Capstone: Build Your Own Professional Journalism Portfolio

David Poulson serves as the senior associate director of Michigan State University's Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, where he has made significant contributions to environmental reporting and education since 2003. His expertise spans environmental, investigative, public affairs, and data analysis reporting, which he teaches to aspiring journalists. As the founder and editor of Great Lakes Echo, he oversees an award-winning non-profit environmental news service that combines traditional journalism values with innovative reader engagement approaches

Eric Freedman serves as Professor of Journalism and Chair of the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University, bringing over two decades of professional journalism experience to academia. His distinguished career includes winning a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of legislative corruption while at the Detroit News. At MSU since 1996, he teaches a comprehensive suite of courses including environmental journalism, public affairs reporting, and international journalism, while directing the school's Capital News Service. His academic credentials include a bachelor's degree in government from Cornell University, a law degree from New York University, and a master's degree in resource development from MSU. He has extensive international experience as a Fulbright scholar in Lithuania, Georgia, and Uzbekistan, and has conducted journalism workshops across the globe. His course offerings on Coursera include "Capstone: Create your own professional journalistic portfolio," "Effectively delivering the news to your audience," "Gathering and Developing the News," "Journalism, the future, and you!" and "What is news?" His research focuses on environmental journalism, press systems in the former Soviet Union, and international journalism practices

Jeremy Steele currently serves as Associate Director and Academic Specialist in Michigan State University's School of Journalism while leading the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association (MIPA) as Executive Director. His distinguished career spans journalism, public relations, and education, marked by significant achievements in each field. As MIPA's executive director, he supports student journalists and teachers across Michigan through educational conferences, contests, workshops, and summer camps. His journalism career includes roles as a business reporter at the Lansing State Journal and senior account executive at Truscott Rossman, earning recognition from the Michigan Associated Press Editorial Association, Michigan Press Association, and Associated Collegiate Press. A proud MSU alumnus with a bachelor's in journalism, Steele maintains active involvement in journalism advocacy through his work with the Society of Professional Journalists, where he served on the national board. His commitment to transparency in journalism is evident through his founding board membership of the Michigan Coalition for Open Government and his service on the board overseeing The State News, MSU's student newspaper.

Joanne C. Gerstner serves as the Coordinator of the Sports Journalism program at Michigan State University's School of Journalism, where she has made significant contributions to both sports journalism and concussion research. Her distinguished career spans multiple platforms, with her work featured in prestigious publications including The New York Times, USA Today, and ESPN. As a 2021 Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame inductee, she has covered major sporting events worldwide, from the Olympics to World Cups. Her expertise in sports neurology, developed during her Knight-Wallace Fellowship at the University of Michigan and as the first sports journalist awarded a Jacobs Foundation Fellowship in neuroscience, led to her award-winning book "Back in the Game: Why Concussion Doesn't Have to End Your Athletic Career." Her leadership extends beyond journalism through her appointment to Michigan's Task Force on Women in Sports by Governor Whitmer, her Fulbright Specialist designation, and her past presidency of the Association for Women in Sports Media. Currently, she directs MSU's Sports Journalism Education Abroad program while teaching upper-level courses and serving on the MSU Athletics Department Faculty Council. Her contributions to sports journalism and neuroscience research have earned her numerous accolades, including Oakland University's 2020 Distinguished Alumni award

Joe Grimm has established himself as a transformative figure in journalism education and diversity advocacy since joining Michigan State University's School of Journalism as visiting editor in residence in 2008. His 25-year career at the Detroit Free Press, where he served as recruitment and development editor, helped establish it as one of the nation's most diverse major metro newsrooms. At MSU, he teaches innovative courses including community news coverage, professional branding, and his signature "Bias Busters" class, which has produced over 20 cultural competence guides addressing various ethnicities, faiths, and cultures. His commitment to diversity and inclusion has earned him numerous accolades, including the Michigan State University Excellence in Diversity award and the Macomb Immigrant Service Center's "E Pluribus Unum" Lifetime Achievement Award. As a prolific author and editor, he has published more than a dozen books, including works on Michigan culture, journalism careers, and cultural understanding. His international influence extends to lecturing at universities across the United States and at Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia. Under his guidance, the "Bias Busters" series has become a groundbreaking initiative, with students producing comprehensive guides that address cultural stereotypes and promote understanding, available across multiple platforms including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes. A member of the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame, Grimm continues to shape the future of journalism through his roles as adviser to the MSU chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists and his work developing the Fair Chance Reporting process.