In partnership with One Earth, we sent out a call for pitches focused on community projects and nature-based solutions and we received a resounding response. The need to share stories about regenerative agriculture, biodiversity conservation, and energy transition, through a solutions-based lens is clear and that’s why we’re excited to start this new fellowship.
With 650+ applications coming in, we took on the task to select 5 young journalists to be part of this 6-month paid media mentorship-fellowship combo.
We received impressive submissions from each corner of the globe and to each of you we are grateful. After careful review of each pitch, we are happy to present the Fellows who rose to the top. These young aspiring writers will be highlighting local solutions to sustainability challenges in their countries. They’ll bring to the world stories of local grassroots climate heroes.
Flavia Lopes, India 
Flavia Lopes is environment reporter with IndiaSpend, a data news platform based in India. She has previously written for Wire, Article 12, BehanBox and was a mobile journalism fellow with Internews and a media fellow with Rising Flame. She is also a graduate of Conflict Studies from London School of Economics.
When not working on stories, you can find her cooking, journaling or learning new languages. Currently, she is trying her luck with Farsi.
Read Flavia’s previous work:
As a climate journalist, my objective is to highlight how climate change interacts with social system, privilege and embedded injustices along the lines of caste, gender, class and region.
Flavia Lopes
Charley Piringi, Solomon Islands
Charley is an environmental journalist with an emphasis on investigative journalism. He was involved in the production of mainstream media for 10 years and before deciding to start his journey as a multimedia freelance journalist.
Charley graduated with a BSc. degree in Communication Arts (journalism) from Divine Word University in Papua New Guinea. He spent years dedicated to covering climate change and environmental related stories.
Read Charley’s previous work:
Vanishing islands, climate refugees, food security threats, and natural disasters are some of the climate experiences we face in the Solomon Islands. They’re worsened when corruption and poverty levels are so high to the point of almost crippling the country.
Charley Piringi
Colline Saabwe, Uganda
Colline is a a climate enthusiast, activist, farmer and communicator
Through the Climate Action Network Uganda space, he has been generating and contributing content to influence the local national policy space through an innovative and accelerated process combining audio-visual stories, dialogue and knowledge exchange that brings together the civil society and decision-makers.
Read Charley’s previous work:
Climate journalism seems new in Uganda and therefore there is need for more storytellers that can dig up the issues as they occur and can ably identify solutions from the communities and communicate about them to support learning and scaling up of the solutions.
Colline Saabwe
Marcela Martins, Brasil
Marcela is a journalist, based in Brazil, with special interest in the environment and climate change. Currently, she is a reporter and TV presenter at Rede Minas, and a Public Science Communication postgrad student at the Federal University of Minas Gerais.
For the past seven years, she’s been covering environmental issues, with a focus on mining impacts, and she’s produced dozens of reports about themes such as traditional and indigenous knowledge and conservation projects. She’s also the director of a short film, “Amazon Rainforest TV”, and a writer, author of the novel “O nome do Lobo” (The wolf’s name).
Evandro Almeida, Brasil
He’s a mobile journalist born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brasil. Former Fellow in Dart Center (Columbia University) and Youth Climate Leaders; also Economic Trainee for Estado de Sao Paulo and member of #RedLATAM for Distintas Latitudes.
Evandro’s worked in the TV Band in Google News Initiative, as text editor in TV Record, and interned in Municipal Parliament of São Paulo.
He’s the digital editor for TV Band producing and editing reports, podcasts, and video programmes.
Looking forward to the stories each of these great writers will create!