Before joining DNAinfo, Serena Dai worked as an editorial fellow for TheAtlanticWire.com, The Atlantic magazine's news blog. She's previously worked for the Associated Press Chicago bureau, The Miami Herald and New York magazine.
Serena moved from Knoxville, Tenn. to Chicagoland to study at Northwestern University, where she graduated with a bachelors and masters degree. She helped launch a news site that was once described as "flamboyant and destructive" but eventually won an award for best online student publication in the nation.
Her past work has required everything from grilling politicians to accosting celebrities, but her favorite part has always been getting to know a city’s characters and hidden gems.
Fun Fact: Serena reported at Heidi Klum’s 2010 Halloween party and was fortuitously mistaken for a member of the supermodel's inner circle. It took three awkward minutes for someone to notice she didn’t belong behind the velvet rope.