Monterey Bay This Week: local Japanese festival, crop report, call boxes removed, snowy plover recovery and more

Katie Brown comes to KAZU after earning spot news and investigative journalism awards for her reporting and photography in Maine. A Report for America alumna and former Metcalf Institute fellow, Katie’s reporting beats span business, environment, and public health.

Jillian Smith was a KAZU summer intern for 2026, just after graduating from Cal State Monterey Bay with a degree in Humanities and Communication, focusing on Journalism and New Media. Jillian contributed to the newscast with spot stories and superspots and produced a feature story as well.

Erin is an award-winning journalist and photographer. She's written for local and national outlets, including the Smithsonian and Science Magazine. She has a master's degree in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Amy Mayer is an award-winning journalist with more than 25 years of experience in public radio. Before KAZU, she worked as an editor for the California Newsroom and at St. Louis Public Radio. For eight years, she covered agriculture as the Harvest Public Media reporter based at Iowa Public Radio. She's also worked at stations in Massachusetts and Alaska and has written for many newspapers, magazines and online news outlets.