Meet Catharine Richert

Catharine Richert is a correspondent based in Rochester, Minnesota, where she covers southeast Minnesota for MPR News. She also leads Talking Sense, a reporting project helping Minnesotans have hard conversations about politics, better.  

Catharine began her reporting career in Washington, D.C., where she covered agricultural policy and the U.S. Senate for Congressional Quarterly. In 2009, she moved to Minnesota and joined MPR News' politics team, pioneering the newsroom's disinformation beat and contributing to MPR's political and health care coverage.  

Catharine keeps Minnesotans up to date on what's happening in the southeastern part of the state; from there, she covers everything from Rochester's rapid expansion to housing and environmental issues. Catharine's work has been recognized by various organizations, including awards from the Public Media Journalists Association, the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association, and the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists. In 2022, her coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic earned a National Headliner Award.    

Catharine has a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College, where she majored in history and environmental studies. She also has a master's degree in public policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.     

Catharine believes Minnesota's southeast corner, where she lives with her husband, kids and cats, is an underappreciated treasure. Her favorite spots are Lanesboro, Chatfield, and Winona. And she thinks Rochester is pretty great, too.