kplu news beats and bios

	Erin Hennessey | News Director Erin Hennessey has been overseeing the station’s news team since 1996. From 1991-1996 she was KPLU’s All Things Considered Host. Erin is a native of Spokane and a graduate of the University of Washington and London's City University - Center for Journalism Studies. Erin worked in the film industry and as a print journalist in London and New York before returning to Seattle to work in broadcast news. Erin's most memorable moment at KPLU: "Interviewing NPR's Cokie Roberts about multi-faith families and the challenges of juggling different holiday traditions." Contact info: ehennessey@kplu.org
	Keith Seinfeld | Health & Science Reporter/Assistant News Director Keith Seinfeld has been KPLU’s Health & Science Reporter since 2001, and prior to that covered the Environment beat. He’s been a staff reporter at The Seattle Times and The News Tribune in Tacoma and a freelance writer-producer. His work has been honored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Knight Science Journalism Fellowships at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Keith’s most memorable KPLU radio moment: “Watching brain surgery on a patient with Parkinson’s Disease. When the doctor pulled out a pretty hefty hand-held drill, I realized: It may be a hi-tech procedure, but you still have to put a hole in the skull, while the patient’s awake.” Contact info: kseinfeld@kplu.org Click here for stories by Keith Seinfeld
	Kirsten Kendrick | Morning Edition Host Kirsten Kendrick has been hosting KPLU’s Morning Edition since 2006. She handles all aspects of the show - from news selection and writing to audio production. Kirsten has worked in radio for 20 years. She was born in Ohio, grew up in Indiana and attended high school and college in North Texas. In addition to being a jazz fan, Kirsten is an avid softball player and sports lover. Kirsten and her husband Troy live in Seattle with their son Delton and their dog Nancy with the Laughing Face. Kirsten's most memorable moment at KPLU: Interviewing sports columnist Art Thiel about the demise of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Kirsten says, "Art's raw emotion in describing the newspaper's final day really impacted me." Contact info: kkendrick@kplu.org Click here for stories by Kirsten Kendrick
	Dave Meyer | All Things Considered Host Dave Meyer has been anchoring KPLU news shows since 1987. He grew up along the shores of Hood Canal near Belfair and graduated from Washington State University with degrees in communications and psychology. Dave’s first job out of college was at WMRE in Boston, where he was mentored by legendary jazz and news radio host Norm Nathan. Dave's most memorable KPLU moment: “Interviewing Phil Austin and David Ossman of The Firesign Theatre. Listening to their surreal comedy albums at an early age inspired me to seek out a career in radio, and it was an honor to share the airwaves with them.” Contact info: dmeyer@kplu.org Click here for stories by Dave Meyer
	Gary Davis | Education Reporter/Online News Manager Gary got his first tape recorder in the early 70’s. He’s been hooked on sound ever since. About that time, he created his own neighborhood ‘newspaper’ – a one-page flyer, handwritten in triplicate through the magic of carbon paper. The tools may look a little different today, but Gary’s passions remain: storytelling in sound and in text, for the air and for the web. As an education reporter, Gary brings you news from schoolrooms and school boards, stories of lifelong learners and childhood curiosity. Gary's favorite KPLU moment: Receiving an email from an elementary school instructor in response to a feature report on teacher training. She wrote that it ‘re-inspired’ passion for her own profession. Gary’s comment: “I think that’s pretty cool.” Contact info: gdavis@kplu.org Click here for stories by Gary Davis
	Liam Moriarty | Environment Reporter Liam Moriarty started with KPLU in 1996 as our freelance correspondent in the San Juan Islands. He’s been our full-time Environment Reporter since November, 2006. In between, Liam was News Director at Jefferson Public Radio in Ashland, Oregon for three years and reported for a variety of radio, print and web news sources in the Northwest. He's covered a wide range of environment issues, from timber, salmon and orcas to oil spills, land use and global warming. Liam is an avid sea kayaker, cyclist and martial artist. Liam's most memorable KPLU radio moment: "Recording a musician swapping songs with killer whales from a boat in the middle of Johnstone Strait in British Columbia." Contact info: lmoriarty@kplu.org Click here for stories by Liam Moriarty
	Bellamy Pailthorp | Business & Labor Reporter Bellamy Pailthorp joined the staff of KPLU as a general assignment reporter in 1999. She now covers the business and labor beat. She was raised in Seattle, but spent 8 years in Berlin, Germany after receiving a Fulbright scholarship in 1989. She holds a Bachelors degree in German language and literature from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT and a Masters in journalism from New York's Columbia University, where she completed the Knight-Bagehot fellowship in business reporting in 2006. Bellamy's most memorable KPLU radio moment: “Seeing the INS open a shipping container at the Port of Seattle that contained stowaways from China, three of whom died en route of seasickness. Harrowing stuff, with global economics and inequity at its root.” Contact info: bpailthorp@kplu.org Click here for stories by Bellamy Pailthorp
	Paula Wissel | Law & Justice Reporter Paula reports on groundbreaking legal decisions in Washington State and on trends in crime and law enforcement. She’s been at KPLU since 1989 and has covered the Law and Justice beat for the past 15 years. Paula grew up in Idaho and, prior to KPLU, worked in public radio and television in Boise, San Francisco and upstate New York. Paula's most memorable moment at KPLU: “Interviewing NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr about his ability to put current events in historical context. It’s something I aspire to.” Contact info: pwissel@kplu.org Click here for stories by Paula Wissel
