Contributors

A devoted journalist at heart, Barb reported for nearly 30 years for The Indianapolis Star, where she won state and national reporting awards, and has written for The Saturday Evening Post and other publications.

Barb now does freelance writing and research and teaches journalism at Indiana University. She loves telling people’s stories and writing about health and fitness, two of her personal passions.

Megan came to Bloomington for graduate school a decade ago and immediately found herself at home. She is finishing her PhD studies looking at the intersections of food, agriculture, and community, and enjoys translating those research interests to a public audience. Her work can also be found on Earth Eats, Limestone Post, and Nursing Clio.

Although a life-long photography enthusiast, Martin never envisioned photography as a business opportunity until he decided to immerse himself in pro-level training.

To avoid being just another starving artist, Martin soon realized he needed to set his focus on portraits. Today, portraiture is the staple of Martin’s photography business, martinboling.com.

A professional writer since 1995, Susan has written for Boy Scouts, stoners, interventional radiologists, would-be beekeepers, depressives, the 1 percent, and many others. Her work has appeared in such publications at The New York Times, Discover, Organic Gardening, Hobby Farms, and Indianapolis Monthly.

Susan is also the author of four nonfiction books, including Plan Bee: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Hardest-Working Creatures on the Planet (Perigree Books).

Molly is an award-winning writer and editor with 15 years of experience working in marketing and communications for nonprofit and higher education organizations.

A native of Milwaukee, Molly came to Bloomington to attend graduate school at Indiana University, where she earned a master’s degree in journalism. She currently works as a content specialist for IU Communications.

Craig is a former school teacher and newspaper journalist. He enjoys hearing people’s stories and sharing them with readers.

Craig lives in Bloomington with his wife, Heather; daughter, Madrona; and dog, Roxy.

A recent transplant from the East Coast, Peter is an avid sports fan and a regular contributor to Bloom.

Originally trained as a science journalist, Peter is a freelance writer, blogger, and marketing consultant. He writes for life science and technology companies, management consultancies, and progressive political campaigns, and is the author of a book on knowledge management.

Ansley is a freelance personal finance writer and owner of Fender Financial Services, which helps nonprofits and small businesses make sense of their money. She is an unapologetic spreadsheet nerd and passive income enthusiast.

Ansley lives in Bloomington with her husband, two daughters, and three dogs.

Julie grew up in Bloomington. After spending many years in New York City where she worked on the editorial staff of magazines including The New Yorker and Town & Country, she is now happy to regularly visit Monroe County Public Library, which her late mother helped to build.

Julie also delights in her sidekicks: two dogs, two cats, and two rabbits.

Jenn Hamm is a portrait photographer showing urban and fashion flair with experience in advertorial, promotional, and photojournalistic style photography. Jenn was born and raised in Bloomington, Indiana, home to many great artists. She began her venture into the world of photography at the age of 17.

Jenn has spent many years in workshops and studying under Bloomington’s top photographers as well as NYIP. Currently, you can find her at EyeMuse Photography. She is also shooting for One Pulse Entertainment Co. and Courtside Jones.

A lifelong resident of Bloomington, James is one of Bloom’s most prolific photographers. His award-winning photography has been exhibited in local and regional galleries.

While working for a greeting card company, James established the first state-of-the-art digital photography student in Bloomington. His current passion is creating art with his iPhone camera.

Jim Krause is a photographer, documentary producer, and also an instructor for the Media School at Indiana University. Jim teaches video production, animation, and TV studio production.

When not working, he enjoys running hiking, paddling, and sailing. He composes music and plays guitar in a duo withhis wife, a cellist. In the summer months they live aboard their sailboat and sail inthe Great Lakes and Pacific Northwest.

Linda is a writer, editor, videographer, and photographer who enjoys telling people’s stories. She fell in love with writing and storytelling as a child and has spun that passion into her dream career.

With decades of experience writing and editing for newspapers, magazines, nonprofits, and more, she now leads the storytelling websites ordinaryhoosiers.com and thenestmakeover.com. She is also a published author with another book in the works.

Michelle Mastro works as an editor and writer. She originally moved to Indiana to attend Indiana Unviersity but has stayed for her love of Bloomington. 

In her free time, Michelle writes about film and popular culture and reviews books, preferably of the thriller, mystery, or horror variety.

A Bloomington native, Kendall has been a photographer since age 6. He is renowned for his photographs of people, places, and products.

Kendall earned his degree in commercial photography at Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus, Indiana, well-known for its visual arts program. He opened Spectrum Studio in 1989 and works with local, regional, and national clients.

Beyond simply taking pictures, Jeff’s mastery lies not only in seeing what others can’t, but also in capturing images that reflect and reveal who people really are.

With 24 years of experience as a portrait photographer, Jeff has become an industry maverick who delivers a luxurious portrait experience while creating epic visual storytelling.

Scott is the author of more than 20 books, including the novel Divine Animal, which was featured in the Bloom Book Club.

His two most recent titles, both published by IU Press, are Dancing in Dreamtime, a collection of eco-science fiction stories, and Stone Country: Then & Now, co-authored with photographer Jeffrey Wolin.

Greg is an academic administrator at Indiana University who has found writing for Bloom to be a humanizing opportunity to tell stories that aren’t accompanied by charts or datasets.

He is an avid but mediocre runner, a dogless dog lover, and a gardener who spends too much time trying to outwit Bloomington deer. He has lived in Bloomington with his wife, Carmen, since 2010.

Stephen is a freelance photographer and electrical engineer. Photography provides him with opportunities to meet and photograph incredible human beings, he says.

Stephen grew up in Springville, Indiana, and now resides in Bloomington with his wife, Amelia. His most recent work can be found on Instagram and his website, sproullphotography.com.

Tracy is an independent writer and editor who recently relocated to Bloomington from Columbus, Ohio. She is interested in just about everything, especially getting people to talk about things that matter to them, then telling their stories with careful detail and compassion.

Tracy lives with her fiancé, 12-year-old son, and three interrupting rescue dogs. Find out more about her at tracyzturner.com.

Jana Wilson writes on 20 acres of land just outside of Bloomington with sheep, chickens and border collies all around. She’s written for publications and organizations such as People, the Associated Press, and The Indianapolis Business Journal.

Jana is a big fan of sustainable living and has also written for Acres USA and composed a blog about chickens on the Earth Eats website

Doug is a Bloomington-based journalist and author who as contributed to The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, National Geographic Traveler, Foreign Policy, Politico, CNN.com, Salon.com, and the BBC and NPR radio networks.

His 10 books include his most recent, Hopeless but Optimistic: Journeying through American’s Endless War in Afghanistan (IU Press).