Our network

EIF’s network spans comprises in-house journalists, freelancers, experts and media professionals with a background in investigative journalism and either will or experience in environmental investigations. Our members benefit from free consulting services and advice to find a story angle, find an expert, a tool, or a colleague, but also direct work opportunities whenever we have some to offer.

We are heavily engaged against the growing practice of IJ structures “predating” on freelancers stories. For that reason, EIF consulting services are free to our members, and we only take direct part in fundraising stories that emerge from our team – or to which our participation could have a clear added-value.

Aron
White

Journalist
(UK)

Aron is the Asia Pacific Editor at The Third Pole and China Dialogue, managing the websites’ reporting on climate change and the environment across the Asia Pacific.

Based in London, he works closely with editors, experts and freelancers across the region. Prior to this role, Aron worked as a campaigner at NGO the Environmental Investigation Agency , focused on illegal and unsustainable trade in wildlife.

He has published several papers on the complexities of China’s biodiversity legislation, and the persistence of legal markets for the products of endangered and internationally protected species, and holds a degree in Chinese Studies.


Skills & knowledge:
Biodiversity and wildlife trade
Investigative skills
Cross-border collaboration

Areas of interest:
Environmental reporting
Asia coverage
Cross-border collaboration

BARON
NKOY

Journalist
(DRC)

Baron Nkoy is a freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker on economic and social development in the Democratic Republic of Congo and producer of the blog-magazine “Le reportage”.

He uses the platform Le Reportage to address issues of poverty, social injustice, environment, economic inequality by giving voice to local people, community leaders, farmers, environmentalists and/or activists.

In 2022, he participated to EIF’s initated investigation on French oil & gas giant Perenco in DRC which was featured as a chapter of Investigate Europe & Disclose‘s “Perenco Files” investigative series, which led to the company being prosecuted on the day of publication of this story for “environmental prejudice”.


Skills & knowledge:

On-field reporting
Photo, audio and film reports
Cross-border Collaboration

Areas of interest:
Social affairs
Environmental issues
Gas & Oil sector

MUSTAPHA K.
DARBOE

Journalist
(Gambia)

Mustapha K Darboe is an investigative journalist with Malagen, Gambia’s first specialized investigative journalism newspaper.

He currently serves as a news editor for the paper he founded with a colleague in 2020. Malagen has since published over 10 investigations, mainly on public sector corruption.

Darboe is the Banjul correspondent for Turkey News Agency and cooperated on a cross-border investigation relating to wood trafficking between Senegal & Gambia, spanning out from CiFAR “Investigate West Africa” training & mentoring program, in 2021-2022, in partnership with RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse), with Dimitri Zufferey and Mariama Thiam. 

Skills & knowledge:
Investigative Journalism
Online Journalism
Financial affairs

Areas of interest:
Environmental Crime
Fraud & Corruption
Conflicts of Interest

Aïssatou
FOFANA

Journalist
(Ivory Coast)

Freelance journalist since 2016, Aïssatou creates content for various platforms and online media, and currently serves as an assistant editor for the African section of the GIJN (Global Investigative Journalism Network).

Moreover, sensitive to environmental issues, she has been campaigning for the environmental cause for several years, through her writings and by participating in activities dealing with these issues.

This commitment led her to co-create April 2022, a news website, L’Écologiste, dedicated mainly to environmental issues.

Aïssatou was also a Media Grantee granted by the Arican Union in 2022, the year she joined the GIJN team.

Skills & knowledge:
Content strategy
Editing work
Field reporting

Areas of interest:

Land degradation
Social affairs
Cross-regional collaboration

SAM
Schramski

Journalist-Expert
(United States)

Sam Schramski has been a freelance journalist and researcher focused on climate change and socioecological conflicts for 13 years.

He has contributed to various media, including radio (National Public Radio, Deutsche Welle, Radio France International) and print (Huffington Post, Nautilus, Earth Island Journal).

He holds a doctorate in interdisciplinary ecology from the University of Florida and has focused the vast majority of his journalistic and academic work on issues related to climate change adaptation.

Sam is also a special project coordinator at the Earth Journalism Network and a RFJ Pulitzer grantee.

Skills & knowledge:

Foreign Reports
GIS
Climate Change Adaptation

Areas of interest:
Tool development
Mentoring
Cross-border cooperation

Mathias Felipe
De LIMAS SANTOS

Journalist-Expert
(Brazil)

Mathias is a journalist, technologist, and researcher. He holds a position as project manager at InfoAmazonia, leading the development of data-driven and web application products, such as PlenaMata in cooperation with Natura and MapaBiomas.

Before joining InfoAmazonia, he was a researcher at the University of Navarra, Spain, under the JOLT project, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie European Training Network funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program.

He was also a visiting researcher at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia. Mathias Felipe is co-editor of the book “Journalism, Data and Technology in Latin America” published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2021.

Skills & knowledge:
GIS
Data-journalism
Environmental investigations

Areas of interest:
Tool development
Cross-border partnerships
Natural resource exploitation

Thomas
Bart

Expert
(France)

Thomas is an independent researcher and consultant. He is currently based in France, after working on a long-term basis in Uganda on various environmental topics, where he lived for 5 years.

Passionate about environmental affairs and human rights issues, he has mainly investigated the exploitation of natural resources (mining, oil and gas) in West, Central and East Africa.

He has primarily conducted his research in an academic context or on behalf of NGOs, sometimes in connection with the media.

He has also worked on issues of tax evasion, defense secrecy in France, and military cooperation.

Skills & knowledge:
Field reporting
Academic research
Extractive sector

Areas of interest:
Foreign reports
Cross-border cooperation
Natural resources exploitation

Ibanga
Isine

Journalist
(Nigeria)

Mr. Isine is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Guardpost.ng and one of Africa’s most respected investigative journalists, journalism teacher, research fellow, and activist with over 23 years of experience.

He was one of the founding Managing Editor of Next Edition Newspaper, and former Senior Editor and Editor with Premium Times and Leadership newspapers, respectively. His career spans 23 years and straddles the broadcast, print and multimedia journalism.

His acclaimed work has led him to receive various national and regional awards. He is currently a board member of the Norbert Zongo Cell for Investigative Journalism in West Africa (CENOZO).


Skills & knowledge:

Media management
Field reporting
Investigative journalism

Areas of interest:
Cross-border collaboration
Environmental reporting
Regional partnerships

ZUBAIDA
MABUNO ISMAIL

Journalist
(Ghana)

Zubaida Mabuno Ismail is a freelance investigative journalist based in Ghana. She was a participant of the Pandora Papers by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

She is also a member of the Norbert Zongo Centre for Investigative Journalists in West Africa and African Fact-Checking Alliance.

