Announcing the 2023 Ferriss–UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellows

The UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism today announced the 2023 cohort of Ferriss–UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellows.

The groundbreaking fellowship, established by leading podcaster and bestselling author Tim Ferriss in 2021, is a project of the U.C. Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics. Launched in 2020, the BCSP was co-founded by Michael Pollan, a longtime faculty member at Berkeley Journalism. The center is distinctively broad and interdisciplinary, incorporating a diverse expertise of neuroscientists, psychologists, educators and journalists.

Administered by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, the Ferriss–UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship awards ten $10,000 grants per year to journalists reporting in-depth print and audio stories on the science, policy, business, and culture of this new era of psychedelics.

Alum Malia Wollan (’08) is editor-in-chief of journalism projects at the BCSP and director of the fellowships.

The 2023 Cohort of Ferriss – UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellows

Anna Silman

Anna Silman is a senior features reporter at Insider, where her work focuses on power, privilege and social behavior. Previously she was a senior writer for New York Magazine’s The Cut. She has covered the rise and fall of millennial dream startups, the pitfalls of influencer culture, and the ramifications of ketamine being touted as a depression wonder drug. She is especially interested in how new technologies and societal trends affect our understanding of women’s physical, mental and sexual health. For her fellowship, she will continue exploring the gap between hype and reality in the current psychedelics marketing boom.

Deena Prichep

Deena Prichep is an award-winning freelance print and radio journalist. She reports regularly for NPR on subjects ranging from Lenten yoga to housing equity to chicken diplomacy, and co-authored Kachka: A Return to Russian Cooking. For the fellowship, Deena will build on her years of reporting on religion and belief to look at the role of chaplains as psychedelic facilitators.

Jess Alvarenga

Jess Alvarenga is a podcast producer and journalist who enjoys investigative stories with a cultural element. They are currently developing a podcast with NPR about finding salvation in unexpected places, and how they are regaining the things they lost from their Pentecostal upbringing in queer life. Jess is an alum of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. For the fellowship, Jess will be investigating the history of psychedelic assisted conversion therapy.

Katharine DeCelle

Katharine DeCelle is a freelance audio producer, writer and award-winning filmmaker based out of Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is the co-founder and co-director of WFNU Frogtown Community Radio in Saint Paul and runs the audio and video production company, Sounds Powerful Productions. Katharine has created work for a variety of news and media organizations throughout the Midwest, focusing on stories that put a spotlight on the unseen or marginalized. For her fellowship, Katharine is working on an audio documentary about ketamine.

Meryl Davids Landau

An award-winning, longtime independent journalist, Meryl Davids Landau has written for National Geographic, The New York Times, Prevention, Oprah magazine, Vice, Good Housekeeping, and numerous other publications. Frequent topics of her work include holistic health, women’s health, climate change and, more recently, psychedelic therapy. She’s also the author of two mindfulness/yoga women’s novels, including the award-winning Warrior Won. For the fellowship, Meryl is working on a newspaper feature about psilocybin.

Shaina Shealy

Shaina Shealy is a Senior Producer at PRX’s Snap Judgment in Oakland, CA. Her stories have been distributed by outlets including Public Radio International, National Public Radio and Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting. They’ve taken her to a thorn forest in India, mushroom houses in the Rwandan hills, and a home for retired movie stars in Myanmar. Her work has been supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the International Women’s Media Foundation and more. Shaina is an alumna of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. For the fellowship, Shaina is reporting on ayahuasca rituals and political engagement in the Middle East.

Simran Sethi

Simran Sethi is an award-winning journalist and independent scholar focused on personal, social, and environmental change. Her work has appeared on outlets including The New York Times, NPR, and BBC. She is the coauthor of sustainable business book Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy, and the author of Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love about the loss of biodiversity in food and agriculture, named one of the best food books of 2016 by Smithsonian. For the fellowship, Simran is working on a book proposal and article on what it means to decolonize psychedelics.

Tiney Ricciardi

Since joining The Denver Post in 2020, journalist Tiney Ricciardi has honed a beat she endearingly calls “earthly delights.” That includes news and features about beer, cannabis, psilocybin, reality TV, and the great outdoors. No stranger to mind-altering substances, Tiney served as the first beer editor at The Dallas Morning News and as co-host of Grapes & Grain podcast. She’s also a certified Beer Judge with a passion for live music. For the fellowship, Tiney is exploring the subject of youth drug education.

Tonya Mosley

Tonya Mosley is an award-winning broadcast journalist with a career that spans two decades. She is a regular interviewer for NPR’s signature long-form program “Fresh Air” and the creator and host of the award-winning podcast Truth Be Told. Season 5 of Truth Be Told How to Get Free, explores what the latest psychedelic renaissance means for the Black diaspora and how psychedelics can be used to find healing for those who’ve experienced PTSD due to racial trauma. The six-episode season begins April 13th and will roll out weekly.

Webb Wright

Webb Wright is a journalist from Colorado and currently based in Brooklyn. He writes about psychedelics, drug policy, mental health, and artificial intelligence. His work has appeared in Vice, DoubleBlind, and other publications. He’s an alumni of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he wrote mainly about the burgeoning psychedelics industry and law enforcement in New York City. For the fellowship, Webb is writing a magazine story about the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and psilocybin.