Martin came to the District in 2002 for grad school, and after years and years of promising that he'd be moving elsewhere, decided that this is a pretty great place to be. Born in Switzerland but having grown up in Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela, Martin attended Penn State University, where he majored in political science and protested a whole lot. Before taking on writing full-time in September 2011, Martin worked with embassies on communications and press. On his free time, he races road bikes with District Velocity Racing and relentlessly complains about the District's lack of voting representation. Though he spent his first five years in the District living on the east end of Capitol Hill, he's now a proud resident of a part of town that some people call North Columbia Heights, others Petworth.

Ben moved to the District in January 2009 and worked for a while for an energy and environment policy shop. When that organization went belly-up, Ben turned to journalism full-time, and has covered arts and entertainment extensively. At DCist, Ben will continue to cover the artsin addition to a host of other topics. He originally hails from just outside Albany, N.Y., which despite what anyone insists, is part of Upstate New York. He only recently a bike, sometimes gets into long-running Twitter spats, and once mixed up Minor Threat and Black Flag. And maybe someday, someone can explain to him the popularity of the D.C. United.

Ian spent his wasted youth in "the other D.C." (Dale City, VA), and after his first horrific taste of beltway traffic at the age of 17, vowed to never live in the 'burbs again if he ever returned to the area after college. Four years of higher education deep in Amish country later, he did return, and has called the District home for a decade now. Much to his own surprise, he now finds himself working in I.T., despite all his best efforts to claim that he is, at heart, an artsy luddite. He also used to be in a band you've probably never heard of, harbors a deep love for smoky dive bars with cheap beer and loud music, and used up the entirety of his 15 minutes of fame on a failed Jeopardy! appearance.

Heather made her way to D.C. in 2002 to get a law degree and flirt with politics for awhile, until she remembered why she studied writing and astronomy in college and got her current position as Associate Editor for Smithsonian’s Air & Space magazine. Heather runs the annual DCist Exposed Photography Show, which eventually enabled the creation of Ten Miles Square, her solo venture to promote new artists in the D.C. region. Heather was heavily involved in the first Fotoweek DC festival, as a juror for the contest and editor of the blog, as well as co-producing an exhibition that was recognized in the Washington Post both before and after the festival. She spends the rest of her free time volunteering at the Public Observatory at the National Air & Space Museum or working on her fixer-upper in Columbia Heights; she wrote about her adventures in renovating in a weekly column for Washingtonian.com in 2008.

Another person from away, Kelly felt the need to move to the District six years ago to infiltrate the world of non-profits and to give up her vote in Congress. After realizing that a regular 9 to 5 wasn't her cup of tea, Kelly began consulting with Fission Strategy, working on social media outcomes and promotion. To get some use out of her degree in fine arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design, Kelly has been covering visual arts in and around Washington, D.C. for DCist since 2007. She is currently editor of Crafting a Green World and has been published by Bust Magazine, Indie Fixx and on Etsy’s Storque. Kelly helps organize Crafty Bastards: Arts and Crafts Fair, one of the largest indie craft fairs on the east coast and has served on the Craft Bastard’s jury since 2007. Kelly is also co-founder of Hello Craft, a non-profit trade association dedicated to the advancement of independent crafters and the handmade movement. Kelly resides in Washington, D.C. and believes that handmade will save the world.

Missy's thrilled to be writing about theater again after interviewing "Rocky Horror Show" cast members such as Jerry Springer for the now-defunct Broadway Online, and dodging crank calls from angry actors in Fordham University's production of "A Chorus Line". Her work for DCist helped her earn a spot as one of the NEA's 2008 fellows in theater journalism. A reporter by day, Missy's bounced around a number of D.C. media outlets, from CD Publications to Space News to the Examiner; she now writes about restaurants, retail and tourism for the Washington Business Journal. If you see her at a happy hour, get her talking about Cleveland, fencing, Aaron Sorkin, or board games - she'll probably challenge you to a round of Scrabble, Encore or Taboo: name the time and place.