With over ten years of experience, Zubaida has covered environmental, climate change, and gender issues. She is a media trainer, brand marketing consultant, ZAMI Reports managing editor, and Reporters Without Borders reporter in Ghana.


Skills & knowledge:

International Training
Investigative skills
Environmental reporting

Areas of interest:
Gender & social reporting
Financial affairs
Cross-border collaboration.

ESTACIO
VALOI

Journalist
(Mozambique)

Estacio is a Mozambican journalist who advises Oxpeckers on a broad range of environmental problems in the region.

He has covered a range of environmental investigations for Zambeze daily newspaper and international media. He helped establish Zambeze and is newsroom chief editor in Quelimane, in northern Mozambique.

His investigations have been featured by the German Radio Station DW, the Reuters Thompson Foundation and Le Monde, among others. Founder the Moz24h Newspaper and co-founder of Mozambican Investigative Journalism Centre

Skills & knowledge:
Field reporting
OSINT
Cross-border Collaboration

Areas of interest:
Natural resource exploitation;
Pollution & Corruption;
Legal Analysis

Aseel
SARAIH

Journalist
(Yemen)

Aseel is a Yemenee journalist working as an Investigative Journalist and Media Content Producer Trainer in investigative journalism.

He is a supervisor of investigations with ARIJ, a network of arabic investigative journalists, but also for Al Jazeera Net.

Aseel has worked on multiple investigations as well as training and media development initiatives in the past years involving various international partners and has worked on climate change and environmental issues in a continuous manner in the past 7 years at least.


Skills & knowledge:
Investigative Journalism;
Online Journalism;
Broadcast Reporting;

Areas of interest:
Environmental Crime
Fraud & Corruption
Cross-border cooperation

TIM
LUIMES

Journalist
(Netherlands)

Tim Luimes is an investigative journalist and deputy editor at the Dutch research collective The Investigative Desk.

He is specialized in research and writing on the influence of big corporations on politics and science, focusing on the tobacco, agrofood and chemical industry in cross-border collaborative projects.

He is the initiator of the Forever Pollution Project. Currently developing new projects on tax evasion, extractive industries and pollution.




Skills & knowledge:

Tax evasion
Polluting industries
Cross-border cooperation

Areas of interest:
Agrofood
Corporations
Polluting industries

HELEN
darbshire

Expert
(Spain)

Helen is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Access Info EU, a Madrid-based organization specialized in promoting and protecting the right to information since 2006.

She is a human rights activist specializing in the right of access to information (freedom of information) and the development of open and democratic societies with participatory and accountable governments.

Helen is also part of Open Government Partnership Steering Committee and the Chair of the civil society anti-corruption coalition: the UNCAC Coalition.


Skills & knowledge:

Freedom of Information
Legal screening
Anti-Corruption

Areas of interest:
Training & Mentoring
Environmental affairs
Right to information

ZUZA
NAZARUK

Journalist
(Poland-Netherlands)

Zuza Nazaruk is a freelance journalist from Poland, based in the Netherlands. She is passionate about the intersection between environmental issue, labour, as well as corporate misinformation.

Her past investigations include rising energy poverty rates among low-income households in the Netherlands and Denmark and the inadequacy of existing EU recycling strategies.

Zuza considers herself a lifelong learner and is looking to expand her skills in OSINT, geolocation, and geographical analysis (such as GIS) while growing her investigative portfolio.

Skills & knowledge:
Environmnetal Reporting
Cross-border Coordination
OSINT

Areas of interest:
Environment & Labour Corporate
Env. Misinformation
Online Security

ELIE
KABORÉ

Journalist
(Burkina Faso)

Elie has been an investigative journalist in Burkina Faso for the past 10 years, and an overall journalist since 17 years.

He has a strong focus on the mining sector, on which he specializes his reports, articles and investigations, notably from the angle of corruption, illicit financial flows and democracy. He now works regularly for the Economiste du Faso, after several years working with L’Indépendant.

Elie is also a member of the Norbert Zongo Cell for Investigative Journalism in West Africa (CENOZO), a regional hub of investigative journalists based in West Africa, which notably participated to the West African Leaks and Pandora Papers.


Skills & knowledge:

Mining sector
Illicit Financial Flows
Corruption

Areas of interest:
Environmental Investigations
OSINT
Cross-Border Cooperation

FIONA
MACLEOD

Journalist
(South Africa)

Fiona Macleod is an experienced investigative environmental journalist who currently heads up Oxpeckers Investigative Environmental Journalism, a unit that is pioneering the use of new media tools to expose eco-offences and to track offenders around the world.

Prior to founding Oxpeckers, Macleod worked as an award-winning journalist and editor at a range of the region’s top medias.

She served as environment editor at the Mail & Guardian newspaper for 10 years, and was awarded the coveted Nick Steele Award recognizing her contributions to environmental conservation through her pioneering reportage.

Skills & knowledge:

Media tools
Media management
Environmental reporting

Areas of interest:
Natural resources exploitation
Eco-criminality
Training & Mentoring

Jack
wolf

Journalist/Expert
(Germany)

Jack Wolf is a researcher and filmmaker. He covers issues surrounding conflict, migration, technology, infrastructure and the environment.

Jack has worked alongside Mnemonic documenting human rights violations in Syria, Yemen and Sudan, but also as a Visual Coordinator. His films and research and work have been presented globally.

He also participated in the cross-regional program “Investigate West Africa” from CiFAR.

In his spare time Jack works to teach inscription and digital safety workshops to young people in Berlin.

Skills & knowledge:

OSINT;
GIS Analysis
Filmmaking & Field Reporting

Areas of interest:
Technology
Environment
Human Rights

ROBIN
TAYLOR

Journalist
(Norway)

Robin is an open-source investigator currently based in Norway.

He has worked on a number of investigations related to extractive industries and oil and gas transportation by sea. He is also the co-author of the Tibet Research Project which aimed to map all prisons and detention centers in Tibet.

He is currently studying citizen participation in investigating crimes by the powerful and the development of new methods of accountability at Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands. 

He participated to the cross-regional program “Investigate West Africa”, from CiFAR.


Skills & knowledge:

OSINT & OPSEC
Supply chain investigations
Maritime intelligence

Areas of interest:
Corporate accountability
Extractive industries
Energy and Transport

BRIAN
COOKSEY

Expert
(Tanzania)

Brian is an independent researcher and consultant. He is a regular contributor to the Elephant (Nairobi) and Africa Confidential (London).