	Charla Bear | Education Reporter Charla is the newest member of the KPLU team. She joined us in January, 2010 and is excited to be back in Seattle after several years in Washington, DC, where she was a director and producer for NPR. Charla has reported from three continents and several outlets including Marketplace, San Francisco Chronicle and NPR. She has a master of journalism from University of California, Berkeley and a bachelor's degree in architecture from University of Washington. Charla's most memorable public radio moment: “Sitting alone in a room with a convicted murderer who had just been paroled. The only thing between us was a microphone, as he told me how he had transformed his life and become a priest.” Contact info: cbear@kplu.org Click here for stories by Charla Bear
	Jennifer Wing | Special Projects Reporter Jennifer Wing is an on-call reporter and news host for KPLU. She’s from Philadelphia, but has been living in the Northwest for well over a decade. Jennifer has had many memorable KPLU radio moments over the years, but one that sticks with her is being allowed to watch a young man struggle to learn how to read. Jennifer says, “He'd made it all the way through middle school and most of high school not knowing how. He finally fell into the hands of some adults who cared enough to give him the time and attention he needed.” Contact info: jwing@kplu.org Click here for stories by Jennifer Wing
	Kevin Kniestedt | Weekend Edition Saturday and Jazz on the Grooveyard Host Kevin began his career at KPLU in 2003, where his first responsibility was to eradicate the KPLU Jazz Library from all Smooth Jazz CD’s. Since then he has hosted, at least once, almost every single program on KPLU. Kevin is also the author of KPLU’s Groove Notes jazz blog, has interviewed several world class jazz artists, produced local news features, and helped make the KPLU Grocery Tote famous. Kevin's most memorable KPLU radio moment was his interview with Edgar Martinez right before his last home game. Kevin lives the seemingly never-ending bachelor life in downtown Tacoma where you may find him hitting a tennis ball, catching an independent film or eating a massive plate of nachos. Contact info: kkniestedt@kplu.org Click here for stories by Kevin Kniestedt
	Adam Gehrke | Weekend Edition Sunday Host Adam Gehrke has been sitting in the comfortable control-room chair on Sundays since 2001. Adam grew up in what’s now called Sammamish (formerly unincorporated King County) and is a graduate of PLU’s arch rival, the mighty University of Puget Sound. He has been in broadcasting since he was 17. Adam's most memorable KPLU radio moment: “Getting to play a part as myself and a few other characters in Dick Stein’s Jimmy Jazzoid radio-detective drama.” Contact info: agehrke@kplu.org
Gary Crawford | News Host Gary has been coming off the bench since fall 2008 to pinch-host KPLU’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition. A Puget Sound native and U-Dub grad, Gary’s had a diverse radio career as a general assignment reporter, rock DJ, talk show host, sports director and community radio program director. Rotary selected him for a cultural/professional exchange where he got a taste of British broadcasting at the BBC and commercial stations in England. He’s also heard and seen as a freelance actor and voice talent in corporate videos, web content and TV and radio commercials. Gary's most memorable KPLU moment: “The first time I hosted my favorite radio show—Weekend Edition with the great Scott Simon.”
Northwest News Network (N3) Reporters: Tom Banse | Regional Correspondent Tom Banse, KPLU’s and N3’s Regional Correspondent, roves the Northwest to report on broad themes and telling details. His topics run the gamut from business to the environment and human interest. Home base is in Olympia, a legacy of a previously held state government beat from 1991-2003. Although he grew up in Seattle, Tom's radio career began by chance in Minnesota at Carleton College’s student radio station. Tom's memorable moment in public radio: "I am indebted to many people for tips and tutelage, but certainly some of the bluntest -- at times unprintable -- guidance came from NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg. I interned at NPR in 1989 and was privileged to keep Nina's chair warm at the U-S Supreme Court or at the high-octane Iran-Contra trial of Oliver North, wherever she wasn't at the time. Heady stuff for a tenderfoot reporter." Contact info: tbanse@u.washington.edu Click here for stories by Tom Banse Austin Jenkins | Political Correspondent Austin Jenkins, KPLU’s and N3’s Olympia Reporter, has been covering the Washington State Legislature and regional public policy issues since 2004. Prior to becoming a public radio reporter, Austin worked as a television reporter in Seattle, Portland and Boise – to name just a few of his stops. Austin grew up in Seattle and is a graduate of Connecticut College. Austin’s memorable moment in public radio: “There are too many to pick just one: Covering Washington’s contested 2004 gubernatorial election, flying in an Army Reserve Chinook helicopter to the top of Mt. Rainier, spending 24-hours on a tug boat on the Snake River, the list goes on.” Contact info: ajenkins@kuow.org Click here for stories by Austin Jenkins Anna King | Richland Correspondent Anna King, KPLU’s and N3’s Richland-based reporter, has been covering the Mid-Columbia since the spring of 2007. Before that she was a print reporter for the Tri-City Herald where she covered the environment, Native Americans, agriculture and Northwest wine. A Washington native, she's also a regular contributor to the magazine Wine Press Northwest and was a contributing author to the guide book Best Places to Kiss in the Northwest. Anna's memorable moment in public radio: "Being dusted from head-to-toe by a potato digger during harvest. Every square inch of me was covered in fine sand. Public radio is a dirty job!" Contact info: aking@wsu.edu Click here for stories by Anna King Doug Nadvornick | North Idaho Correspondent Doug Nadvornick KPLU's and N3's Coeur d'Alene-based reporter, has been covering North Idaho and Eastern Washington for us since July, 2008. Before that, he worked in commercial radio, weekly newspapers, and served as Spokane Public Radio's news director for about 17 years. He lives in Spokane and is a graduate of Washington State University. Doug's memorable moment in public radio: "Going into the mountains with a hydrologist who was collecting snow samples. That made for one of the best 'sound' stories I've ever produced." Contact info: dnadvornick@kpbx.org Click here for stories by Doug Nadvornick