Mariana van Zeller

Van Zeller is married to her former Columbia classmate Darren Foster, who is a series producer and director with National Geographic Channel. In July 2010, she gave birth to her first child, a son named Vasco.

"The OxyContin Express" also received the 2010 Television Academy Honor, a Prism Award and an Emmy nomination.

After receiving her degree from Columbia, van Zeller moved to London to work for a documentary producer, with hopes of covering the Iraq War. With London as her new base, she studied Arabic at Damascus University in Syria in order to better seek out stories in the Middle East. Over the next two years, her freelance documentaries from Syria appeared on PBS's Frontline/World, the CBC, and Channel 4 (United Kingdom). In 2005, she joined Current TV as a correspondent and producer for the Vanguard documentary series. Van Zeller is fluent in Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian and French. She also speaks some Arabic.

She applied for a Masters degree to Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism three times: her first application was rejected, and her second was wait-listed. After her third application in 2001, van Zeller 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 and allowed her to enroll.

Mariana van Zeller (born May 7, 1976 in Cascais, Portugal) is a Peabody Award winning Portuguese journalist and correspondent for National Geographic Channel. She is also chief correspondent for Fusion. She is a former correspondent for the Vanguard documentary series on the former Current TV.