He was associated with exposing the Independent Power Tanzania Ltd (IPTL) and the Tegeta Escrow scandals which involved the looting of more than USD120m from the Bank of Tanzania in 2013-14.

Brian has worked with a number of Tanzanian NGOs and is currently a research advisor to the Centre for Strategic Litigation.

Brian is also a member of Transparency International’s Council and Research Advisor to TI’s African Chapter.

Skills & knowledge:
Investigative Reporting
Anti-Corruption
Training & Advocacy

Areas of interest:
Energy & Political Economy Policy
Pollution
Civil Society

Elfredah
Kevin-alerechi

Journalist
(Nigeria)

Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi is a freelance multimedia investigative journalist from Nigeria, who is passionate about environmental justice.

She has covered several stories about climate change including environmental pollution caused by British Shell and its successor, Eroton.
the impact of constant gas flaring by the Italian company Eni/Agip, and the failure of Total E&P to pay compensation to host communities after destroying the environment, including farmlands and biodiversity, among other things.

Her work has featured in publications such as The Scotsman, AL Jazeera, DeSmog UK, Earth Journalism Network and others.

Skills & knowledge:

Forensic Analysis
Data Scrapping & Vizualisation
OSINT


Areas of interest:

Environmental Justice
Human Rights
Extractive Industries

MAIS
KATT

Journalist
(Syria-Netherlands)

Mais is an Investigative Journalist, International Media Trainer and Training Designer.

She has conducted training programs for hundreds of journalists in the Middle East and North Africa and has worked with international training centers in Europe and USA such as the Radio Netherlands Training Center, Arizona University, International Center of Journalism and Internews.

She is a brave and talented investigative journalist who has covered the Syrian war for 10 years long and EIF team member representative for environmental investigative initiatives in the Middle East region.

Skills & knowledge:

International Training
Investigative skills
Environmental reporting

Areas of interest:
Env. impact of military conflicts
Poisoned soils;
Cross-border collaboration.

LÉa
SZULEWICZ

Journalist
(France)

Lea is an independent investigative journalist currently based in Paris. She has been an investigative journalist for the second season of Green Warrior, a science-based investigative TV series about environmental scandals, produced by Premières Lignes.

She has worked for several French TV information programs and covered environmental issues for various press agencies. She also participated in the « Investigate West Africa » program organized by CiFAR (Civil Forum for Asset Recovery).  She also participated to two collaborative cross-border investigations with a team of journalists from Nigeria, Senegal, Netherlands and Denmark. Stories covered issues such as illegal financing flows, corruption and environmental damages. 

Skills & knowledge:
Training & Mentoring
OSINT
Cross-border Collaboration

Areas of interest:
Natural resource exploitation;
Pollution & Corruption;
Legal Analysis

MARIN
NIKOLOV

Journalist
(Bulgaria)

Marin is a Broadcast Journalist with dozens of journalistic investigations which sparkled wide public reactions in Bulgaria.

He focuses on harmful practices in politics, economics, the judiciary, environmental topics, and cultural heritage conservation.

Some of his TV films were followed by dismissals and resignations of mayors, deputies and state chiefs who occupied responsible posts in our country.

His film ‘’Eco-racketting” uncovered the schemes in which certain conservation organizations were blackmailing businessmen from the energy sector for corruption purposes.

Skills & knowledge:
Investigative Journalism;
Online Journalism;
Broadcast Reporting;

Areas of interest:
Environmental Crime
Fraud & Corruption
Conflicts of Interest

BIRAME FAYE

Journalist/Expert
(Senegal)

Birame est un journaliste d’investigation spécialisé en environnement formé au Centre d’études des sciences et techniques de l’information (Cesti), l’école leader en formation de journalisme en Afrique francophone basée à Dakar.

Grand reporter au Journal Le Quotidien de 2008 à 2016, Birame est l’un des pionniers du Fact-Checking au Sénégal, en tant que membre de la rédaction francophone d’Africa Check.

Il est auteur de plusieurs enquêtes sur la gouvernance des ressources foncières, minières agro-forestières qui lui ont valu plusieurs reconnaissances nationales et internationales..




Skills & knowledge:

GIS
Python and R languages
Remote Sensing

Areas of interest:
Land degradation; Deforestation;
Ecosystem Resilience;
Air Pollution

LEONORE
SCHICK

Journalist
(UK)

Leonore has worked as a freelance journalist from 2017 to 2019 after an internship as a cross-format journalist for the Associated Press (AP). She is currently working as a legal reporter at Property Week.

Her work has been in various medias including AP, ABC News, Vice US, 7 Digital, the Washington Post and Deutsche Welle.

Leonore participated in a data-journalism reporting project on gas flaring in Nigeria, for DW & Premium Times and has been an investigative trainee for CiFAR program “Investigate the Mediterranean“.



Skills & knowledge:

Cross-format reporting;
Investigative skills;
Legal screening

Areas of interest:
Conservation;
Gas flaring;
Natural resources exploitation.

STEVE
BORCHARDT

Expert
(Germany)

Steve is a Geographer and Data Scientist with a special focus on sustainable development issues.

He has been involved in various projects ranging from tackling deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon or analyzing the potential of Community Based Ecotourism for Kyrgyz mountain communities to supporting green mobility initiatives through the Climate Alliance Tyrol.

He is currently working as consultant to the European Commission on the Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals to support the implementation process of the Sustainable Development Goals and their mainstreaming into the European Policy context.

Skills & knowledge:
R and Python, Machine Learning;
Text Mining & Language processing;
Data-driven Horizon Scanning

Areas of interest:
Socio-economic transformation;
Environmental Conservation;
Sustainable Development

Aïda
Delpuech

Journalist
(France-Tunisia)

Aïda is an independent environmental journalist currently based in Tunis. After having completed a master’s degree in political philosophy, she joined the team of Cash Investigation, a major investigative journalism TV show in France. 

She then contributed to Inkyfada, an independent Tunisian investigation media. Passionate about ecology related stories, her work mainly focuses on environmental and agricultural issues along with their social and health consequences. She has notably conducted a transborder investigation concerning a major waste affair between Italy and Tunisia. She is a fellow of the Earth Journalism Network

Skills & knowledge:
Investigative Journalism;
Data Analysis;
Environmental Reporting;

Areas of interest:
Agriculture & Food Industry
Pollution
Renewable Energy

JURGENA
KAMBERAJ

Expert
(Italy)

Jurgena is an environmental scientist specialized in biodiversity protection, and ecosystem services.

