Katie Epifane (@Katie_Epifane), a multimedia journalism student in her last year at Stony Brook University in New York, is a R1C12 staff member covering the conference.

She is presently a freelance production assistant at CNN in Manhattan and a freelance producer at both MSG Varsity Interactive and News 12 Interactive on Long Island.

Epifane previously held internships at CNN in the program and talent development department and at News 12 Long Island in Woodbury, where she worked on the assignment desk researching story ideas, conducting interviews in the field and assisting reporters.

In the journalism community on campus, she is a staff reporter for the online news publication, The Stony Brook Independent, and serves as a member of the School of Journalism's Student Advisory Board. She is also a member of the Stony Brook student SPJ chapter.

“Working as a journalist has enabled me to do what I love,” Epifane says. "It's the human element of storytelling that really hooks me."

At Stony Brook, Epifane is also a student ambassador, a commuter assistant and a teaching assistant in the College of Global Studies. She formerly worked as an undergraduate assistant in the Office of Commuter Student Services.