2025 Staff

Alexandra McKee
Editorial Office Manager
Alexandra McKee is a lifelong Chautauquan who grew up on the grounds and is overjoyed to be joining the Daily staff as the editorial office manager. She is entering her junior year at the University of Arizona, where she studies fashion industry technology and science with a minor in photography. When she’s not soaking up the Arizona sun, Alexandra participates in several fashion clubs, in which she specializes in trend forecasting, and contributes to the university’s fashion magazine. She is also in the process of becoming a certified personal stylist through the Fashion Institute of Technology. Alexandra aspires to work for Vogue in the near future and is always eager to talk about the ever-evolving world of fashion. She’s excited to learn, grow and further develop her skills this summer at the Daily.

Evan Riedesel
Circulation Manager
Evan Riedesel is a rising senior at Chautauqua Lake Central School where he is a member of the soccer, wrestling and track teams. He also is a member of the academic quiz bowl team and the Envirothon team. A native of Mayville, he has been part of the Daily for four years. When he’s not working at the Daily, he loves to bike, run and travel. 

Sara Toth
Editor
Sara Toth is entering her eighth summer as editor of The Chautauquan Daily and works year-round in Chautauqua Institution’s Department of Education. Previously, she served four years as the Daily’s assistant and then managing editor. An alum of the Daily internship program, she is a native of Pittsburgh(ish), attended Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, and worked for nearly four years as a reporter in the Baltimore Sun Media Group. She lives in Jamestown with her husband (a photographer) and her Lilac (a cat).

Dave Munch
Photo Editor
Dave Munch serves as photojournalism, documentary and multimedia manager for Chautauqua Institution and works during the summer assembly season as photo editor of The Chautauquan Daily. A Cincinnati native, Dave graduated from Ohio University with a degree in photojournalism and has worked as a staff photographer for the Baltimore Sun Media Group and the Erie Times-News. His work has received local and national recognition and has been featured in publications across the country. Dave lives in Jamestown with his wife and enjoys tending to an increasingly large vegetable garden when the temperature is above freezing.

Megan Brown
Copy Editor
Megan Brown returns to Chautauqua as a copy editor for her second non-consecutive summer on The Chautauquan Daily staff. After graduating from Houghton University in December 2022, she moved from Western New York to Northern Virginia where she worked as a reading and writing instructor in Fairfax County. Other than developing an affinity for SoulCycle, Megan also developed a love for working with students and discussing literature, specifically Edgar Allan Poe, Toni Morrison and David Sedaris. This fall, she will be attending Boston College as she pursues a master’s degree in English with a concentration in biopolitical, gender and sexuality and media studies. If you see Megan on the grounds, she would be happy to chat with you about knitting, crocheting, literature, writing or her cats Carmen and Winston.

Olivia Asp
Design Editor
Olivia Asp is from Kent, Ohio, and is delighted to join the Daily staff for her first summer at Chautauqua. She is going into her senior year studying visual communications design with a minor in environmental studies at Kent State University. She has previously worked as a designer for Brainchild magazine and the Kent State Libraries. Olivia spends a lot of time lounging in her Muppets-themed apartment, perhaps while watching a Muppet movie (for a fully immersive experience). At all times, you can find Olivia equipped with her junk journal — full of receipts, drawings, stickers and scattered thoughts. She is so excited to learn and grow in her design skills this summer
at Chautauqua.

Shelbi Bale
Design Editor
Shelbi Bale is a designer and graphic journalist from Bowling Green, Kentucky. Entering her junior year, Shelbi majors in journalism with a minor in graphic design at Western Kentucky University. It is her first summer at Chautauqua, where she is a designer for the Daily, and she looks forward to soaking up all she can of the life and culture the summer has to bring. Back at home, she enjoys working day in and day out as the design editor for her university’s newspaper, The College Heights Herald. Her favorite thing to do with her free time (which she doesn’t have) is curling up with a classic horror novel and her cat Cali, short for Hotel California.

Laura Quisenberry
Design Editor
Laura Quisenberry is a rising senior at Houghton University where she’s double majoring in applied design and visual communication and mathematics. She is from nearby Westfield, New York, and this is her second year working as a design editor for the Daily. When she has free time, you can find her somewhere reading a fictional book and listening to music. She hopes to travel the world someday with her cat, of course, and scrapbook her adventures along the way.

Antonella Rescigno
Design Editor
Antonella Rescigno is an integrated marketing communications student at the University of Mississippi, minoring in general business and food studies, and is a designer this summer for the Daily. She is from Caracas, Venezuela, and works as a photojournalist for The Daily Mississippian and as a sports photographer for Ole Miss Athletics. Her photos have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other major outlets, and she recently won two first place awards from The Mississippi Press. She is passionate about visual storytelling and aims to bring her multimedia skills into marketing. Her recent design projects include a regional award-winning AT&T campaign for the American Advertising Competition and designing and pitching the first issue of The Daily Mississippian magazine. When she is not working, you can find Antonella at the gym, running, cooking or doing random things like skydiving or golf. She also loves being with friends and family.