Born in Topeka, Kansas but taught to fear Jesus in the mighty Northern Virginia suburbs, Chris quit the East Coast after college for an extended stay in the placid surfer's paradise of Ventura, CA, where he wrote for an alternative weekly and took up boxing. After earning a screenwriting degree from UCLA, he worked for a magician for a while, but was eventually seduced back east by the District's pedestrian-accessible charms. Chris writes about pop music for the Washington Post, teaches a little boxing, and idolizes Orson Welles. Loves: running, comic books, thunderstorms, microbrews, old time radio drama. Hates: treadmills, reality TV, techno music, PDAs.

Mount Pleasant native Pat Padua puts your tax dollars to work at the Library of Congress. He was part of the team that curated programs for the Pickford Theater, and currently toils away at digital projects and writes for In the Muse, the Music Division's blog. The Washington Post called him "a talented, if quirky, photographer." Pat's music and film criticism has appeared in the All Music Guide, Cinescene and Blogcritics.org.

Elisabeth grew up in Alexandria, VA, and spent her childhood in the museums, on the Metro, and all around D.C. After four years at Virginia Tech, she returned to the area with two degrees (in English and Psychology) and a publication under her belt (“Virginia Tech: Off the Record”). Her passions are writing and doing stuff. So writing about doing stuff is pretty much the best thing ever. Elisabeth was a contributing writer for the 2009 edition of “Not For Tourists Guide to Washington DC”, and now writes for DCist. She is a huge fan of fancy beers, good food, kayaking, running, and playing outside.

A true Baltimoron, Jamie grew up cracking Baltimore blue crabs with her teeth and sprinkling Old Bay on popcorn and fries. She was raised on thousand year-old duck eggs, her dad's home-cured and roasted meats, and exploring nearly every Chinese restaurant in the DC and Baltimore metropolitan areas. She also recalls a time when her mother and sister held her down while the other shoved her food in her mouth because she refused to eat. That's no longer a problem. Jamie spends her time running to eat, harassing Duke fans, cheering on Arsenal at Lucky Bar, exploring the fine arts scene, and writing for her own blog, synaesthesia.

John was raised on Black Sabbath, MC5 and ABBA and spent his formative years playing in metal/hardcore bands instead of focusing on his education. Somehow, much to the surprise of his tourmates and friends, he still got a degree in Psychology from UMass Amherst. Needing a change, he moved down to D.C. and did what everyone with a psychology degree does: change career paths. He currently spends his days in the sterile (but incredibly peaceful) world of biology labs. At night, he is exploring the intersection of beer, art, and science at various establishments that serve artisanal libations and jotting notes down on his phone, napkin, or beer coaster. You can also find him organizing his ever-growing music catalog, loving the Red Sox but preferring National League-style baseball, and trying to keep the Simpsons and 80s movie references to a minimum.

Alicia hails from the great white north--Minnesota, to be exact--and grew up surrounded by large, Scandinavian people who enjoy a diet of primarily bland, white-colored foods. Despite such inauspicious surroundings, a love of food was practically encoded in Alicia's DNA, thanks to her Italian and Chinese heritage. In college, she gleefully ate her way through several Asian countries, much to the shock and occasional horror of her Midwestern classmates. In 2006, Alicia made a break for D.C. in the hopes of finding dining companions who wouldn't mind when she ate the heads on her steamed prawns. When she's not beating the pavement in search of honest grub at an honest price, Alicia also enjoys being a humble government worker, dancing the Lindy Hop, and chronicling her cooking and baking adventurous on her blog.

Josh moved from Brooklyn to Washington to work on environmental policy...and check out the local food scene. He quickly became the go-to restaurant recommender for friends, an organizer of D.C.'s Taste of the Nation culinary benefit, and active in many non-food related community activities. All this has reawakened his journalistic roots and affinity for freelance food writing (with some sports, arts, and culture sometimes thrown in for good measure). Josh's favorite haunts to explore are the Eden Center and all other ethnic food enclaves surrounding D.C.

