Brave Old World Columbia News21 Staff Bios

Alex Berg is a multimedia journalist from Philadelphia. She has a master’s in journalism with a concentration in digital media from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in English and Spanish from Cornell University. Berg's work has appeared on iVillage, the Huffington Post and BronxInk.org, and in two.one.five magazine and the Ithaca Journal. She’s particularly interested in criminal justice and education reporting.

Patrick Egan earned a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in May 2010. He earlier received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Richmond and a master’s in creative writing from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. His work has appeared in Runner’s World, City Limits and the Bronx News Network. He lives in Brooklyn.

Abigail Jones co-authored the nonfiction bestseller “Restless Virgins: Love, Sex, and Survival at a New England Prep School” (2007). She has written about girlhood, culture and the arts for the Boston Globe, the Boston Phoenix and Forbes.com, among other publications. She also worked at the Atlantic. Jones has master’s degrees from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the University of Edinburgh, and a bachelor’s from Dartmouth College. She lives in New York City.

Sherisse Pham graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where she received honors and the Joan Konner Prize for best broadcast student. She earlier freelanced for four years in Beijing and interned at CNN, covering such stories as the Sichuan earthquake and the 2008 Summer Olympics. She also wrote for WWD, the South China Morning Post, Wallpaper*, People magazine and Frommer’s, among other publications. She will join ABC’s Washington, D.C., bureau this fall.

Nushin Rashidian, a Los Angeles native, recently graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Earlier, she helped establish a storytelling project with AIDS Services Foundation in Orange County, Calif., and wrote about the clients’ experiences for a local publication. In New York, she has written about foodies and gang members, addiction and school closings.

Josh Tapper, an Ottawa native, graduated from Dalhousie University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with honors in history and English in 2009. He holds a master’s from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. His work has appeared in the New York Daily News, the Forward and on NYTimes.com. He prefers not to wear a tie or a serious expression in the middle of July.

Executive Editor Paula Span spent much of her career at the Washington Post and has contributed to many newspapers and magazines. Her book, "When the Time Comes: Families with Aging Parents Share Their Struggles and Solutions," was published in 2009.

She now writes the New Old Age blog on the New York Times website and teaches at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Editor Karen Stabiner, an adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, is the author of eight books and the editor of the anthology “The Empty Nest.”  

She is a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times Opinion section and the Huffington Post.

Social Media Editor Adam Glenn is an award-winning journalist and digital media consultant who has reported, edited and managed newsrooms in Washington, D.C. and New York for nearly 30 years. He taught at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism from 2007-2009 before joining the faculty of the Graduate Journalism School at City University of New York in early 2010. He has served as Columbia News21 managing editor since the project's inception in 2006.