I was born in Westfield, NJ and lived there for 22 years before joining the Patch family. I have been interested in and practicing journalism since I was 15, beginning at Westfield High School and continuing on through college. I began college at Quinnipiac University, where I spent two great years before transferring to Rowan University. After occupying several editorial positions on the college newspaper, I began freelancing for Patch in Collingswood. I graduated magna cum laude from Rowan in May, 2011.

Transplanting myself to Marlboro was not a huge change; Westfield and Marlboro are very similar. They are full of concerned, dedicated citizens that are working daily to make their towns the best possible.

But what Westfield lacks in open space, Marlboro certainly makes up for. Passing farms on the way to Town Hall is one of my favorite things, and proves Marlboro residents are dedicated to preserving what once was in the township.

Coming to Holmdel in 2013, I was ready to tackle new issues. In less than a month, I've met passionate residents that are fighting for the beauty of Holmdel, and I hope to help the cause.

Jacklyn Corley is a Middletown native who moved to Freehold Township in September 2006. She received her B.A. from Haverford College in 2004 and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and Literature from Bennington College in January 2011. She has worked in media since January 2004.

Christina Johnson is the Senior Local Editor of the Middletown-NJ Patch.

She is part of the start-up team that launched Patch in Monmouth County in December, 2010. 

Christina Johnson began working as the Holmdel Patch Local Editor in December, 2010 which later became the Holmdel-Hazlet Patch. 

Before joining Patch, Christina worked at the Star Ledger as a newspaper feature writer for four years and as a multimedia producer/photo editor at MSNBC.com where she worked in the newsrooms of CNBC and NBC News for six years.

She covered municipal meetings and wrote features for the Asbury Park Press out of the Middletown Bureau, and the News Tribune of Woodbridge.

Christina began her career in news at the New York Times, where she worked at the old 43rd Street newsroom for four years. Her first paycheck said "copygirl." Before that, she was inspired by an internship for her TV idol, Charles Kuralt of CBS News.

Her passion for news can be traced to all the way back to her first job as a girl growing up in Holmdel: a bicycle papergirl for the Sunday Register.  

A graduate of Holmdel High, Christina now lives in Hazlet with her husband, son and daughter.

Contact Local Editor Kaitlyn Anness at kaitlyn.anness@patch.com and Local Editor Chelsea Naso at chelsea.naso@patch.com.

Holly Garguilo is an instructor at Brookdale Community College. She has a Masters in Journalism from NYU. Holly enjoys reporting because she gets to learn new things everyday.

Chelsea Naso was born in Princeton and graduated from South Brunswick High School in 2007. After high school, she went on to study journalism at Quinnipiac University.

During her years at Quinnipiac, Chelsea interned in the production department for the Rachael Ray Show and in the TV/Web Integration department for the CNN Newsroom in Atlanta. She also worked as the web editor for the independent online school newspaper, as the graphics engineer and reporter for the campus TV station and as a freelancer for the Hamden Patch.

Chelsea graduated Magna Cum Laude this May and has since moved to Aberdeen to be the editor for the Matawan-Aberdeen Patch.

Hi, my name is Chris Sheldon, and I am the editor of Long Branch-Eatontown Patch. I have lived in West Long Branch and Long Branch for most of my life, with a quick stopover in Rhode Island.

I graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2008 with B.A. in journalism.

While in Rhode Island, I worked for the Westerly Sun, a daily local paper, along with its weekly publications, The Mystic River Press, Westerly-Pawcatuck Press, Charlestown Press and Wood River Press. All of these papers covered southern Rhode Island and northern Connecticut.

When I moved back to New Jersey, I began working for The Ocean Star, a weekly newspaper in Point Pleasant Beach. There, I covered the boroughs of Lavallette and Point Pleasant Beach, and gained valuable experience while doing so.

I have worked at two hyperlocal news publications before joining Patch, and now I am excited to cover the area where I grew up. I never really took to the time to get the know the area as well as I would like, but this new venture will give me the opportunity to do so. 

I have spent much of my professional life in local reporting. Having started out six years ago covering hard news at a local paper in Somerset County I spent six months working for the National Wrestling Coaches Association before returning to local news. For the past four years I was the sports reporter for a local paper in Point Pleasant covering two schools and watching athletes go from high school rookies to college student athletes and beyond.

For the last three years I have been married to my wonderful wife Allyson and in August we welcomed our beautiful daughter Erin to the world. Now my hobbies include being a dad and a husband, but in my spare time I am somewhat proud to be  fan of the New York Mets while also supporting the other local New York sports teams.

After covering the Gulls and the Panthers for the past four years, I'm looking forward to seeing what Rebel pride is all about and getting more familiar with the town I have lived in for the last two and a half years.

An alumna of Middlesex County College and Rutgers University, Deborah Bell started her career in New York as an assistant editor for a business magazine and a human rights magazine. She honed her skills for a variety of weekly newspapers, then worked for her hometown paper, the News Tribune. When that paper was consumed by Gannett, she was hired by the hybrid, the Home News Tribune, and moved on to the Trentonian.

