T-Squared: Introducing our fall 2022 student fellows

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As a new academic year begins, it’s time for The Texas Tribune to welcome fall fellows.

These are college students or recent graduates who are paid to work part time with us and gain practical knowledge and experience in their fields. Student fellows work in all areas of our organization, including engineering, product development, and media relations and marketing, and their fellowships benefit us as much as them. The journalism produced by Tribune fellows is significant and meaningful, including coverage of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas’ border security efforts, post-Roe health care and Texans lost to COVID-19.

Their experiences with us can lay the foundation for wonderful careers. Recent fellows have gone on to work at companies such as Goldman Sachs, digital marketing agency Madison/Miles Media, NBCUniversal, Politico, The Dallas Morning News, The New York Times, The Sacramento Bee, Bloomberg News and The Washington Post.

Our fall fellows are inspired to amplify the voices and needs of immigrant communities, fight misinformation, bring Texans closer to their state government through events and join the Tribune’s mission to educate and engage Texans on politics, public policy and topics important to the state.

Meet our fall 2022 student fellows:

Trent Brown is a reporting fellow. A Massachusetts native, he is a senior at Northwestern University in Illinois and studies journalism and French. He previously interned at The Wenatchee (Washington) World, where he covered agriculture, local government and community issues. He has served as the editor-in-chief of the campus magazine North by Northwestern. When he’s not in a newsroom, Trent probably is busy browsing Twitter, watching horror movies, or cooking boxed macaroni and cheese.

Juleanna Culilap, a senior design major at the University of Texas at Austin, is a design fellow. She is design editor at The Daily Texan, design director of Spark Magazine and a student ambassador for UT-Austin’s School of Design and Creative Technologies. Previously, Juleanna was a print graphic design intern for Victoria’s Secret’s Pink and a participant in the 2022 Rob Roy Kelly American Wood Type Collection summer residency.

Marissa Greene is an engagement fellow. She is a senior journalism student at the University of Texas at Austin, where she produces podcasts for The Drag, the audio production house at the Moody College of Communication. Before she became a Longhorn, Marissa was editor-in-chief of Accent, Austin Community College’s student-run multimedia organization. She previously interned for Austin PBS, a public television station, and KERA, the public broadcasting organization for North Texas.

Dan Hu is a journalism student at Northwestern University and a 2022 fall RevLab fellow at The Texas Tribune. He is the executive director of The Yappie, a nonprofit publication dedicated to covering Asian American and Pacific Islander political news. He also serves on the board of advisers at the Glen Nelson Center at American Public Media Group. His work has been published in The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Alishba Javaid is a reporting fellow. She is a junior at the University of Texas at Austin, where she studies journalism and international relations and global studies. She has been a videographer and life and arts reporter at The Daily Texan, where she featured marginalized student voices. She is president of the UT-Austin chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association and is passionate about the accurate representation of people of color in news. She describes herself as a big book and language nerd and likes to watch cat TikToks.

Jade Khatib is a data visuals fellow. They previously worked as an interactive intern at The Seattle Times and a health care fellow at Business Insider. They are studying journalism and interaction design at Northeastern University, where they have served as the multimedia manager and managing editor for the school’s student newspaper, The Huntington News.

Stephen Neukam is a reporting fellow in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate student at the University of Maryland, where he is studying investigative and data journalism. Before joining the Tribune, Stephen was a reporting intern for The Hill, where he covered Congress and a wide range of policy issues. He also is a fellow at the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism. Stephen looks forward to roaming the halls of the U.S. Capitol to keep Texans informed.

Jhair Romero is a copy editing fellow and a senior at the University of Houston, where he is studying journalism. Jhair previously worked as a copy desk intern at Sports Illustrated and spent a summer reporting for the Houston Chronicle. He also has worked extensively with his college newspaper, The Cougar, where he served as editor-in-chief in the 2020-21 academic year.

Azul Sordo is a photography fellow. Azul is an undergraduate journalism student at the University of North Texas, where she also works with Hatch Visuals, a nonprofit, student-led photography agency. She previously worked as a photojournalism intern for KERA, where she collaborated with reporters to create visually engaging stories. Azul is originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, and enjoys covering topics related to immigration.

Shyla Sharma is a senior at St. Edward’s University in Austin and an engineering fellow. She is pursuing a degree in computer science with a minor in mathematics. She has completed several research projects in cybersecurity, including a project with the U.S. Strategic Command. Shyla has worked as a computer science laboratory assistant and math tutor at St. Edward’s and volunteers at a local elementary school with Students Expanding Austin Literacy. One of her goals is to help create a safer virtual environment through her work in cybersecurity.

Sahana Sridharan, a marketing and communications fellow, is a senior at the University of Texas at Austin and will graduate in December with a degree in advertising and a minor in business administration. Prior to joining the Tribune, she was a product marketing intern for Caterpillar Inc. based in Peoria, Illinois.

Jillian Taylor is a multimedia fellow. She is a senior at Southern Methodist University in Dallas studying journalism and creative computation with a focus in film. She is a staff videographer at The Daily Campus and is the producer for the short documentary “#BlackAtSMU,” which won a National Black Film Festival award. She previously interned at The Dallas Morning News covering politics. When she’s not hard at work, you can find her exploring the great outdoors or cuddling up with a hoard of dogs.

Jesus Vidales, a reporting fellow, is a junior at the University of Texas at Austin. Jesus previously worked for The Daily Texan and Texas Familia student publications. When he is not writing, he enjoys fostering a community of Hispanic journalists by being a part of the National Association for Hispanic Journalists at UT-Austin.

Emma Williams, an engagement fellow, was born and raised in Austin. She will graduate from the University of Texas at Austin in 2023 with a major in journalism and a minor in government. She has covered Austin culture and local and state politics in her work for The Daily Texan, Austin Monthly Magazine and KUT, Austin’s local NPR station. In her free time, she loves cooking and yoga.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin’s Moody College of Communication, Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Politico, Southern Methodist University, The New York Times, UT-Austin, the University of Houston and the University of North Texas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

The full program is now LIVE for the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival, happening Sept. 22-24 in Austin. Explore the schedule of 100+ mind-expanding conversations coming to TribFest, including the inside track on the 2022 elections and the 2023 legislative session, the state of public and higher ed at this stage in the pandemic, why Texas suburbs are booming, why broadband access matters, the legacy of slavery, what really happened in Uvalde and so much more. See the program.