Letters on the Plastics Treaty
Ahead of the negotiations for a new global Plastics Treaty, I teamed up with group of scientists and co-authored two letters published in the journal Science calling for a cap on production and the full inclusion of chemicals. You can find our letters here (production cap) and here (chemicals). I also co-authored a letter to the journal Science of The Total Environment calling for a ban of cigarette filters, which are among the top polluting items found on beaches around the world. You can read it here (cigarette filters).
Voice-Over: Gender podcast
So honored to speak the voice-over for Alba Rueda, Undersecretary for Diversity Policy at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Argentina, in this podcast by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, produced by Kevin Caners:
Plastic pollution needs more than voluntary, optional or market-led solutions
Read our opinion essay at Environmental Health News
Book Review (Undark): Coming to Grips With the Plastic Crisis
In “Thicker Than Water,” journalist Erica Cirino probes the history of plastic pollution, along with possible solutions. Read my review >
Plastisphere Podcast
Follow me on a journey into the world of synthetic polymers, their impacts on nature and ourselves, and the global quest to tackle plastic pollution. Listen here:
Podcast on Soil Ecology
Our podcast Life in the Soil brings you the insights and voices of some of the world’s best soil scientists. Learn about soil biodiversity, why it matters, and how we can protect it. The series is a collaboration with the Rillig Lab, funded through the BiodivERsA project Digging Deeper.
Are bioplastics a greener alternative to conventional plastics?
Confusion among terms like bioplastics, bio-based and biodegradable plastics makes it hard to discern — and make — the environmentally responsible choice. Article on Ensia, republished by Undark Magazine, The Revelator, The Wire, and others.
In Schleswig for Undark
Schleswig is a small town in the North of Germany. This spring, a major plastic leak there sparked a debate in Germany: Can a circular economy include shredding food waste and packaging together? For Undark, I went to Schleswig to find out what had happened:
For the sake of science, it’s time to break ranks
Researchers call for a change in evaluation to recognise the importance of reproducibility. Bibliometric indicators that reward scientists for publishing frequently in high-ranked journals — but not for making their methods accessible — are a major cause of the reproducibility crisis, researchers agreed at the latest EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF). Read my article in Nature …
Ensia Best of Year
My long-read „What will it take to get plastics out of the oceans?“ featured in the „Ensia Best of Year“ print edition (online on Issuu)
Equality or Excellence?
Germany’s Excellence Initiative was highly debated. With its successor approved, scientists are asking whether equality and scientific freedom can be preserved in a world of competition. Read my article in Nature Outlook
Knight Science Journalism Fellowship
Together with nine Fellows from Argentina, Canada and the U.S., I spent nine months as a 2015-16 Knight Science Journalism Fellow in Cambridge on the U.S. East Coast. Above our graduation day, with (left to right): KSJ Founding Director Victor McElheny, Ashley Smart, Courtney Humphries, Christopher Ketcham, Zack Colman, Sasha Chapman, Federico Kukso, Rod McCullom, …
Sasha Chapman underwater
This winter, MIT physicist Allan Adams and underwater photographer Keith Ellenbogen teamed up to turn a coral reef into their classroom. It was an experience Sasha Chapman, one of their students, will never forget.
Underwater Emergency Exits
Daniel Stepputtis of the Thünen Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries explains how to reduce bycatch with smarter fishing nets.
What will it take to get plastics out of the ocean?
From drones to filters to gigantic cleaning arrays, innovators are working to reduce the threat thousands of tons of trash pose to marine ecosystems. But how realistic are their plans, and how much of a difference will they be able to make? Read my article on Ensia An Earth Journalism Network Future Oceans Story, re-published …
Solar pilots: Piccard and Borschberg
My interview with André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard on flying a solar airplane, their tour around the world, and how their technology could advance sustainable progress on the ground.