Bell has also written for a variety of publications since her college days, and has won several New Jersey Press Association awards for investigative reporting and reporting in the public interest.

Katrina graduated Tulane University with a Bachelors of Arts in English and Film Studies. Living in the culturally rich city of New Orleans for four years has served to spark her creative spirit and caused her to pursue her passion--writing. She was the Intern-at-Large for New Jersey Life Magazine for six months where she researched, edited and wrote articles for the online website and publication. She has freelanced for Patch.com since February 2010 and is extremely pleased to become a full-time part of the Patch team as Local Editor.

Katrina grew up in Millstone Township, New Jersey, where she currently resides, and loves to spend her free time down the shore. 

Contact: katrina.rossos@patch.com

Elaine Piniat is a 2010 graduate of Rutgers University, with a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Media Studies.

Elaine began pursuing a career in journalism through multiple internships with magazines, newspapers, and organizations including Whole Foods magazine, the Healthcare Intelligence Network, Home News Tribune, Athletes in Action, InnerVoice magazine, and the Long Island Press. She was also a Staff Writer for the Daily Targum, Rutgers University's daily newspaper as well as a freelance reporter for Micromedia Publications.

Elaine can most likely be found spending time with her family and friends. As a former college athlete, Elaine enjoys working out and bike riding.

I'm Anthony Bellano, your galloway.patch.com editor. I can be reached by e-mail at Anthony.Bellano@patch.com or by phone at (609) 277-1029. I was born on July 3, 1979 in Pittsburgh, and moved to New Jersey when I was two years old. 

Amy Byrnes has lived in Monmouth County for over 30 years and loves that there are always new things to discover here. Her path to Patch was as direct as trying to find a parking spot at the Monmouth Mall on Black Friday. A Red Bank Catholic High School grad who majored in journalism at the University of Delaware, Amy helped launch Mirabella magazine as a member of its merchandising department. After starting a family, she decided to get back to journalism and worked for a number of area community newspapers like The Hub, the Asbury Park Press "Red Bank Reporter," and the Monmouth Journal. This summer she got to go for a ride in the Horizon blimp down the coast on assignment and decided that getting paid to do cool stuff is excellent. Most recently, Amy has reported on small business issues online for BusinessNewsDaily.com.

When she's not out playing Brenda Starr, Amy has found herself at times serving as a PTO president and Board of Education member and occasional brownie baker and perennial Girl Scout leader. She also manages the ever-changing moods of three teenagers, a heartbreakingly-sweet 8-year-old, a super-hairy golden retriever and a cat she found half dead in her garage last year who now stares imperiously from her perch on the couch and owns a Snuggie.

The following is an update written in April 2012 to the original profile bio which was written in December 2010, when this Patch site went live.

Hi and welcome to Point Pleasant Patch!

I've been writing news and feature stories since 1982, when I wrote for my college newspaper and was a stringer for The New York Times. After college, I worked part-time and did freelance writing for newspapers and magazines, then worked for 11 years as a full-time reporter for New Jersey daily newspapers such as The Press of Atlantic City and The Asbury Park Press.

While working at the Asbury Park Press, my husband and I bought a house in Point Pleasant Borough in July, 1993 and we've been here ever since. After leaving the Asbury Park Press in January, 1998, I did a  lot of freelance writing for magazines, including New Jersey Monthly, New Jersey Life and The Nation, and also did copywriting for corporate web sites.

My husband and I live with our two children who had attended Nellie F. Bennett Elementary School from grades K-5. My daughter graduated from Memorial Middle School in June 2011 and is a high school freshman currently (April 2012). My son is in seventh grade at Memorial Middle School.

We've spent a lot of time going to the river and ocean beaches, the boardwalk and parks and enjoy fishing, crabbing, biking and walking all over the Borough and the Beach.

A former Staff Writer for the Press of Atlantic City, I have more than five years of fulltime experience covering local and regional news and sports. Born and raised in southern New Jersey - even attending college there - Red Bank and this part of the state is relatively new to me. I'm going to use this to my advantage and learn everything about the area that I can. The coverage I provide will be interesting and comprehensive. There's a story in everything, and I'm going to find it.

I am the Regional Editor for Patch's sites in Morris, Somerset, Warren, Sussex and Passaic counties.

Please feel free to reach out to me with anything concerning the following sites:

• Morristown Patch
• Morris Township-Morris Plains Patch
• Chatham Patch
• East Hanover-Florham Park Patch
• Madison Patch
• Mendham-Chester Patch
• Montville Patch
• Tri-Boro Patch
• Long Valley Patch
• Jefferson Patch
• Parsippany Patch
• Wayne Patch
• Hackettstown Patch
• Hopatcong-Sparta Patch
• Bridgewater Patch
• Basking Ridge Patch
• Bernardsville-Bedminster Patch
• Hillsborough Patch
• Watchung-Green Brook Patch
• Warren Patch

I can be contacted at nick@patch.com or 201-208-3349.

