Three college students have joined the El Paso Matters team for the next several months to help tell the story of the El Paso region.

Two of the students are from UTEP and one is from Harvard.

“Part of our mission is to help create a career path for aspiring journalists from the border,” El Paso Matters CEO Robert Moore said. “At the same time, adding their voices to our journalism helps diversify our storytelling in an important way.”

The two UTEP students are serving as paid interns through the end of April.

Maria Ramos Pacheco was born and raised in Chihuahua and is a multimedia journalism student at the University of Texas at El Paso. She is interested in covering immigration and culture. Ramos Pacheco is serving as a reporting intern and will work closely with El Paso Matters journalists.

Nicole Lopez is studying multimedia journalism at the University of Texas at El Paso and does freelance writing. She is interested in covering a wide array of topics and issues in the borderland. Lopez’s internship is made possible through a UTEP program that uses CARES Act funding to place students with nonprofit organizations. She also is a reporting intern who will work closely with El Paso Matters journalists.

Ryan James Solis is a junior at Harvard College on a gap year from studying history and economics. He is a Gates, Jack Kent Cooke and Coca-Cola scholar. Solis, an Eastwood High graduate, is writing freelance commentary essays on a variety of local, national and international topics that will be published each Thursday by El Paso Matters.

Cover photo: From left, Maria Ramos Pacheco, Nicole Lopez, Ryan James Solis.