Shelby Oppel Wood

Shelby Oppel Wood, 31, has been a newspaper reporter for nine years, the last four at The Oregonian. She covers higher education. Prior to that, she covered religion news for The Oregonian. Shelby grew up in Charlotte, N.C. and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English from Duke University. After summer internships with newspapers in N.C. and

Florida, she got her first job with the St. Petersburg Times on Florida's west coast, where she spent six years covering primarily K-12 education, but also suburban news, crime and the Legislature. She joined The Oregonian in May 2001. She lives in Northeast Portland with her husband, Nate Wood.