She is currently working as a GIS specialist on environmental disaster management, and supports with monitoring and impact assessment of worldwide environmental disasters.

She is also advocating for nature protection, working with several youth organizations. Jurgena is one of the team members of the youth organization Biodiversity Action Europe (BAE) which focuses on reversing biodiversity loss in Europe and beyond through advocating and campaigning.




Skills & knowledge:

GIS
Python and R languages
Remote Sensing

Areas of interest:
Land degradation; Deforestation;
Ecosystem Resilience;
Air Pollution

ROUGUYATA
sall

Journalist
(France)

Journalist et data-journalist, her field trips most often take place on her laptop, where she plays around with data and read scientific papers.

Rouguyata focuses on science, research, labor and inequalities. Before that, she worked four years as a food quality and security officer for the agri-food industry.

She was trained in cross-format journalism at the EMI-CFD), Paris and is a biology M.Sc. graduate. She has worked with Mediapart, Le Monde, AEF info, Liaisons sociales, Libération, Bondy Blog and Politics Watch.


Skills & knowledge:
Data Analysis;
Data Visualization;
Tableau, Datawrapper;

Areas of interest:

Food industry; Public Health;
Labor & Inequalities;
Social & Data Science

KRISTOF
HORVATH

Expert
(Hungary)

Kristof is a freelance data and geoinformatics expert from Hungary.

He has been working as a consultant for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, in the Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water department. His focus is on Low carbon agriculture project development.

Prior to this, he was a junior researcher for the European Commission on Science Communication and Project Management and a media intern at Amnesty International.





Skills & knowledge:

GIS; ArcSWAT;
Python; Ex-ACT
(Ante Carbon Balance Tool);

Areas of interest:

Green Projects Management;
Human impact of land-use;
Climate Change

ARLIS
ALIKAJ

Journalist
(Albania)

Arlis is an accomplished investigative journalist with critically acclaimed reporting on environmental and social issues in the Balkan region. During his Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), he wrote an investigative report on illegal logging in Albania’s largest national park. He won the CEI SEEMO Award for Outsanding Merits in Investigative Journalism 2019 for this work. He joined CiFAR second “investigate” training program the same year and published a cross-border story on illegal working permits in the UNESCO site of lake Orhid, shared by Albania and North Macedonia.

Skills & knowledge:
ArcGis; AutoCAD;
Java application development;


Areas of interest:
Environmental Conservation
Sustainable Development
Green Economy

AMAL
MEKKI

Journalist
(Tunisia)

Amal El Mekki is a media and communication expert from Tunisia. She is the editor-in-chief of  Innsane, a storytelling platform she co-founded in May 2020. Amal is also an award-winning investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker, and a trainer/ mentor for Internews and other NGOs. She focuses on Human Rights and has worked with Tunisian media and international outlets. She is the first Tunisian journalist to win an access of information case against an ministry (the Interior Ministry). She has been awarded many grants from ICFJ, ARIJ, CIFAR, Candid foundation.



Skills and knowledge:

Investigative skills;
Data visualization
Mentoring/ training;

Areas of interest:
Climate change
Pollution
Natural resources exploitation 


Alexandre
brutelle

Journalist
(France)

Alexandre has been a foreign reporter from 2014 to 2016, in Ukraine and Turkey. In 2017, he founded Politics Watch, a data-journalism project documenting corruption in the French public sphere.

He investigated the Mubarak clan ill-gotten assets in the EU from 2018 to 2019. He has been awarded 3 grants by the Journalism Fund as a team manager for cross-border investigative projects on water privatization in Bulgaria, occult wood trading in Ghana and shale gas in North Africa.

He co-founded EIF and is currently working as freelance, as well as a journalism program coordinator for the NGO CiFAR.


Skills & knowledge:

OSINT; Online Security;
Offshore Finance;
Public Public Asset Theft;
Photo-reporting.

Areas of interest:

Oil & Gas; Water resources;
Wildlife traffic; Deforestation.

Jasper
Smallenbroek

Expert
(UK)

Jasper is Head of Commercial Partnerships at ShadowBreak Intl. which is democratising geospatial intelligence. His team specialises in fusing and visualising geospatial data ranging from optical satellite imagery to SAR, IR, RF, AIS, and ADSB.

His team works with a wide range of suppliers and pride itself on having access to cutting edge remote sensing capabilities. 

ShadowBreak maintains a strong position within the OSINT community and frequently collaborates with analysts and journalists. Jasper and his team are always keen to advise on data sources. 


Skills & knowledge:

Earth Observation
Data Collection



Areas of interest:
Remote Sensing Technology
Consultancy services

INva
Hasanaliaj

Journalist
(Albania)

Inva is a journalist since 2015. She is part of “Faktoje” as a fact-checking journalist since its inception. She completed her studies in Public Relations and Communication, while her previous experiences as a journalist include the fields of economic, political and investigative journalism. Initially, she worked for the newspaper “Mapo” where she addressed economic issues.

She was also part of the “Investigative Reporting Laboratory” supported by the US Embassy. Inva is certified in several areas of communication on topics such as: “Participation in the construction of alternative media“, “Participation in the European Academy for Journalists of the Joint Center for Albania-Serbia Relations” etc.

Skills & knowledge:
OSINT; Grand Corruption;
Financial reading;
Field reporting;


Areas of interest:
Environmental reporting in East Africa;
Cross-border collaborations

Osama
Al-Sayyad

Journalist
(Egypt)

His work focuses on civil-military relations in the Middle East and North Africa. He has contributed to projects which present the intertwined relations of Egypt’s military generals and businessmen across kinship and benefit-based networks. He studied investigative journalism at RNTC Media Training Centre in the Netherlands.

He has published several investigations on human rights, Illicit financial flows and Corruption.He has worked on projects that use data for positive social change with DATA4CHANGE.

He was part of an Egyptian-French cross-border investigation team in cooperation with CIFAR.


Skills & knowledge:
Investigative Reporting
Cross-border Reporting
Data journalism

Areas of interest:
Grand Corruption
Cross-border collaboration

MUNIR
KHATIB

Journalist
(Jordan)

As ARIJ’s editor in chief, journalist and media consultant, Munir has over 30 years of experience as an editorial leader, mentor and coach in digital publishing and news industries.

Munir supervised the digital transition of several Arab newspapers contributing to the launch of a number of news websites, including daralhayat.com.

He also conducted several training workshops and lectures on topics related to journalism including conflict, human rights and sensitive reporting and investigative journalism.