Anastasia Millicker joined Patch more than one year ago covering local happenings in Rumson-Fairhaven. After working for multiple news sources including The Daily Targum, New Jersey Newsroom, AP and Two River Times, Ms. Millicker has decided to return to her home roots. A Belford resident for more than 16 years, she will be covering local happenings in Middletown and editing. 

Jamie hails from Jersey City, New Jersey and is currently pursuing an MBA in Marketing at Rutgers University. Jamie is equipped with experience in the NYC film and TV industry and years of non-profit sales under her belt. She is thrilled to be at Patch and to work with you. If you are interested in advertising or partnering with Patch please contact her at 212-402-4608 or jamie.shuali@patch.com

Lori is the Senior Advertising Manager for the Holmdel, Middletown and Red Bank-Shrewsbury Patches.    Lori graduated from Rutgers and went to work in television production before making the switch into ad sales.  She worked in local ad sales for Comcast Spotlight for the past 7.5 years.  Lori currently lives in the Middletown (but grew up in Aberdeen).     Lori loves the community she lives in and is excited about meeting new faces.   You can contact her at Lori.Joyce@patch.com or (732) 856-7712.  Please be sure to say hi when you see her on the street! 

Phil Meyer is Professor Emeritus in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was inducted into the North Carolina Hall of Fame in Journalism in the spring of 2008.  He joined the Journalism School in 1981 and served as Knight Chair in Journalism Professor from 1993-2008.  Prior to joining the school, he held a number of reporter and research positions at various media outlets. 

He has won numerous awards including the 2005 Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for Research About Journalism (with Scott Maier). He was named a Fellow of Society of Professional Journalists in 2005. In 2004, the Newspaper Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication gave him its Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award. And in 2000 he received the American Association for Public Opinion Research Award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement.

Meyer is the author of several books including The Vanishing Newspaper:  Saving Journalism in the Information Age and Precision Journalism:  A Reporter’s Introduction to Social Science Methods.  Journalism Quarterly in 2000 listed this book as one of the 35 significant books of the 20th century in journalism and mass communication; and the American Association for Public Opinion Research, observing its 50th anniversary in 1996, listed it as one of 50 significant books on public opinion research.

He received his B.S. in technical journalism from Kansas State University and his M.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina.

Steven Berlin Johnson is a pioneer in the web world, as a co-founder of FEED, Plastic.com, and Outside.in, which was acquired by Patch in March of 2011. He also co-created Findings.com, which launched in late 2011. Steven was the 2009 Hearst New Media Professional-in-Residence at The Journalism School at Columbia University, and served for several years as a Distinguished Writer in Residence at NYU’s Journalism School. He is a bestselling author of seven books, and won acclaim and a Newhouse School Mirror Award for his 2010 Time Magazine cover story, "How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live." 

Speaking of Steven's editorial prowess, check out this video based on Steven's book, Where Good Ideas Come From, which was named one of the best books of 2010 by The Economist.

Brian was Editor-in-Chief of Time Out New York magazine before coming to Patch. Before that he worked for a variety of publications both online and off, including Details magazine, New York Magazine, and the old, dearly departed Sidewalk.com. He has written for numerous publications, from the New York Times magazine to Harper's Bazaar. He graduated from Bowdoin College and got an MFA in creative writing at Columbia University so he could put his novel in a drawer with distinction. He lives in Manhattan with his beautiful wife, adorable son, angelic daughter and the world's most dog-like cat. He’s proud as hell of what the Patch team has built.

Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C.

Previously, Paulson served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today.  He is now a columnist on USA Today’s board of contributors, writing about First Amendment issues and the news media.

Throughout his career, Paulson has drawn on his background as both a journalist and lawyer, serving as the editor or managing editor of newspapers in five different states.

He also is past-president of the American Society of News Editors, the nation’s largest organization of news media leaders.

Paulson also was the host of the Emmy-honored television program “Speaking Freely,” seen in more than 60 PBS markets nationwide over five seasons, and the author of "Freedom Sings," a multimedia stage show celebrating the First Amendment that continues to tour the nation's campuses.  

He was an early advocate of making newspaper content available online, launching online newspapers in both Florida and New York in 1993.

For 12 years, Paulson was a regular guest lecturer at the American Press Institute, speaking to more than 5,000 journalists about First Amendment issues. He was honored with the API Lifetime Service Award. In 2010 and 2011, he served as chair of the PBS Editorial Standards Review Committee.

In 2007, Paulson was named fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists, “the highest honor SPJ bestows upon a journalist for extraordinary contributions to the profession.” In 2008, he  received the Robert S. Abbott Memorial Award for Meritorious Service in Mass Communications from the Southern Regional Press Institute. He has also been elected to the Illini Publishing Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois.

He is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He also has served as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School. In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from American University.