Writing

My reporting puts people, communities and their experiences first.

I seek out stories about environment or human rights issues, and where they intertwine, and try to put the people and communities most affected by these issues at the heart of the story.

In 2021, I received a grant from the local TOA-GK (Todos los Ojos en la Amazonia) for In-depth Journalism in the Amazon, and in 2018 was a recipient of the Casa Socio-Environmental Fund for environmental reporting.

Some select publications:

  • The hidden toll of lockdown on rainforests (BBC Future Planet)

    The hidden toll of lockdown on rainforests (BBC Future Planet)

    QUITO, ECUADOR –  You might be forgiven for thinking that the global lockdown measures keeping us all at home can only have been good for the environment. Pollution in cities has decreased, wild animals have increasingly been spotted entering urban areas, and many new cycle lanes have opened up worldwide. But in the world’s tropical…

  • Visions of a Crisis: Difficult days in Ecuador (Literary Review of Canada)

    QUITO, ECUADOR – The first time I cried was Saturday, March 21. It was a beautiful morning, and I was sitting at my window, staring at the sun-kissed Andes Mountains around Quito. But I couldn’t hear cars honking on my normally bustling street. There were no car alarms, either. The furniture store next door wasn’t blasting reggaeton…

  • U.S. allies, encouraged by Washington, said goodbye to their Cuban doctors. As coronavirus surges, some are arguing for their return. (Washington Post)

    U.S. allies, encouraged by Washington, said goodbye to their Cuban doctors. As coronavirus surges, some are arguing for their return. (Washington Post)

    [Co-written with Anthony Faiola] The doctors and nurses began boarding planes late last year, Cuban professionals who had come to aid Ecuador’s health-care system, their time cut short by a government that no longer wanted them. Ecuador is one of a handful of U.S. allies that fell in step with the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy on Cuba,…

  • Indigenous race into Ecuador’s Amazon to escape coronavirus (Al Jazeera)

    Indigenous race into Ecuador’s Amazon to escape coronavirus (Al Jazeera)

    QUITO, ECUADOR – Nemonte Nenquimo, an Indigenous Waorani leader from Ecuador‘s Amazon rainforest, watched as her Indigenous colleagues, family and friends rushed back to their territory this past week, attempting to escape the threat of the coronavirus engulfing the region. Some travelled by car or bus, others flew by charter plane or travelled by boat…

  • The people cleaning up the oil spills of the Amazon (BBC Future Planet)

    The people cleaning up the oil spills of the Amazon (BBC Future Planet)

    LAGO AGRIO, ECUADOR – Galo Rodriguez uses his machete to dig a hole near the small stream on his farm in the north-east of Ecuador, on the cusp of the Amazon rainforest. As he digs there is nothing unusual to be seen – but when he hits 32cm below the surface, the soil releases a…