Skills & knowledge:

International Training
Investigative skills
Environmental reporting

Areas of interest:
Cross-border collaboration
Environmental reporting
Digital transation

ANNIKA
MCGINNIS

Journalist
(US/Uganda)

Annika McGinnis is a multimedia/data journalist and media development specialist from the U.S., based in Kampala, Uganda.

With Water Journalists Africa, she is the co-founder of InfoNile.org, a geojournalism platform and journalists’ network focused on data-based stories on water and environment in the Nile Basin.

She has also worked with the Media Challenge Initiative, Reuters, USA TODAY, and McClatchy Newspapers. She is a CIVICUS Goalkeeper, alumnus of Global Health Corps, Pulitzer Center and National Geographic Society Grantee.

Skills & knowledge:
Training & Mentoring
OSINT
Cross-border Collaboration

Areas of interest:
Natural resource exploitation;
Pollution & Corruption;
Legal Analysis

HAYATTE
ABDOU

Journalist
(Comorres)

Hayatte has worked in weekly, then daily newspapers before leaving everything and starting over to focus on investigative journalism, especially on social issues of general interest.

She was rained in the Comoros by Medias et Democratie. I have created my own information platform, under the name of National Magazine Comores.

Hayatte works in collaboration with Christele Bourdeau who is a trainer at the EPJT and Medias et Democratie. She participated in international investigations with ICIJ and CENOZO of the Pandora Papers and Shadow Diplomats.

Skills & knowledge:
Investigative Journalism;
Online Journalism;
Broadcast Reporting;

Areas of interest:
Environmental Crime
Fraud & Corruption
Conflicts of Interest

FIACRE
SALABE

Journalist/Expert
(Cameroon/CAR)

Fiacre is a journalist and fact-checking expert and communication consultant from Central African Republic. He has worked with Le confident, Ndjoni sango, Média Plus, Le Citoyen, Petit Observateur Centrafricain.

He has worked with with Zam Magazine which is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and The Museba Journalism Project based in Cameroon.

He joined Congo Check, a verification body based in DR Congo, to be an independent consultant in fact-checking in the sub-region. Today, I am a Fact-Checking expert, Communication Consultant and Investigator.

Skills & knowledge:

Fact Checking
Subsaharan region
Environmental issues

Areas of interest:
Cross-border collaboration
Disimformation
Investigative projects

erofili
graspa

Expert
(Greece)

Erofili is an independent researcher and data analyst based in South Africa. She has previously collaborated with universities, research centers, governmental institutions and NGOs. Her past work includes projects on HIV research, economic development, migration, gender inequality and labor market.

Erofili has experience in analyzing large complex datasets, statistical modelling and with using several statistical tools. One of her current freelance projects is the WIEGO COVID-19 study, investigating the effects of COVID and resulting lockdowns on the precarious jobs and lives of informal workers in 12 cities around the world.

Her interest mostly lies in projects that have a potential for positive social impact.

Skills & knowledge:
Data analysis & visualisation
Statistical modelling;
Stata, R, Python, Matlab, SPSS

Areas of interest:

Gender equality;
Economic development, Social & environmental sciences.

Friedrich Hirler

Expert
(Germany)

Friedrich is a social and political scientist, with a focus in international political economy, sustainable development, and social welfare.

He traveled through over 50 countries mostly by thumb and struggles to merge the conflicting tendencies of this world and its people into a wholesome picture.

He works as managing senior editor for the Security and Sustainability Guide in an effort to map the world of organizations engaged in the nexus of human security and sustainability.

Friedrich has also worked on defense and space technology monitoring and engaged in research looking at dual-use technologies from a sustainability perspective.


Skills & knowledge:

Quantitative & Qualitative Data Analysis; Political Analysis;
Foresight; Report writing;

Areas of interest:

World Futures; Global Issues;
Sustainable Development;
Systemic Change.

Adrian Dohotaru

Journalist
(Romania)

Adrian is a journalist and environmental advocate currently based in Romania.

He is the executive director of Sustainable Organized Society S.O.S Association, with whom we convinced the city hall of Cluj to accept its use as the largest green public space instead of a private real estate development.

As a parliamentary he initiated two environmental legislative initiatives: a new law on green spaces and legal framework on natural urban protected areas.

He advocates for green mobility and he worked on environmental racism in Romanian ghettos.



Skills & knowledge:

Reporting;
Environmental Advocacy;
Investigative reporting;

Areas of interest:
Environmental monitoring;
Participatory Action Research;
Conservation.

Dimitri
Zufferey

Journalist
(Switzerland)

Dimitri is a documentation journalist for the Swiss public television (RTS). He is also a lecturer at the University of Neuchâtel for OSINT, and digital security. He graduated in History has been working as a journalist for the past ten years.

He investigated the Jersey Offshore files along with the EIC network. After a deep archive research in cooperation his newsroom, he was also able to give new insights on the Luxor Massacre of 1997.

His reporting skills focus on OSINT and FOIA. He is a coordinator for the EIC network and works with the plateform Source Sure.

His job by excellence is to assist and support his colleagues during collaborative research.

Skills & knowledge:
OSINT; SOCMINT;
Cross-border coordination;
Investigative reporting;

Areas of interest:

Pollution and contamination by Swiss companies;
Historical research;
Cross-border collaboration.

RY
COVINGTON

Expert
(United States)

Ry leads SkyTruth’s conservation technology program. His work combines geographic information science (GIS), remote sensing, and machine learning to identify, map, and monitor threats to the planet. He holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he studied the spatial dynamics of environmental impact assessment.

Before joining SkyTruth in 2017, Ry led the spatial science program at Defenders of Wildlife. Most recently he developed his own consulting firm in GIS, Machine Learning, Database management and Data vizualisation: Honeybee Labs.


Skills & knowledge:
GIS; Machine Learning;
Remote Sensing;
Environmental Impact Assessment;


Areas of interest:

Oil & Gas; Media Consulting
AI development support.

momchil yordanov

Expert
(Italy)

Momchil is a AI developer and remote sensing analyst from Bulgaria.

He has been working as a consultant for both private and public sectors since 2017, with a strong focus on agricultural land-use management analysis, notably through earth observation techniques including satellite imagery analysis, deep learning, GIS, and crowdsourcing visual data.

He is currently working as a volunteer for EIF, wrapping his problem-solving spirit around the difficult task of developing innovative environmental reporting tools for journalists, based on his field of expertise in artificial intelligence.

Skills & knowledge:
R & Python programming;
GIS & Remote Sensing;
Deep Learning & AI;


Areas of interest:

Environmental monitoring;
Impact assessments; Citizen Science .