Tallulah Brown Van Zee
Staff Photographer
Tallulah was born and raised in Seal Beach, California, a small beach town along the border of Long Beach, California. She received her bachelor’s from the University of Oregon in journalism and international relations. She is currently pursuing her master’s in photojournalism at George Washington University. Before pursuing photojournalism in Washington, D.C., Tallulah worked in the non-profit sector, focusing on public health. She keeps herself busy as a board member for the national Epilepsy Foundation and as a volunteer at her local yoga studio. Tallulah is an extrovert who loves making new friends — say hello if you see her around.

Joseph Ciembroniewicz
Staff Photographer
Joseph Ciembroniewicz grew up in a small town in Maine and began making pictures during high school, using a cell phone. As normalcy vanished during the COVID-19 pandemic, he began to develop a photographic voice. Joseph recently graduated from the photojournalism program at Rochester Institute of Technology and is a photographer with the Daily. He has a range of interests but is particularly curious about the impact of the built environment on the human experience and national and regional identity and the impact of humans on natural ecosystems. 

George Koloski
Staff Photographer
George Koloski is entering his third summer at Chautauqua. After working as a design editor during his first two summers at the Daily, he returns as a staff photographer. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, George studied graphic design at Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication in Athens, Ohio. He loves to tell compelling stories and create interest through his work and looks forward to continuing that through the images he makes this summer. If you don’t see him with his camera, he is probably by the lake reading a book or listening to folk music.

Von Smith
Staff Photographer
Von Smith is a photojournalist from the South End of Louisville, studying at Western Kentucky University’s nationally recognized visual journalism program. This is his first year as a staff photographer at The Chautauquan Daily. At WKU, he works as the visuals editor at The College Heights Herald, which has led him to political protests, solar eclipse weddings and the second inauguration of Donald J. Trump. If you see him wandering around the grounds with his camera, feel free to stop him and tell him interesting stories you think should be covered or ask him his thoughts on conflict journalism in the modern media landscape. When he is not out shooting, he is usually hiking, fishing, climbing, trespassing or fixing whatever is broken on his 25-year-old car.

Susie Anderson
Staff Writer
Susie Anderson hails from Hingham, Massachusetts, and is thrilled to cover literary arts for the Daily this summer. She is entering her junior year at Hamilton College, where she studies literature and economics, serves as an alumni associate at the Career Center and savors every sunny day. As a high school student, Susie attended Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop and Iowa Young Writers’ Studio. A lifelong Chautauquan, Susie is a proud alum of the CLSC Young Readers Program, and her ideal day is spent reading on the second floor of the Smith Memorial Library with a view of
Bestor Plaza.

Cody Englander
Staff Writer
Cody Englander is from Shaker Heights, Ohio, and is headed into his senior year at Ohio University. This summer he will be covering recreation for The Chautauquan Daily. His favorite movie switches almost daily between “Gremlins,” “Gremlins 2: TheNew Batch” and “Norbit.” Cody tries to collect various global oddities ranging from magnets, shot glasses and equally unique, cheap collectibles when he is away from home. Cody is happy to be in Chautauqua this summer and hopes to talk to many wonderful Chautauquans.

Liz DeLillo
Staff Writer
Liz DeLillo is a Cleveland native, spending her first summer at Chautauqua covering opera and advancement. She recently graduated from Barnard College, where she studied philosophy and gender studies. She was the managing editor at The Barnard Bulletin and serves on the editorial board of The Philosopher, a public academic journal. When she’s not curating the perfect cheese board, Liz can be found spoiling her toothless cat Moo.

Mary Lee Talbot
Staff Writer
Mary Lee Talbot writes the preview and recap for morning worship and the preview for the Sacred Song service. She is a Presbyterian minister and a life-long Chautauquan. She is the author of Chautauqua’s Heart and 100 Years of Beauty. A year-round resident of Chautauqua, she lives with her dog Sammi, a Stabyhoun.

Deborah Trefts
Staff Writer
Deb Trefts is a policy scientist with extensive United States, Canadian and additional international experience in conservation. She focuses on the resolution of ocean and freshwater-related challenges and the art and science of deciphering and developing public policy at all levels from global to local.

Julia Weber
Staff Writer
Julia Weber is a native of Athens, Ohio, and an alumna of Ohio University’s Honors Tutorial College where she received a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and a minor in art history. This is her third summer at Chautauqua, and she is excited to cover the visual arts and dance communities at the Institution. Julia is also a culture writer for her local NPR affiliate station WOUB, and she will return to Ohio University in the fall for her Master of Arts Administration in Journalism. Outside of her professional life, Julia enjoys attending concerts, making ceramics and spending time with her cat Griffin.