
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.
Recent Contributions
- At their funeral, Hortmans remembered for humility, humanity in a harsh political world
- Minnesota State approves tuition hikes to close $52 million gap
- Rep. Melissa Hortman’s mentor remembers her rise to House Speaker
- State Senator Hoffman awake after surgery for multiple gunshot wounds
- Why doctors at Mayo Clinic are doing improv theater
- Minnesota immigrants face uncertainty amid Trump travel ban
- As state workers return to the office, downtown St. Paul’s Keys Cafe is optimistic
- Minnesota air quality alert: Is outdoor exercise safe? Here’s how to tell
- Rochester’s DMC at 10: Billions invested, jobs created, but progress is uneven
- Northeastern Minnesotans get first look at burn damage as wildfire threat diminishes