Staff Bios

Born in NYC and having spent most of her life east of the midwest, Rachael moved to Madison in 1995 to work for the Trace Center at the University of Wisconsin. After many years in Wisconsin she has finally learned to appreciate domestic cheese, fish icing, the true meaning of the phrase "wind chill factor," and her uncle Luke's hotel in Mexico. With a background in communications and library science, and having gone from academia to Internet-startup-land and back again, she brings strong project management, organizational, and fundraising skills to Scout. It also doesn't hurt that she has a wicked sense of humor and the ability to throw a fabulous dinner party with less than a day's notice. When not at Scout she spends her time practicing yoga and barre, knitting, reading way too many murder mysteries, and hanging out with friends, her fabulous family including her talented brother Isaac, and her wonderful husband Iain.

As a tender young undergraduate at UW-Madison, Corey studied electrical engineering and computer science with an emphasis on processor design. This lead naturally to a stint at the Forest Products Laboratory where he helped build robots that squished samples of building sealant while being outside. From there Corey mastered science and then doctored philosophy in the department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. His research used computer modeling combined with field data to examine trade-offs between growing space efficiency and species diversity among different silvicultural systems and to elucidate the long-term developmental trajectory of northern hardwood forests subject to natural disturbances. He enjoys hunting 4+ leaf clovers, watching every Star Trek series ever with his family, failing to keep up with his assigned reading, eating the delicious food his wife makes, collecting interesting and beautiful pens along with gorgeous purple ink, and generally embodying xkcd 1806.

Matthew grew up in Verona, Wisconsin, and a circuitous route has brought him back to the Madison area. After completing a BA in English at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, he spent a year teaching in Thailand and then six years as a teacher and administrator at a bilingual K-12 school in Comayagua, Honduras. He managed to squeeze an MA in Environmental Studies somewhere in there as well. Since 2015, Matthew has been pursuing a PhD in Sociology and International Development Studies at UW–Madison, focusing on conflicts over scientific expertise, conservation, market access in rural development projects in Latin America. Outside of work, Matthew enjoys gardening, cooking, crossword puzzles, hiking, nature and wildlife photography, and preparing exciting adventures as a Dungeons & Dragons DM. 

Hana is a Master of International Public Affairs student at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at UW–Madison. She began her career in global development on the Thai-Burma border and later worked in small-scale agriculture in Israel and Michigan. Prior to relocating to Madison, she called Los Angeles’ Chinatown home and worked for an e-commerce start-up. Originally from Michigan, she earned her Bachelor of International Studies from Loyola University Chicago and spent two semesters in Beijing. When she is not writing the Scout Report, Hana enjoys road trips, dancing, trying new recipes, and carrying her elderly dog on hikes.

Originally from New York City, Simon is a rising sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying Computer Science. When he's not coding, he spends his time playing Ultimate Frisbee, playing video games, watching TV shows and drinking coffee.