Veteran TV news reporter Catherine Cruz has joined Hawaii Public Radio as co-host of its weekday talk program.

She will host The Conversation at 11 a.m. along with Chris Vandercook starting Dec. 19 and will be reporting for HPR News, which has about a dozen staff and three contributing neighbor island reporters.

“We are delighted to welcome one of the strongest journalists in the state to our growing newsroom,” HPR News Director Bill Dorman said in a news release. “We look forward to Catherine’s continuing contributions to the community.”

Cruz, originally from Guam, has worked as a Hawaii television reporter since 1983 covering government, education and health for more than 30 years at KITV. She earned her broadcast journalism degree from San Francisco State University.

In 1991, she co-founded the Pacific Islanders in Communication, which provides cultural programs to PBS from Hawaii, Guam and Samoa to support “a deeper understanding of Pacific Island history, culture and contemporary challenges.”