Engaged on a range of projects, including: • developing energy transition narratives for a European energy think-tank• strategic communications support for the most climate-vulnerable developing nations within the UN climate process• writing and editing a prestige report on the security implications of environmental decline for a major European security think-tank• engaging sports broadcasters on climate change and the energy transition• strategy development for a new German energy and climate change think-tank• contributing to the work of ECIU (see below) on the UN process• helping coordinate the work of the Net Zero Tracker consortium, writing its reports• scoping options for accelerating the North Sea oil and gas phase-out• helping a global oceans NGO develop its 10-year strategy• ad-hoc writing and broadcasting• journalism training on the energy transition in Eastern Europe• media training for climate scientists and policy experts.

Establishing, launching and running a non-profit think-tank supporting informed debate on energy and climate change. With a focus on journalism, parliamentarians and wider society, working partly with other organisations and partly in the public eye, ECIU was foremost among organisations that injected evidence into debates around issues such as renewable energy, the economics of decarbonisation and the reality of climate change, swept away disinformation and rehabilitated climate change from its place as a ‘difficult’ issue into one that can be openly discussed in every forum.ECIU initially focussed on rebuttal and overcoming arguments such as ‘the lights will go out if we switch to renewables,’ or ‘business will flee the country due to high energy costs.’ It found engaging ways to put evidence in front of journalists and parliamentarians, amplified the voice of the ‘silent majority’, and helped organisations in fields such as health, agriculture and sport to engage on the issue. More recently, ECIU conceived and led the push for a net zero target in the UK. It also established in 2018 the world’s first Net Zero Tracker, collating and analysing net zero commitments made globally by governments, states & regions, cities and businesses. My role included: • directing the work of the unit• initiating and developing strategy• acting as the public face in media and other fora• identifying key opportunities and ways to maximise them• managing staff and budget• liaising with funding foundations, an Advisory Board including MPs, Peers, scientists, economists and other eminent individuals, and other high-ranking contacts• quality control on all output• building effective high-level relationships with media figures• conceiving and chairing events• writing reports, blogs and articles.

Directing internal and external communications for global initiative on high seas governance and management. The Commission consisted of 17 high-level individuals, mainly former senior ministers including heads of state, co-chaired by José-María Figueres, Trevor Manuel and David Miliband, on a globally representative basis. The Commission produced a blueprint for restoring the global ocean to ecological health and sustainable productivity, elevated awareness of the issues and their solutions to a higher political plane and created a coalition to implement change. Responsibilities and tasks included: • taking overall responsibility for external and internal communications• developing communication strategies, materials and messages• writing op-eds, speaking notes and other material for Commissioners• placing stories and articles in blue-chip publications in various countries, sometimes in translation• supervising website (in seven languages) and social media• managing communications staff and agency• supervising contracts and budgets• organising public events. I also drafted the Commission policy on climate change, and managed the Commission’s intern programme within Somerville College, Oxford University, its host institution.

Writing and broadcasting on all environmental issues including energy and climate change, biodiversity, fisheries, forestry and green economics. Advising editors on coverage and treatments. The majority of work was daily news, often with tight deadlines, and much of the broadcasting was live, on radio and television. I wrote the BBC’s environment blog and was the UK’s most followed environment correspondent on Twitter. Major assignments included Rio+20, UNFCCC summits in 2006 and 2008-11, CBD 2010, European Geosciences Union 2011, International Whaling Commission 2005-12, and multimedia field trips relating to issues such as carbon capture and storage, nuclear power, tidal power, amphibian conservation, whaling, sustainable forestry, aquaculture and earthquake prediction.

Leading BBC World Service coverage of science, medicine, environment and technology. Advising editors on stories and treatments, with and daily provision of live and pre-recorded material. Occasional television appearances. Managing a small reporting team. Major reporting assignments included the UNAIDS conference in 2002, American Geophysical Union in 2003, Indian Science Congress in 2004 and American Association for the Advancement of Science 2003-5. Major running stories during the period included SARS, 9/11 and the Chinese entry into space. I presented the weekly radio programme Science in Action, as well as making documentaries on topics such as e-waste, the ethical flower trade, GM food and malaria prevention.

Working mainly in science and medicine. I made specialist audio CDs for audiences of medical practitioners on a range of topics including cardiology, oncology, haematology, transplantation and tropical medicine. I wrote for specialist medical publications such as Oncology Times, as well as general interest magazines. I presented Science in Action and other programmes for the BBC including series on the future of food and climate change around the world. I ran a radio production company making educational audiotapes on health for developing countries, managing editorial, creative and administrative issues plus liaising with a sponsor (a leading pharmaceutical company). Programmes were broadcast by stations in Africa, South Asia, the Pacific and the Caribbean.

I began my broadcasting career as a studio manager (sound engineer) in BBC World Service radio. I worked on a wide variety of live and pre-recorded programming, in all 45 broadcast languages, including news and current affairs, sport, music and drama. I spent one year attached to the French and Portuguese Service broadcasting primarily to Africa. I entered journalism and on-air work in 1989, with LBC. I reported for and produced programmes in science, culture and current affairs. I then worked as a freelance producer and reporter prior to rejoining BBC World Service as a Senior Producer in the Far Eastern Service, editing and producing programmes in Thai and Vietnamese. I moved to the Training Department for two years, in three separate roles: training World Service producers, running the ‘Media in the UK’ course for journalists from eastern Europe, and setting up and running bespoke courses for overseas journalists. I then moved to Radio International, a department making programmes on diverse topics (sport, current affairs, science, books etc) which were distributed to radio stations all over the world for playback. Finally I moved to the BBC World Service Science Unit, where I produced and presented weekly programmes in science, environment, health and technology such as Science in Action and Discovery. I jointly set up the One Planet programme, the first to bring environment and global development into a single strand.