Elections Reporting project reporters
Nicky Ouellet joined the newsroom at Montana Public Radio in May 2016 as the Flathead Valley reporter. She covers land management, politics and race. She’s also reported on black market mushroom pickers and a dog ranger in Glacier National Park for National Public Radio and is a regular contributor to National Native News. Nicky received a master’s degree in environmental journalism from the University of Montana and studied English at Oberlin College. In past lives, she was a teacher on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, a cultural ambassador in Russia and a ski bum in northwest Montana.
Ryan Heinsius is executive producer and content manager for KNAU in Flagstaff, Ariz. He’s also a regular contributor to NPR News and National Native News.Ryan spent a decade working in print media. As the editor of an alternative-weekly paper, he covered arts, entertainment and local culture and dabbled in political writing with a weekly column. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Northern Arizona University in political science and journalism, and in the past has returned to teach at his alma mater. He is also a musician and has performed and recorded with many bands in the Southwest.
Ramona Marozas is a multimedia journalist with CBS 3 News at Six and the KBJR 6 News at Noon in Duluth, Minn. She writes television newscast stories throughout the day. Ramona is a member of the Bad River Band, the largest Chippewa reservation in Wisconsin. She credits her grandmother for sparking the curiosity that led to a career in journalism by urging young Ramona to ask her band’s medicine man how he came up with her name during a naming ceremony. Ramona is a 2012 graduate from St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minn. with a degree in broadcast journalism and a minor in American Indian studies. She interned at the St. Cloud Times and the (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Argus Leader. She was the first News Apprentice at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis. Ramona is also a 2010 and 2011 American Indian Journalism Institute (AIJI) graduate and a member of the Native American Journalist Association (NAJA) since 2008.
Kate Harrison is a freelance video producer, storyteller, poet and writer and the second half of the northern Minnesota Elections Project team. She is interested in society’s intersection with racism, climate change, poverty and energy solutions, among other things. Kate grew up in Forest Lake, Minn., and is a 2011 graduate of the University of Minnesota Duluth with a degree in Environmental Studies. She completed service work with the Wisconsin Conservation Corps, Americorps Reading Corps and Americorps Promise Fellows.
Allison Herrera is a maker, a lover of Mexican breakfasts, a worrier and a mom. She is the former editor of the award-winning online publication Twin Cities Daily Planet, a producer for Ampers radio network and a reporter for KFAI radio in Minneapolis. She’s an independent radio and video producer for various public radio and television stations throughout Minnesota. She recently worked with KBFT radio on the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa reservation in northern Minnesota to produce a series of shows about art, culture, history and the environment. She’s currently wrapping up a reporting project about Native American communities in Oklahoma called Invisible Nations. She’s also completing a documentary about Ojibwe painter Jim Denomie. She lives in Minneapolis with her daughter Anna.