Transition Struggles
Italian journalists Silvia Giannelli, Elena Roda, and I teamed up for a joint project on the energy transition in our countries. The research was co-funded by the Council of Europe’s Mediane program, allowing us to conduct interviews in both Italy and Germany. Here you can read about the outcome of our research: RTCC: The energy …
The Climate News Mosaic
The Climate News Mosaic was a collaborative project of journalists from around the world to report on climate issues. During the COP-19 and COP-21 United Nations Climate Change Conferences in Warsaw and Paris we ran a daily live blog
Bandi Mbubi on Conflict Coltan
„There’s nothing wrong with the technology. But we have to ensure that we are not financing the war“. Tantalum is extracted from coltan and used in mobile phones. One of the places where the raw material is mined is the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire. Here Bandi Mbubi spent the first 21 …
Rodolfo Soler on Saving IT Energy
Rodolfo Soler is a 23-year old mechanical engineer from Spain specializing in thermal power plants. He believes that we waste a lot of energy by failing to chose the right devices for the tasks we want to perform: For simple tasks like browsing the web or watching a video, we don’t need powerful computers …
Nikolai Maximenko and Gisela Speidel on Plastic in the Oceans
In early 2011, I had the chance to meet with Nikolai Maximenko and Jan Hafner, oceanographers at the International Pacific Research Center in Hawai’i, and talk to them about the problem of marine debris and plastic trash in the oceans.
Wikimedia Chapters Meeting 2012 – Mod
Das Wikimedia Chapters Meeting war in diesem Jahr ziemlich politisch. Es ging nämlich ums Geld. Zeit Online hat eine gute Zusammenfassung zu der hitzigen Debatte: Trägervereine der Wikipedia rangeln um Macht. Anna Lena Schiller und ich haben als Facilitator durch die Konferenz geleitet.
Megan Lamson on Plastic Debris at Kamilo Beach, Hawai’i
In March 2011, I interviewed marine biologist Megan Lamson, who works for the Hawai’i Wildlife Fund and organizes beach cleanups at Kamilo Beach at Ka’alu’alu Bay. Some of these quotes were used in this German radio feature. Here are the snippets without German voice-over.
Improving the Aid Sector With Open Data
Interview with Peter Eigen of Transparency International at Open Aid Data Conference 2011 in Berlin Mr. Eigen, how can Open Data, opening up data treasures, improve the development sector? Peter Eigen: At Transparency International we’ve observed that countries with an open approach to information, like the Scandinavian countries, rank in the upper spheres of our …
Noha Atef on her blog Tortureinegypt.net
(Part 2 on netzdebatte)
Facilitating Wikimedia Chapters Meeting 2011
One of the main topics this year’s Wikimedia Chapters Meeting in Berlin was the so-called editor trends study on decreasing editor retention. It takes an in-depth look at the fact that people today tend to stay less longer in the community than when Wikipedia was still young. New editors get more easily frustrated than in …
Ideas are nothing: Erik Hersman and Ken Banks
The crowdmapping plattform Ushahidi has become quite well-known after its application in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. Ushahidi software is now used allover the world. Erik Hersman, left, co-founded the project and is currently its Director of Operations. Ken Banks on the other side of the table invented FrontlineSMS, a bulk-messaging tool for texting …
Moderation of Wikimedia Chapters Meeting 2010
Wikimedia is an institution connected to the world’s biggest online encyclopedia, the Wikipedia. The organization takes care of press relations, raises and distributes funds, promotes Wikipedia through events, and more. This year, Wikimedia Chapters from all around the world and the Wikimedia Foundation from San Francisco met in Berlin for their annual Chapters Meeting. Together …
Jay Cousins: The Inventor
Jay Cousins is a 30-year-old inventor. His „talk to me about…“ bubbles (#lbubbles) used at Palomar5 represent his philosophy: Human over tech.
Rana Jarbou: The Retired Banker
Rana Jarbou is a 28-year-old retired banker from Saudi Arabia. She recently quit her job in London because she felt there was something wrong with the system. Now she has sworn never to do anything anymore for the sole purpose of making money.
Hank Rossi: The Time Traveller
Hank Rossi brought his time machine to Palomar5. He tells you what happens if you travel a trillion years into the future. And proposes a three-day weekend to promote a better work-life-balance.
Research for short doc: 1989, the year that changed Europe
1989 was the year that changed Europe. 20 years later, filmmaker Patrick Becker revisits Central and Eastern Europe, to interview those at the forefront of change, from students to border guards. I contributed the eyewitness research for the Berlin episode.