Valerie originally hails from Virginia Beach, VA. After graduating from Wake Forest University in 2006 with a degree in running-the-college-radio-station and a minor in sleep deprivation, decided that she was tired of driving for 90 minutes to see a decent concert. After a brief stint in Atlanta interning for Paste Magazine, she moved north and became the running joke of the DCist music staff, having hit 100+ shows a year since 2007 while still holding down two energy-intensive day jobs. Granted, she also played competitive soccer for eighteen years and therefore has the energy and stamina to put most hyperactive three-year-olds to shame. When she's not reviewing shows, interviewing local bands or organizing shows for local bands (like the annual DC Does TX day party during SXSW) she might be telling jokes for five-minute spurts or belting out some embarrassing song at karaoke night. But she's probably not sleeping. Nope.

A native of D.C.'s Maryland suburbs, Sriram spends his days as a beleaguered federal employee but would not-so-secretly rather be playing drums as a career. As a result, he spends far too much of his disposable income on CDs (yes, he still buys CDs) and concert tickets. He keeps the dream alive by playing out in his spare time and has performed at The Millennium Stage, Blues Alley, Twins, Bohemian Caverns, the East Coast Jazz Festival, the 8x10, and the Black Cat. Sriram is proud to join the DCist staff where he will spend his time writing mainly about D.C.'s visual arts and jazz scenes.

Jacarl was born and raised in Houghton, an old copper mining town off Lake Superior’s south shore in Michigan’s rustic Upper Peninsula. It was there he developed his appreciation for pasties, a local delicacy, and hip-hop (go figure). Upon arriving in Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan for undergraduate studies, he began writing as a means to spread his notion of “good” hip-hop to the masses (the creed of any devout backpacker). He moved to the District in 2005 to become a local government bureaucrat after picking up two Michigan graduate degrees (they keep him warm at night). When he’s not working to get citizens more bang for their buck, he’s trying to match beats between 1980s electro-boogie records on his 1200s.

Matthew Siblo is currently a counseling graduate student and research assistant at the George Washington University, commanding the respect and accolades of all those around him. Once 5 p.m. hits, his prestige rises to unprecedented heights as a freelance writer for the likes of DCist and Washington City Paper. Over the past ten years, Matt has written about music for a host of print publications that no longer exist, some of which include Rockpile, Punk Planet, Magnet, AV Club DC, among others. He enjoys fastidiously rearranging his Netflix queue and hopes to have his dissertation finished before the Mayan calendar strikes 2012.

Brett's Yankee sarcasm and myopia were honed in the Arctic chill of Central Connecticut. After a five-year thaw in Charlottesville, he came to D.C. in 1999 to work for something called a "dot-com" and then worked at AOL for another quarter of his life. He primarily cares about real estate, business news, tech or sports. He works in Foggy Bottom and lives in "red hot" Cherrydale. His passions include the 3Y bus, Georgetown hoops, Lost Dog Cafe and the Roku device for Netflix.

Andrew was born on Andrews Air Force Base, though his parents say they didn't name him after it. Being a military brat, he moved around a lot, finishing high school in Tennessee. Andrew's been in DC for 8 years, graduating from GW in 2002, and makes maps for a living. He has yet to find any pirate treasure, but is still happy he can bike to work. He has lived in various basement apartments since graduation and hopes to some day live on the Earth's surface. In the meantime, he likes beer and writes a blog about GW basketball.

Born and raised a hooligan in south London, James moved to the D.C. area in 1987 for a better life. After nearly two decades working in I.T. for a large D.C.-based institution, he took a dream job with the U.S. affiliate of his home soccer club, surviving two and a half years before realizing he need his life back. (His wife and two cats were particularly relieved.) He enthusiastically suports his adopted local teams in all sporting disciplines, especially the D.C. Rollergirls for whom he serves as League Photographer. He has wielded a camera for as long as he can remember and his work has been seen in local publications such as the Washington Post and Washingtonian, while his "orange (london)" series hangs in D.C.'s City Hall. He is chuffed to be one of the organizers of DCist Exposed since the summer of 2010.

Tom was born and raised in Arlington, picked up a degree from UVA, mooched off his girlfriend for a while in Italy, and now lives in D.C. Along the way he's been nerding it up consistently and thoroughly. He blogs, knows every acronym of three letters or less, and fears natural light.