Simon mkina

Journalist
(Tanzania)

Simon is an award winning Tanzania investigative journalist, renowned editor, columnist and media trainer with 26 years of experience.

He has been freelancing for various national and international media outlets and is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) for which he contributed to the Mauritius Leaks.

He also documented the working conditions of East African truck drivers amid the Covid-19 pandemic, in a collaborative photo-report published by the Mail & Guardian in South Africa.


Skills & knowledge:
OSINT; Grand Corruption;
Financial reading;
Field reporting;


Areas of interest:
Environmental reporting in East Africa;
Cross-border collaborations.

TSvetelina
Tomova

Expert
(Bulgaria)

Tsvetelina is a freelance GIS expert and junior researcher from Bulgaria. She is a co-founder of the EIF and a volunteer for the Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation (BBF).

She has worked on mapping, analyzing and visualizing shale gas rigs in North Africa for a cross-border investigative project financed by the Journalism Fund. She also participated to a cross-border investigation on the nefarious effects of water privatization in her hometown of Sofia.

She is currently leading her own research on Forest Fires in Vitosha Mountain, with the support of the BBF.


Skills & knowledge:
QGIS; ArcGIS;
ERDAS; Python;
Data-visualization tools;


Areas of interest:

Environmental Impact Assessment
Biodiversity Conservation Evaluation

Eryn Schornick

Expert
(United States)

Eryn is an expert investigator, advocate and strategist with more than a decade of experience combating corruption and abuse and holding bad actors accountable globally through litigation and policy change.

 Eryn has spent more than a decade combining her interest in the law and international finance. She has worked in the fields of labor rights, business and human rights and shareholder advocacy by following the money, dissecting corporate structures, mapping networks and tracing supply chains—the more complex the better. Her most recent work at Global Witness was featured in print and broadcast news and included partnerships with ABC and NBC news.   

 She is currently the Interim Director of the Financial Transparency Coalition and is the principles and founder of the investigative firm Sēk Strategies by Eryn K Schornick servicing the media, civil society organizations and other specialized research firms.


Skills & knowledge:
OSINT; Online Security;
Offshore Finance;
Public Public Asset Theft;
Photo-reporting.

Areas of interest:

Oil & Gas; Water resources;
Wildlife traffic; Deforestation.

Marcel GBAGUIDI ALIA

Expert
(Benin)

Marcel is a specialist in Statistics and Information Systems for the Research and Development sectors. He owns a great passion for Open Data and Data Science.

With over 4 years of interdisciplinary experience, he worked on the development of data-driven models to solve some issues related to the environment.

He is also a teaching and research assistant at the University of Parakou, Benin and enrolled as PhD candidate in Biostatistics and Geoinformation.

He was there involved in research studies within Biometry with special emphasis on Environmetrics and Geoinformatics.

Marcel is also a fellow member and volunteer for several professional associations ( DSA , RSS , SWB , etc.)





Skills & knowledge:

R, Python, SQL, Hadoop, Java, Kotlin, Tableau, C++, CSPro, KoboCollect, LaTeX, Stata, ArcGIS, QGIS
GIS & thematic mapping, database management

Areas of interest:
Consultancy services;
Land & Water issues;
Biodiversity conservation & Ecosystem restoration;

CAMILLE
LAFRANCE

Journalist
(France)

Camille is a journalist focusing on North Africa (and especially Tunisia) for Paris-based Jeune Afrique. She mainly deals with internal politics, regional matters, diplomacy and environmental issues

She worked eight years abroad, mainly for french-speaking media (RFI, RTS, RTBF, Le Parisien…) as a correspondent in Tunisia (2012-2016) and in Turkey (2016-2018). Her past works include focuses on migration, security, social matters ans religious issues

She co-founded the media-education association « Globe Reporters Environnement ».

An organization which purpose is to support pupils from 7 to 17 years old into developing their own interviews with their teachers on ecological themes and issues.









Skills & knowledge:
Networking
Data journalism team work
Project management


Areas of interest:
Pollution Public Health Regional organizations Mediterranean region 

Christina Orieschnig

Expert
(France/Austria)

Christina is a PhD researcher in hydrology and earth observation, and a freelance writer specialising in tech and science communication

She’s currently working on her doctoral thesis with the French Institute for Development Research (IRD), assessing the impacts of hydropower development, land use change, and climate change, on the delta of the Mekong in Cambodia.

In this framework, Christina is analysing time series of Sentinel and Landsat satellite imagery using cloud computing platforms.

Within the scope of the same project she interviews local stakeholders on the Mekong floodplains, and builds an eco-hydrological model for scenario simulation. 





Skills & knowledge: Data Collection and Analysis (R & Python) Hydrology and Hydrological Modelling UAVs and Aerial Photography


Areas of interest:

Remote Sensing Technology
Science Communication
Assessing Impacts of Infrastructure Development

Boris
schneider

Expert
(Germany)

Boris is European Journalism Project Manager at Clean Energy Wire (CLEW), an independent, not-for-profit information and media service for journalists, where he heads initiatives to boost reporting on the European Green Deal.

He has also worked as a specialist on Eastern European climate and energy topics, amongst others for n-ost, navos Public Dialogue Consultants and the German Economic Team.

In addition, he is also part of The Eurasian Climate Brief podcast, which aims to give voice to the best experts and journalists to make sense of a part of the world where environmental news is at best underreported, at worst a crime.

Skills & knowledge:
Podcasting;
Project Coordination;
Climate Journalism

Areas of interest:

Political Ecology
Natural Resources
Renewable Energy

Isabella CRISPINO

Expert
(Italy)

Isabella Crispino is currently working as an intern for Economist Impact, the research and analysis wing of the Economist Group in London and focuses on sustainability issues.

She is a recent graduate from the University of Oxford, with a degree in History & Politics. She has worked in the journalism, politics, and advocacy sectors. Recently, she worked as a volunteer intern for the civil society organization Syrians for Truth and Justice, where she worked on advancing on-the-ground journalism from the Syrian civil war.

She was also the Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Review of Books, a cultural and literary magazine, and was a member of the Oxford Climate Society.

Skills & knowledge:
Quantitative Analysis;
Qualitative Analysis;
Report Writing;

Areas of interest:
Political Ecology
Natural Resources
Renewable Energy

Gideon
SARPong

Journalist
(Ghana)

Gideon is a journalist with nearly a decade of experience in data and investigative journalism.

He is a co-founder of iWatch Africa where he is currently the Director of Policy and News. He is an alumnus of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), Thomson Reuters Foundation, Free Press Unlimited.

