Mariana van Zeller

Mariana van Zeller (born May 7, 1976) is a Portuguese journalist and correspondent for National Geographic Channel. She was the chief correspondent for Fusion (until the channel ceased its operations in December 2021), and is a former correspondent for the Vanguard documentary series on the former Current TV. She's a recipient of the Peabody Award. Biography Born on May 7, 1976, in Cascais, Portugal, van Zeller studied international relations at the Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa. After graduation, she says she spent two years working at SIC, which was at that time the first and largest Portuguese private television network. She began working in the travel and international departments of the main networks channel and later joined SIC Notícias, the network's news channel. She applied for a master's degree at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism three times: her first application was rejected, and her second was wait-listed. According to van Zeller herself, after her third application, in 2001, she flew to New York City and knocked on the dean's door, explaining her dream of becoming a journalist in the United States. The dean was impressed, according to her, and allowed her to enroll. One month after she moved to New York City, the September 11 attacks took place. She was contacted that morning by a producer from SIC Notícias, where she had previously interned, and was directed to meet a news crew atop the CBS Building in Midtown Manhattan, where she would go live in three hours. Before going on air, she was told, "Prepare yourself. The whole of Portugal is watching you."