Simone Orendain is a general assignment reporter at WFAE in Charlotte, North Carolina. She specializes in covering education and has closely followed a developing major biotech hub in Kannapolis, northeast of Charlotte. She has been with WFAE for more than three years.

Before that she was a reporter and host at WNIJ in DeKalb, Illinois, for close to three and a half years. Orendain started in public radio at Chicago Public Radio as an intern/production assistant/newswriter. She was also a newswriter at WGN-AM in Chicago.

She has an MA in public affairs journalism from Columbia College in Chicago.

Simone looks forward to becoming more science literate at the workshop.