive InDesign default settings, Bailey can be found binge watching The West Wing or re-listening to Serial Season 1 more times than she cares to admit. As with most things she starts, Bailey got a bit too invested in this job and has now made it her dream career, hoping to work on design for a magazine publication come graduation this spring when she will complete her degrees in Journalism & Mass Communication, Political Science and Gender & Women’s Studies.
Tyne Oberlander, Marketing Representative
When Tyne isn’t furiously working to complete and perfect whatever journalism school project is on her desk, her top priorities consist of scouring the internet for articles about Harry Potter, Gilmore Girls and Game of Thrones, asking her mom to send pictures of her dogs, plotting her next meal or smashing the patriarchy. Tyne is studying strategic communication and gender and women’s studies, but also recreationally studies North Dakota history as a proud native of the state. Although she’s graduating in May 2017, Tyne awaits the opportunity to continue to be a lifelong learner.
Kara Rheingans, Marketing Representative
Kara is a lover of any and all breakfast foods and prides herself on her ability to find a Harry Potter quote to fit any situation. She dreams of one day traveling to Spain and finally tasting authentic Spanish paella. Kara will graduate in May with degrees in strategic communication and Spanish and hopes to land a job that allows her to further develop her creativity and cure her wanderlust.
Lizzie Ryan, Art Associate
Lizzie is a senior studying journalism, digital studies and gender and women’s studies. When she is not at the yoga studio teaching, practicing or working the front desk, you may find her at Colectivo talking rapidly after her third cup of coffee or listening to Les Miserables at the library. Lizzie hopes to combine her passions of yoga, self-empowerment and strategic communications into one career come graduation in May. On a completely unrelated note, she enthusiastically says you can connect with her on LinkedIn, if you so desire.
Mia Sato, Lead Writer
Mia is a senior studying journalism, political science and Japanese. Notoriously bad at writing bios and meeting deadlines, she fittingly put writing this off until the last possible moment. Her reporting interests center around inequities and social justice topics, politics and the occasional One Direction think-piece, but any good story will do. A passionate non-chef and viewer of Chopped, Mia hopes to go into nonprofit work after graduation, but magazine reporting was pretty cool too, so the Atlantic should feel free to hit her up. Future ambitions include bringing the Oxford comma back to AP Style and not crying so much. Potential employers: just kidding about the deadlines thing. I try.
Lisa Speckhard, Copy Editor
Lisa is a grad student and the metro reporter at the Capital Times, which sounds pretty cool and Lois Lane-y, if you ask her. Writing long-form is her dream and penning profiles is her passion. Hobbies include under-baking cookies, dancing poorly but enthusiastically and reading murder mysteries. She should really be better at writing these, based on her extensive experience marketing herself for online dating sites. Overall, she manages to be serious about 4 percent of the time.
Jenna Wirkus, Production Associate
“Gemini vegetarian.” Yes, actually like Elle Woods. Jenna hails from The Good Land of Milwaukee, which only fuels her passion for understanding and addressing the socioeconomic barriers that are still very prevalent. If she’s not listening to Dolly Parton or crafting ways to shatter glass ceilings, you’ll find Jenna deeply promoting animal welfare and environmental protection. What is her ideal future, you ask? Two things: running a large adoption ranch for pets in need or working in communications for an organization that advocates for the same causes she does.
Jacy Zollar, Online Associate
Born and raised in Green Bay, Jacy is a cheesehead in every way. Probably because of these roots, she has a deep, deep love for everything football. She’s also incredibly passionate about seeing the world and cultures within it. She’s still trying to solidify what her true career passion is, but her daydreams about the future usually lead her to an Erin Andrews-esque sideline reporter life or adventuring around our massive and diverse Earth and telling its stories.