As the demographics reporter for The Plain Dealer, I cover the diverse cultures of Northeast Ohio. This story-rich beat introduces me to immigrant groups and refugee families, European ethnic communities and a vibrant African American community. The topics I write about range from immigration to integration to cultural traditions and conflicts.

I have a weekly column, Global Village, which features news from cultural communities. I’m also the lead writer for the newspaper’s Census Team, a responsibility that keeps me clued in as to whose coming and going in a metro area of three million people.

A new strategy, in this era of shrinking staff and resources, teams me up with the religion writer on more and more stories. I find this a natural fit, as most cultural groups are anchored in a faith.

I grew up in Cleveland, graduated from Bowling Green State University, and started in journalism 25 years ago. From the Sandusky (Ohio) Register, I went on to Syracuse, New York, where I wrote for the The Post-Standard, discovered the Adirondacks and earned a masters in magazine journalism at Syracuse University.

I worked as a freelance writer in Boston while teaching newswriting at Northeastern University, then moved on to The Providence Journal. I came home in 2000 to write for The Plain Dealer.

I met my wife, Chul-In, on a blind date and we married in 2005. She’s an immigrant from Korea and a first violinist for The Cleveland Orchestra. We have two beautiful children, Jae, who is 5 and a huge Indian’s fan, and Sun-Hee, who is 3 and wants to be a princess.

I’ve been a big brother for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Cleveland for seven years now and my exceptional little brother, Martinez, is now a junior in high school.

I learned a lot about immigrants, and their remarkable resilience, as an English as a Second Language tutor for Literacy Volunteers of America.

Robert Smith