Many may prevent journalists from the Global South from attending and reporting on this year’s crucial UN Climate Conference – COP27 in Egypt. But that won’t stop us in gathering a great team full of awesome journalists worldwide to cover issues close to their home countries, along with our in-person team.
Our call for applicants received tremendous feedback, with almost 2000 applications from around the world. Now, from Pakistan to Nicaragua, we are excited to introduce you to our virtual COP7 team!
Afifa Nasar Ullah, Pakistan 
Afifa is an award-winning multimedia journalist/writer and documentary filmmaker based in Pakistan.
Afifa has worked with mny Pakistani national media news channels along with interntional outlets such as BBC Urdu.
Currently, with Deutsche Welle, Afifa is especially working to raise awareness to the world about the factors of climate change with an approach of solution journalism.
Alejandra Cuéllar, Mexico
Alejandra Cuéllar has been a regional editor for Diálogo Chino for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean since 2018.
She writes and produces videos on various topics related to the environment and China’s influence in Latin America. She has covered the adulteration of honey, animal trafficking, water theft by beer companies, among many other topics.
In 2018, she won the Simón Bolívar National Journalism Award in Colombia for her investigative work with the La Mesa de Centro project on government corruption.
Camila Albuja Salazar, Ecuador
Camila is an Ecuadorian journalist and content creator.
Passionate about human rights, environmental rights, and feminist journalism, she has been challenging traditional media and doing journalism for audiences on social networks.
She focuses on how Ecuador, as a biodiverse region, is constantly threatened by extractivism that affect communities from the coast to the Andes and the Amazon.
Chermaine Lee, Hong Kong
Chermaine is a multimedia journalist based in Hong Kong.
Her works have been featured on Fair Planet, Voice of America (VOA), Al Jazeera, NBC News, BBC, and Deutsche Welle.
Chermaine is focusing on the heatwaves in South China that has prompted one of the hottest summers in Hong Kong, which is notorious for its population living in poverty.
Edward Acquah, Ghana
Edrward is a journalist and media practitioner based focusing on human rights issues, governance, and the environment.
His home country is not immune to the impact of climate change. In recent times, the African nation country has been experiencing long-spell drought, tidal waves, and erratic rainfall patterns which is having an impact on food security, and the livelihoods of farmers.
Emilia Aparicio Ulloa, Chile
Emilia is a journalist based in Santiago, Chile, covering issues at the intersection of the environment, science, and culture.
Holding a BA in Social Communications from the University of Chile, she believes in journalism that reflects on social, political and environmental conflicts in Latin America with an intersectional and gender approach.
Flavia Lopes, India
Flavia Lopes is an environment and climate change reporter with IndiaSpend, a data news platform based in India.
She has previously written for Wire, Article 12, BehanBox and was a solution journalism fellow with Climate Tracker and a grantee with Earth Journalism Network.
She is also a graduate of Conflict Studies from the London School of Economics. When not working on stories, she could be found cooking, journaling, or learning new languages.
Kelesha Williams, Jamaica
Kelesha is an award-winning journalist in Jamaica, with a passion for people and telling compelling stories.
Her work is focused on social change, the environment, climate change, and rural development. She is a lover of all things nature, and believes to be a truth-seeker destined to hold power to account.
She is focusing on how Jamaica is vulnerable to the worst effects of climate change due to its developing economy and geographical location. The island nation is at increased risk to devastating natural disasters, like hurricanes and tropical storms.
Sylvia is an environmental journalist based in Kenya.
Apart from environmental reporting, she is a lifestyle and entertainment reporter with Nation Media Group. She is focusing on how climate change has threatened the lives of millions of people in Kenya who survived several years on practices such as pastoralism that are now not compatible with weather conditions.
Her name Sylvia is of Latin origin and means “from the forest”. One of her first lessons in life was how to plant trees and care for them. Her mother had a tree nursery, mainly for flowers, which she watered regularly and still enjoying doing so.
Tyrell Gittens, Trinidad and Tobago
Tyrell Gittens is a conservationist, environmentalist, geographer and journalist from Trinidad and Tobago.
Tyrell holds a BSc (double major) in Geography and Environmental Management as well as an MSc in Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development from the University of the West Indies St Augustine Campus.
He has been a journalist since the age of 19 and has published articles in all three of Trinidad and Tobago’s national newspapers. He is currently a freelance writer for the UWI Today Magazine and recently participated in Climate Tracker’s Caribbean Energy Transition Journalism Fellowship.
Tyrell loves spending time in nature and takes any opportunity he gets to hike and go to the beach.
Yamlek Mojica, Nicaragua
Yamlek is a Nicaraguan journalist based in Costa Rica since 2018.
In her home country, she worked as a multimedia journalist for the internationally multi-awarded publications Confidencial and Revista Niú. During that time she won four national awards, including the Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Award for Excellence in Journalism.
In recent years has worked covering gender, immigration, and environmental issues in the coastal areas of Costa Rica.
Now that you’ve met our COP27 virtual fellows, we’re ready to bring the climate negotiations to you.
Perspectives from this geographically diverse team will be published and posted on our website and social media. Be sure to Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and Subscribe to our upcoming COP27 Daily Tracker newsletter for insights.