SAUNDRA AMRHEIN

JOURNALISM HISTORY

National Endowment for the Humanities, Grant recipient, 2016-17 Public Scholar book-writing award.

Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow, 2015-16, University of Michigan.

Author, Green Card Stories, a book chronicling the arduous journeys of 50 immigrants from around the world. Umbrage Editions, New York. Release date, January, 2012.

Reporter, Freelance Journalist, 2010 - present.

Reporter, St. Petersburg Times, Dec. 1999-Nov. 2009. General assignment/immigration reporter. Reported on Cuba, immigration, refugees, government, and crime.

Reporter, The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 1998-Nov. 1999. Covered county government, growth and social services and completed two week-long assignments in Honduras.

Reporter, Florida Today, Melbourne, Fla., June 1996-March 1998. Covered city and county governments as well as education. Also wrote two columns a month.

Reporter, City News Bureau of Chicago, Aug. 1993-June 1996. Covered crime, general assignment, Cook County government and circuit court, state appellate and supreme courts, and federal court.

EDUCATION

University of South Florida, Tampa, Dec. 2012. Master’s degree in Latin American & Caribbean Studies with a thesis on Cuba.                                                                                

Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., June 1993. Bachelor’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism and a sub-concentration in Latin American Studies.                                                 

Language study in Ecuador, 2001. Studied Spanish in Quito for three weeks.  

Language study in Mexico, 2000. Studied Spanish in Cuernavaca for two weeks.                                                                                                                     

Language study in Guatemala, summer 1992. Learned Spanish through instructors and interaction with labor leaders, artists, political refugees and students.                                               

AWARDS

Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Awards: Finalist 2011, Green Card Stories.     

Nautilus Book Award: Silver Medal, 2012, Green Card Stories.                              

Independent Book Publishers Benjamin Franklin Award: Silver Medal, 2012, Green Card Stories.                                                                                                                  

Independent Publisher IPPY Award: Bronze Medal, 2012, Green Card Stories.     

Eric Hoffer Book Award: Honorable Mention, 2012, Green Card Stories.               

Ohio Society of Professional Journalists: Best Reporter of the Year, 1999.