A native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Erin earned a dual major at Penn State University in Visual Communications and Criminal Justice. Since graduating in 2013, Erin spent her time in Philadelphia completing a year of service in AmeriCorp and working for several successful photographers such as National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry and wedding photographer, Joe Gidjunis. After graduating from Ohio University with her master’s in photojournalism, Erin hopes to continue pursuing the documentation of social justice and women’s rights.

Keith Rutowski is a photographer, writer and filmmaker. He served as the 2015-16 Photojournalism Fellow for the George V. Voinovich School of Leadership & Public Affairs at Ohio University. Before enrolling in graduate school at Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication, Rutowski performed several editorial internships at magazines and worked as a freelance editorial researcher, fact-checking articles for National Geographic Digital Media, Smithsonian Magazine, and others before shifting his focus to visual storytelling. He received a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Cincinnati in 2009.

Melissa Riggs graduated from Cornell University before quickly entering into a graduate program at George Washington University to complete a Master of Public Health degree. After completing her degree, Melissa departed for the Peace Corps in 2004, and has since worked with a variety of NGOs in Togo, Morocco, India, South Africa, Rwanda and most recently South Sudan. In 2010, Melissa felt the draw to photojournalism and spent the summer at Maine Media Workshops in a documentary photography residency. The skills she gained through this program proved invaluable in her position as the Director of Communications for PSI-South Sudan from 2011-2012, and the desire to enhance her visual storytelling capabilities lead her to the graduate program at Ohio University’s School of Visual Communications. Melissa is currently completing a master’s project examining a sisterhood of five Muslim woman in Jordan as they deal with the struggles and joys of life.

Sarah Tilotta is an award-winning multimedia producer. She currently works as a photo editor for CNN International and as a freelance photographer based in London. Previously, she has worked as a visual journalist at NPR, and in various roles for NOOR Images, a photographer-owned agency in Amsterdam. Her work has been published internationally and focuses on themes of migration and human rights, including long-term projects on asylum-seekers in Europe and statelessness in the Dominican Republic.

Will received a BS in ecology, behavior and evolution from the University of California, San Diego, and worked as a freelance photojournalist in San Diego before completing a master’s degree in photography and multimedia storytelling from the School of Visual Communication at Ohio University. As a graduate student, Will produced multimedia for Soul of Athens and documented sustainability issues in Nova Scotia under Project Vital: A Study of Water in North America. After completing his degree, Will interned for the Hartford Courant in Hartford, CT, the Concord Monitor in Concord, NH, and the Valley News in Lebanon, NH. Currently, Will serves as Multimedia Specialist for the Chesapeake Bay Program, based in Annapolis, Maryland. Will’s work has appeared in U.S. News & World Report, Christian Science Monitor, and Discovery Channel Magazine Asia, as well as on the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.

Darcy is a visual journalist currently based in the western hills of North Carolina. She speaks Spanish and Mandarin Chinese and has worked and traveled in more than 30 countries. Darcy’s recent work has focused on immigration and cultural integration of historically marginalized communities. She has been recognized for her documentary work by the Women in Photojournalism conference and as College Photographer of the Year. Her work has been featured in publications such as: The New York Times, BBC, CNN, National Geographic Traveler, Esquire, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Netease, CBN Weekly and Modern Weekly, among others. In 2O11, Darcy was awarded a grant from Ohio University to document the growing Nigerian Diaspora in China. In 2015, she was the official behind the scenes photographer for the Miss Universe China pageant and traveled with them across China and to Sri Lanka. She spent 2016 researching obscure Taoist practices in China, Thailand and Taiwan and producing short films about spiritual practices.
Darcy also has extensive experience in visual arts education. She is a lecturer with Project Luz, a community workshop on multimedia journalism for youth in Mexico. As the Photojournalism Fellow with the Voinovich School at Ohio University, she also developed and implemented a visual literacy program for graduate students in education at Ohio University and students in Ohio public high schools.

Rhys Riddell served as the Inaugural GVS/VisCom Photojournalism Fellow at the Voinovich School. A part time commercial photographer in the late 90s, Rhys later became a full-time documentary photojournalist. Rhys’ work has been published in the New York Times, Paris Match and several other leading publications in the US and abroad. After completing his master’s degree in photography in 2009, he went on to serve as the chief photographer for Ohio University and work with the Athens Photographic Project to teach people suffering from mental health issues how to express themselves through photography. Rhys is currently a freelance multimedia producer, engaging in research, design and editing for several Seattle-based technology companies such as MSN.com, Microsoft, Redfin and Costco.