Ali Korahais [she/her]
Editor-in-Chief
Ali is a fourth-year English major. Transferring to UCSB her junior year, she found in The Catalyst a community which invites both comfort and challenge, best friends, and a louder voice. Outside of the classroom, you can find Ali at the beach, wobbling on a yoga mat, playing cards, and scribbling in her journal. She is honored and proud to lead The Catalyst as the 2024-2025 Editor in Chief, and hopes only to encourage students to have fun, push themselves, and tell weird stories. Shaky voices and all!
Adam Griffin [he/him]
Managing Editor
Adam is a fourth-year English major specializing in Critical Theory, Material Aesthetics, and Modernism, and your managing editor for the 2024-25 school year. Adam writes both prose and poetry; his style blends together the personal and mundane with moments of strange and unusual reflection. While his primary discipline remains the literary arts, Adam does not limit himself to one medium. Adam is an avid photographer, both digital and SLR, and dabbles in other ventures, like painting, model making, weightlifting, and more! Adam is infectiously enthusiastic about writing, and looks forward to the weird, wacky, and wonderful writing The Catalyst will publish this year!
Adam Demars [he/him]
Managing Editor
Adam is a fourth year English student and a managing editor for The Catalyst with a love for all things writing and literature. He enjoys hiking when he’s not head first in a novel and is a big fan of mixed martial arts, football, and Dungeons and Dragons. He joined The Catalyst in Winter of 2024 and immediately fell in love with the community and loves concluding his day spending time with his friends exploring his creative passions. He looks forward to working with the wonderful writing and art The Catalyst students produce!
Amanda Lerma [she/her]
Design Editor
Amanda is a fourth-year English major with a specialization in American Cultures and Global Contexts and a Professional Writing minor. An avid reader of mostly anything, she loves wasting away hours dedicated solely to reading whichever book currently piqued her interest. When she’s not found scribbling down stories in her notebook or reading, she is likely walking alongside the beach, soaking in the sunshine. Despite not considering herself an outdoorsy person, she loves hiking and aspires to spend more time adventuring with friends. As the upcoming Design Editor, she is excited to witness all the amazing artwork produced in the UCSB community and encourage everyone to indulge their creativity!
Claire Trask [she/her]
Literature Editor
Claire is a third year English major and Professional Writing minor. She is the 2024-2025 Literature Editor, alongside Natalie. In typical English major fashion, she enjoys reading and writing, but her heart flutters at the idea of a long walk through the trails close to home. A goal of Claire’s is to memorize Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” monologue from the play by the same name because, like Hamlet, she enjoys dreaming. Claire is excited to continue her journey with The Catalyst as a Literature Editor, and to share the space with wildly creative minds.
Natalie Riley [she/her]
Literature Editor
Natalie is a third-year English major and professional writing minor. She is the 2024-25 literature editor alongside Claire. Natalie enjoys contemporary literature and fiction, as well as writing poetry in her free time. Outside of these creative pursuits, Natalie loves hiking mountains, rock climbing, meditative yoga, and thrifting for the perfect outfit. Over the next three years, Natalie hopes to travel the world, writing about different cultures and experiences. In the future, she aspires to write her own fiction novels and children’s books. Natalie is ecstatic to be involved this year with the Catalyst team as a literature editor and hopes to foster creativity, further, that the magazine inspires future writers and art enthusiasts.
Ashley Evans [she/her]
Assistant Editor
Ashley is a fourth-year English major specializing in Creative Writing and working toward her Professional Writing minor. When her head isn’t up in the clouds imagining the perfect line of poetry or prose—which ironically, she does not believe to exist—you can find her at the beach, on a road trip, skiing, or creating art. She finds music essential for inspiration and often finds her best writing comes from experiencing the world around her with a pair of headphones. After being a Catalyte in Winter 2024, she’s ecstatic to be a part of The Catalyst editorial team to help curate a fun environment for other Catalytes to express their creative selves! <3
Isis Castañeda [she/her]
Assistant Editor
Isis is a 4th year English major who is an Assistant Editor for this year’s Catalyst. If she’s not writing, she’s definitely reading a romance book or watching a horror movie. She hopes to become a publishing agent while being able to write her own books on the side. Isis is excited to join this year’s Catalyst and be able to read everyone’s wonderful and whimsical writing.
Brian Donnelly [he/him]
Faculty Advisor
Prof. Brian Donnelly has been the faculty advisor for The Catalyst since 2015, which will mean 35 issues come Spring 2025! Brian was born and raised in New Zealand, where he graduated with a BA in English Literature, before traveling to Britain and completing his PhD at the University of York. He moved to UCSB in 2007 and joined the English Department. His research interests are in word and image studies, science fiction and Victorian literature. Having been a baby when black-and-white photography was just what happened, rather than a fancy filter, he thinks he knows a thing or two about art and design. While he is always pushing his Catalyst editorial teams and their students to work harder, to be better, and to achieve more, he secretly believes they are among the most brilliant and dedicated students he has ever worked with, and he considers it a huge privilege to be part of The Catalyst project.