Kristi Atkinson
Kristi Atkinson is the Editor-in-Chief for The Political Zoo magazine. She is also the current Editor-in-Chief and primary author of the Tantalizing Tartarus and Young, Single, and Green websites. She has edited three full-length manuscripts of novels for publication, in addition to several short shorties, news articles, and magazine articles. She has composed and published several short stories, poems, and articles as well. She has had multiple experiences working in management positions. She will graduate from BYU-Idaho in July 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in English, a Creative Writing emphasis and clusters in Communication and History. She intends to continue her education and gain a PhD in Creative Writing, after which she hopes to write, travel, and teach.
Brandt Hurley
Stephen Brandt Hurley is the lead editor for the "From Our History" section of The Political Zoo magazine. He was born in Pocatello, Idaho and graduated from Highland High School. He chose to continue his education at Brigham Young University Idaho in Rexburg. At first his declared major was graphic design. In classes he worked with magazine layouts and editing for content. As time passed he realized he wanted to teach so he switched to a Speech and Theater Education degree with a minor in English Education. In the past four years he has been involved in several English courses which provided extensive experience in editing and revising various types of written work, as well as composing. He is planning on graduating at the end of this semester and going on to teach High school English and Drama.
Brittany Kyle
Brittany Kyle is the lead editor for the "Closer to Home" section of The Political Zoo magazine. She is majoring in University Studies at Brigham Young University- Idaho. Her major includes an emphasis in English, communications, and sociology. She has over three years of experience of editing and creating surveys and open-ended responses from her position as both a quality control and customer research manager. In addition, she has also served on the editorial board for two different literary journals and authored several journal articles.
Cherise Larsen
Cherise Larsen is the lead editor for the “It’s a Party,” section of The Political Zoo magazine. She is a senior at BYU-Idaho, majoring in English with a creative writing emphasis. Through her rigorous English classes, she has become skilled at document design, editing, research writing, and literary analysis. She has written and designed articles, presentations, and grammar worksheets. With a team of students, she has edited several documents, including part a college freshman science textbook and portions of a novel. She has also written several research papers and countless literary analyses. Cherise also enjoys writing and work-shopping original works of poetry and fiction.
Julie Phillips
Julie Phillips is the lead editor for the "In Session,"section of The Political Zoo magazine. She studies English with a creative writing emphasis at Brigham Young University Idaho, and she plans on getting her masters in Creative Writing. As a former writer's workshop co-manager at BYU Idaho for two semesters in 2011, she has worked with other writers, provided constructive criticism, and gained valuable experience editing creative pieces of writing to ensure a quality final draft.
Hannah Nelson
Hannah Nelson is the lead editor of the “What’s Up” section of The Political Zoo magazine. Hannah has spent most of her life in Roseville, California with her family of four brothers, her parents, and two dogs. She is graduating with a degree in English Education from Brigham Young University—Idaho. She brings experience to the magazine from her time as a tutor at the University's writing center editing formal essays. She also has prior experience on a magazine editorial board for an upper level English class. Her experience as both an educator and a writer has given her experience in editing, writing, and focusing on the needs of the reader and audience.