Before becoming the editor of Morristown and Morris Township/Morris Plains, Kim Tran was the editor of Nanuet and Nyack Patch for almost three years.

She attended the University of Missouri's Journalism school. She graduated in 2010 with two bachelors: B of Journalism in print/digital news and B of Arts in English. While in school, she was a journalist for the daily newspaper, the Columbia Missourian, as a reporter and copyeditor. She also worked for the school newspaper the Maneater and freelanced for Vox Magazine and Inside Columbia Magazine.

Kim was born in California and raised in Texas before going to college in Columbia, Missouri. She moved to Congers, NY after graduating to live with her grandparents. Her parents and siblings now live in Seattle, WA. Kim is moving to New Jersey

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.  

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.

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.

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.

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.