Journalism

I work as an editor and correspondent for BBC Future Planet, an online series featuring environmental and climate solutions. Before that, I edited BBC Family Tree, a BBC online series exploring the latest research on families, parenting and children's health and development around the world. I also write my own freelance features for various publications. Here's a selection of some stories I've enjoyed researching and writing. I hope you'll enjoy them, too!

How an English castle became a stork magnet (BBC Future Planet, April 2024)

How safe are ski lifts? Let's go and find out! (BBC Future Planet, January 2024)

The flying scientists saving rare birds: Storms, an eagle attack, emergency landings, and a unique bond: these scientists in ultra-light aircraft led a flight of endangered ibises on a 2,300km journey to their new winter sanctuary.  (BBC Future Planet, Dec 2023)

 
The plant kingdom's hidden half: The evolution of roots transformed life on Earth – and understanding them could help us to grow more resilient plants. (BBC Future, October 2022)
 
The messages that survived civilisation's collapse: The Sumerians, Maya and other ancient cultures created texts that have lasted hundreds and even thousands of years. Here's what they can teach us about crafting an immortal message. (BBC Future, August 2022)
 
The enduring power of Germany's 'school cones': Through wars and natural disasters, German parents have given their children sweet-filled cones to celebrate the start of school – and pass on a surprisingly powerful message. (BBC Future, December 2021)
 
In Quarantine, Kids Pick Up Parents’ Mother Tongues: For some families, the pandemic has meant a return to their native languages. (New York Times, September 2020)
 
Do Babies Cry in Different Languages? A pioneering German researcher decodes newborns’ cries. Here’s what they reveal. (New York Times, November 2019)
 
Why you should read this out loud: Most adults retreat into a personal, quiet world inside their heads when they are reading, but we may be missing out on some vital benefits when we do this. (BBC Future, September 2020)
 
Wire in the blood: Thirty years after the Wall fell, East German art is causing a stir (The Economist, October 2019)
 
The wildlife haven in a Cold War 'death strip': For decades they represented a no-go zone for people, but the walls and fences that divided Europe during the Cold War have left a surprising legacy. (BBC Future, August 2019)

The schoolgirls who defied the Stasi: 'Someone said, "What if we take him across the border?"' (The Guardian, May 2019)
 
Podcast: Smuggled over the border - the school trip, the Stasi and the East German defector (The Guardian, May 2019)

The power of our hidden senses (BBC Future, March 2019) 

This lab explores the secret world of babies (BBC Future, March 2018)
 
Black holes explained, by the woman who detected Einstein's gravitational waves (World Economic Forum, June 2016)
 
How the Thames was brought back from the dead (BBC Earth, November 2015)
 
The refugees housed at Dachau: 'Where else should I live?' (The Guardian, September 2015) 
 
The refugee mothers who risk it all to take their babies to safety (AlJazeera, September 2015)
 
"Germany is my mother and my father." Three Syrians who've made a new life in the West (The Independent, September 2015)
 
The spies who loved me: 25 years after German reunification, East Germans who were children and teens in the Stasi system confront their parents' role  (The Guardian, July 2015)