Laura Silvius earned her B.A. in Philosophy from Bryn Mawr College and her M.A. in Journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She came onboard at Patch in August 2010 and covers Chatham Borough and Chatham Township in Morris County, NJ. She keeps her California driver's license active and her NFL loyalties flexible.

After spending six years living in upstate New York, Ariana Sheehan is back in her hometown of Kinnelon, covering the boroughs of Kinnelon, Butler and Bloomingdale and Township of Montville. 

Ariana has seven years of professional journalism experience, having worked as a reporter and editor for both daily and weekly newspapers. As a reporter, she was responsible for covering municipal government, school districts, community features, countywide stories and local elections. 

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.

Paul Milo, co-editor of Newark Patch, studied philosophy at Montclair State University immediately prior to starting in journalism in 1998. Milo, a Lodi native, has spent his entire career covering Essex County communities. He has won nearly a dozen state press awards, including an award for a story debunking rumors that coffee shop workers were seen celebrating immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks and another award for an editorial critical of questionable campaign tactics used during a Belleville election.

Jake has been covering towns in New Jersey since 2007. He has a journalism degree from The College of New Jersey and worked at the Daily Record, Home News Tribune, Courier News and The Times of Trenton before coming to Patch in August 2011. He loves hearing from readers and sources. Contact him at 973-452-1013 or Jacob.Remaly@patch.com.

Email: RKAbma@gmail.com
Twitter: RebKA14

Rebecca K. Abma is a writer and mother living in Northwest Bergen County. She is the former editor of Franklin Lakes Patch, having launched the site as aol's 700th Patch site on Dec. 26, 2010.

Madhavi Saifee is a Regional Publisher for Patch in Northern NJ.  She is excited to join the Patch team and comes with indepth experience in the online news industry.  

For any advertising concerns contact Tara at 
Tara.Hayes@Patch.com.

Conshohocken-based journalist by way of Philadelphia and Rochester, NY.  Fan of rock and roll guitar, professional basketball and comic books.

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.

Warren Westura brings more than 30 years of photography experience. He's 
been published by New Jersey Newsphotos, the *New York Times*, American 
Profile, Madison Square Garden, the* Daily Record, *the *Bergen Record*, 
Starbucks and the Associated Press. Contact him at photographybywestura.com.

I have been using a camera for over 45 years.  My grandfather, an amateur photographer and regular contibutor to a local weekly newspaper, gave me a pre-WWII camera (no autofocus or exposure in those days) and sent me on my way with a roll of film and the "sunny 16" rule. 

I love shooting sports of all kinds, wildlife, portraits and auto racing.  I recently took an assignment shooting dance at a local university (a lot like basketball without the ball!).

Andrew was born in Brooklyn, NY, but moved to Ridgewood, New Jersey at an early age. He lived in Ridgewood for the first 18 years of his life. After graduating from RHS he attended Saint Joseph's University (the undefeated season was his sophomore year), where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in English.

He loves writing and sports. Combine the two and watch out.

Colleen O'Dea is a writer, editor, researcher, data analyst, web page designer and mapper with almost three decades in the news business.

Most recently, Colleen worked for the Daily Record of Morris County for almost 26 years so she has extensive knowledge of the county and its issues.  She has covered the education, the Statehouse, politics, the environment and data-related topics.

I am a cooking coach and teach people how to cook different cuisines at my home. I also teach at people's homes and the Maplewood/South Orange Adult School. 

I write for the Local as well as my own blog (Sharing Plate) where I post healthy, quick recipes for weeknight dinners.

Ellen Oxild is a communications professional with over 25 years of experience as art director for consumer magazines, medical newspapers, and nonprofits in the health care industry. Publications she worked for include Good Housekeeping, Country Living, Golf Illustrated, Redbook, Ovation, Ladies' Home Journal, and Oncology Times. She was a co-founder of a statewide nonprofit organization for children with special needs. She received her BFA in Communication Arts from Pratt Institute in 1978. Ellen lives in Montville with her family, but is originally from Brooklyn, New York. 

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.