Journalism and media studies professor, Santa Monica College
Sharyn Obsatz teaches journalism and media studies full-time at Santa Monica College but spent 15 years as a freeway flyer, teaching part-time at 7 colleges and universities. She has served on hiring committees.
As a reporter, she covered city, county and first-nation government stories for The Gallup Independent, The Santa Fe New Mexican and The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif. She also covered the immigration and multicultural topics beat for three years.
She helps students build meaningful careers. She also coordinates a speaker series to bring inspirational journalists, filmmakers and social media experts to campus.
Her areas of research include digital news, social media, pop culture and Spanish-language media. Obsatz has been a vegetarian for 31 years and served two years as a Peace Corps urban-youth-development volunteer in Paraguay. Her 7-year-old son, David, loves soccer.