A San Antonio native, Teresa Talerico serves as the faculty adviser to the student-run news site, The Mesquite. A journalist for 22 years and an educator since 2014, Teresa has reported for the Waco Tribune-Herald, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, San Antonio Light, Houston Business Journal, Virginian-Pilot and other publications. She earned state and national awards in Norfolk, Virginia, for her coverage of small businesses at Inside Business (The Hampton Roads Business Journal). She holds a masters degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. Before joining the communication faculty at A&M-San Antonio, she taught journalism at San Antonio College. SAC is one of her alma maters; she studied journalism there and worked as an editor for The Ranger. Teresa also has a bachelors degree in English from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

A longtime Coast Guard wife, she has been marrried to Erik Sumpter since 1999. They moved to San Antonio when he retired, and they enjoy hiking, swing dancing, visiting Texas swimming holes and hanging out with their dog and three cats. Teresa has been learning to play the ukulele, and she is a mediocre knitter.