Gideon is a 2020/21 Policy Leader Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy and a Ghana Hub Lead for the Sustainable Ocean Alliance. He is also a 2020/21 Open Internet for Democracy Leader at the Center for International Media Assistance and the National Democratic Institute in Washington, DC.

Skills & knowledge:
OSINT;
Financial reading;
Field reporting;

Areas of interest:
Environmental reporting;
Natural Resource Trafficking;
Ocean & Fishery

Pere
Roca ristol

Expert
(Spain)

Pere is a freelance web-mapping developer specialized in bringing geo-located data into life with interactive and appealing web-mapping applications.

Pere currently works for United Nations FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) and Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission, and is open to collaborate on other motivating projects. Including data-journalism initiatives.This through innovative visualization methods aimed at enhanced storytelling for cross-border environmental projects.

He enjoys creating meaningful and comprehensible data visualizations using tables, charts and maps.

.Skills & knowledge:
Desktop GIS; webGIS tools;
Javascript: D3js, jQuery, React;
PHP, postGIS, SQL, Drupal

Areas of interest:

Collaboratice projects
Data-visualization
Data-driven journalism

OMAIR
AHMAD

Journalist
(India)

Omair Ahmad is managing editor for South Asia at The Third Pole since 2015.

He has worked as a political analyst and journalist, with a particular focus on the Himalayan region.

Omair is also the author of a political history of Bhutan, and a few novels and has a background in international politics and conflicts, with a focus on Kashmir and Tibet.

Skills & knowledge:
Editing and reporting
Cross-border work
South Asia

Areas of interest:
Cross-border reporting
Climate change reporting
Himalayan region

ANNELI
ARN

Journalist
(Sweden)

Anneli Megner Arn is a swedish journalist working as a climate and science reporter at TV4 Nyhetern’s science editorial office.

Previously, she was a reporter on Naturmorgon, P1. In 2013, Anneli was awarded the Golden Spade for revelations in home care and elderly care.

She also has a background as a civil engineer in environmental and chemical engineering from KTH.

Skills & knowledge:
Training & Mentoring
OSINT
Cross-border Collaboration

Areas of interest:
Natural resource exploitation;
Pollution & Corruption;
Legal Analysis

STANLEY
GAJETE

Journalist
(Philipinnes)

Stanley Buenafe Gajete is an international multi-platform journalist and communication specialist from the Philippines for more than a decade.

Some stories focused on environment, climate change, disaster, business and economy climate, political economy, global leadership, and others.

He is a Cum Laude University of Philippines graduate an an Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, and Oxpeckers international journalist fellow.

Skills & knowledge:
Investigative Journalism;
Online Journalism;
Broadcast Reporting;

Areas of interest:
Environmental Crime
Fraud & Corruption
Conflicts of Interest

JOSAPHAT
FINOGBE

Journalist
(Benin)

Josaphat is an investigative journalist and climate fact-checker based in Benin.

Heis currently a copy Editor at PesaCheck, an indigenous fact-checking organization incubated by Code For Africa.

He is the manager of Sunvi Média Communication, a website focused on African’s news and was an Open Climate Reporting Initiative trainee in 2022.

Skills & knowledge:

Field reporting
Air quality & industrialisation
Pollution

Areas of interest:
Francophone West Africa
Cross-border cooperation
Fact-checking

HANENE
ZBISS

Journalist
(Tunisia)

Hanene won several Arab and international awards such as the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of press (2014) and the Raef Badawi Award for Courageous Journalists (2019) done by Friedrich Naumann Foundation.

She was nominated for the Global Shining Light Award, done by the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) in October 2015.

She produced several investigations on subjects such as corruption, terrorism, health, environment and education, in Tunisia and in Iraq.

She participated to the “Implant Files” project with the ICIJ and is the President of the Francophone Press Union’s Tunisian Section (UPF).

Skills & knowledge:
IJ & Health Journalism;
Media Viability;
Mentoring & Training;

Areas of interest:

Climate Change
Natural Resource Exploitation
Environmental Conservation

Ugochi
Anyaka OLUIGBO

Journalist
(Nigeria)

Ugochi Anyaka is a passionate award winning Freelance environmental journalist with a focus on development and climate change and winner of a Young Environmental Journalist award by UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme).

She also won a fellowship for the climate change media partnership (CCMP) and also had the opportunity to cover the COP16 (United Nations Climate Change Conference).

Ugochi enjoys sparking debates on climate change and created, produced and presented over 100 episodes of Nigeria’s most popular environmental television show called Green Angle on the channel TVC News. She currently works as a freelancer.

Skills & knowledge:
Field reporting;
Storytelling;
Audio and video production;

Areas of interest:
Sustainability
Environmental impact report
Local commnunities

Jeff Kelly Lowenstein

Journalist
(United States)

Jeff Kelly Lowenstein is an investigative journalist and the founder and executive director of the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ).

He is also the Padnos/Sarosik Endowed Chair of Civil Discourse at Grand Valley State University . His work has been published in The New Yorker, USA TODAY, and the Center for Public Integrity, among many publications.

He has also earned national and international recognition from organizations like Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), the National Press Club, the National Headliner Club, the Society for News Design and the National Association of Black Journalists.

Skills & knowledge:
Cross-border coordination;
Investigative Journalism;
Data Analysis;

Areas of interest:
Water Equity
Systemic Change
Crossborder Coordination

BAKARY
TRAORÉ

Journalist
(Ivory Coast)

Bakary is an Ivorian lawyer and investigative journalist with expertise in data journalism working for eburnietoday.com as a head of content innovation.

Bakary was awarded a prize in 2019 for a series of major reports on juvenile prostitution in Abidjan and the pimping networks. This work led to the removal of a Nigerian pimping network in Abidjan and the release of several young victims.  He also received an award in 2020 for an investigation into the criminality of football agents.

He has  good knowledge of the environmental sector and natural resource management and is a member of the West African IJ network CENOZO.

Skills & knowledge:
OSINT & IJ;
Legal Analysis;
Multimedia

Areas of interest:

Agriculture and forestry management
Cross-border Cooperation
IFF & Corruption

Stefanie
Helbig

Journalist
(Germany)

Stefanie is a journalist and Youtube creator who has collaborated with several German outlets and production companies.

With the support of the Google News Initiative, she founded the Youtube channel Flashlight Fish, where she focuses fully on environmental topics in producing content for independent journalists.

Her past production and media partners include ZDF, Autorwerk, NDR Television, Plusminus, Financial Times Deutschland and others.




Skills & knowledge:

Youtube Creation
Media Production
Editing

Areas of interest:
Investigative Journalism
Environmental Affairs
Content Creation

Dorian
Cabrol

Journalist
(France)

Dorian Cabrol is a french freelance journalist working mainly for local investigative media called Mediacités.

He was involved in transnational investigative projects between Europe and West Africa supported by the german NGO CiFAR. He has worked in Ivory Coast for 3 years with “l’Éléphant Déchaîné“, an ivorian weekly investigative newspaper.

He has written stories mainly about the marine economy in several sectors like fishing or maritime transport in Abidjan’s port. He has also worked on the mafia of land transport for Vice Magazine.



Skills & knowledge:
Online Security
OSINT
Financial analysis

Areas of interest:
West African region
Marine Sector
Fishery

ARNAUD
Ouedraogo

Journalist
(Burkina Faso)

Arnaud is an investigative journalist and program coordinator at the Norbert Zongo Cell for Investigative Journalism in West Africa (CENOZO).

He has led several cross-border trainings and mentoring programs through his role as CENOZO, with renowned partners such as Open Facto, CiFAR, CFI, the Journalism Fund EU, IMS, the GIJN, the Center for Investigative Journalism (CIJ) and many others.

Arnaud has a strong focus on cross-border media partnerships and illicit financial flows.


Skills & knowledge:
Project Coordination
Media partnerships
Cross-border collaboration

Areas of interest:
Illicit Financial Flows
Investigative Reporting
Corruption

Martin
Macq

Expert
(France)

Martin is a a researcher and analyst with a passion for financial and environmental crime. I also have a background in international affairs, geopolitics, and more specifically in European security and defense issues.

As a researcher and investigator within a not-for-profit, he has worked on investigations and research projects focusing on various environmental crimes such as illegal logging or fishing and how misbehaviors like tax evasion or corruption might facilitate such practices.

His pas research projects ranged from money laundering regulations in the US and EU to sanctions programs affecting corporate activities in specific countries


Skills & knowledge:

GIS
Python and R languages
Remote Sensing

Areas of interest:
Land degradation; Deforestation;
Ecosystem Resilience;
Air Pollution

LAURA MARTINA
SANCHEZ

Expert
(Spain)

Laura Martina Sanchez is a remote sensing, GIS and data-visualisation expert.

She’s an expert with over 7 years of experience in remote sensing and machine learning, having worked with the Joint Research Center of the European Commission on various projects.

Her past work focuses have included crops as well as agro-monitoring.



Skills & knowledge:
Machine Learning
GIS
Remote Sensing

Areas of interest:
Training on environmental issues
AI & Remote Sensing
Environmental monitoring

MAHMOUD
ABO RASS

Journalist
(Syria)

Mahmoud is a Syrian journalist, correspondent and field reporter.

Over the past years, he worked on producing dozens of different media reports on the war and life in Syria. He also participated in many important investigative investigations, the last of which was about soil poisoning in Syria as a result of the remnants of war.

He works from Syria in addition to his role as a trainer in the field of journalism.


Skills & knowledge:
Cross-format reporting
Investigative Journalism
Field reporting

Areas of interest:
Green Projects Management
Human impacts of land-use
Climate change

CÉSAR
KOUAME

Journalist
(Ivory Coast)

César is an investigative journalist based in Ivory Coast, where various traffics are happening “for all to see”, acoording to him.

He has been an Open Climate Reporting Initiative (OCRI) and CENOZO trainee in 2022, working on environmental damages caused by the cement industry in Abidjan. 

César has a strong desire for further environmental projects and cross-border cooperation.


Skills & knowledge:
Industrialization and urban areas
Cement industry in West Africa
Data & Field Reporting

Areas of interest:
Environmental Crime
Fraud & Corruption
Conflicts of Interest

Ankita
ANAND

Journalist
(India)

Ankita is an Indian based journalist with experience working on eight countries across four continents.

She is also editor and head of partnerships with Unbias the News. With the support of national and international grants and fellowships, she has reported on climate solutions in various thematics.

She is a recipient of the Lorenzo Natali Media Prize, the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting, and the United Nations Population Fund Award for Writing on Gender.

Skills & knowledge:

Cross-border investigations
Social justice reporting
Editing

Areas of interest:
Cross-border cooperation
Supply chains
Environmental investigations

BEN
AKILI

Journalist
(DRC)

Ben Akili has been an investigative journalist in the DRC for 5 years, and a general journalist for 7 years.

He has a strong focus in mining and environmental issues, especially as the DRC, and its eastern and southern parts, filled with mining areas that are exploited by foreign companies.

He currently heads the Congolese Investigative Journalists’ Network and is also a member of GIJN Francophone Africa member. 


Skills & knowledge:

Mining abuses
Investigative skills
Social affairs and extractivism

Areas of interest:
Cross-border investigations
Mining sector
Environmental damages

KLAARTJE
JASPERS

Journalist
(Netherlands/Zambia)

Klaartje Jaspers is an investigative journalist, often dealing with social and ecological implications of multinational activities, such as mining.

The last few years, Klaartje has primarily been looking into the impact of the increasing European demand for biomass on producing countries like Zambia and Sweden.

She also has an academic background as an Interdisciplinary Social Scientist focused on the Western and Southern African region.

Skills & knowledge:
Data analysis
Field reporting
Literature review

Areas of interest:
Biomass trade
Subsaharan African region
Corporate accountability

RAMI
ALKUBATI

Journalist
(Yemen)

Rami is a Yemeni multimedia and investigative journalist, with 10 years of experience producing  multimedia stories and in-depth domestic investigations.

He worked for a number of Yemeni newspapers, most notably YNP.

He was awarded the prestigious United Nations Reham Alfra Journalism Fellowship and is also a general manager of Waterford Academy in Yemen. He has been an ICFJ grantee since 2020.

Skills & knowledge:
Multimedia reporting
Investigative reporting
GIS & Data skills

Areas of interest:
Environmental reporting
Cross-border collaboration
Data-journalism

AHMED
HAJ HAMDO

Journalist
(Syria/Netherlands)

Ahmad is a Syrian Investigative Journalist & Trainer based in the Netherlands and co- founder of Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism – SIRAJ.

Ahmed has worked with the Global Network for Investigative Journalism, The Guardian, UPI and many media outlets around the world.

His main focuses include human rights, illicit financial flows and environmental risks and damages.


Skills & knowledge:

Accountability Journalism
Investigative Journalism
Training

Areas of interest:
Cross-border cooperation
Human rights
Environmental affairs