I have been a freelance reporter, editor, and storyteller since 2007. Originally trained in chemistry, I studied journalism and social sciences and obtained an MA in Changing Societies at the University of Basel. As a science journalist, I have become increasingly interested over the years in how natural and social phenomena are linked.
I regularly report on science, society, and the environment for various magazines, newspapers, online platforms, and podcasts. My reporting has appeared in GEO, Spiegel Online, der Standard, NZZ, NZZ am Sonntag, SRF, WOZ, swissinfo.ch, The Myanmar Times, Horizonte, Globe, and UniNova. From 2018 to 2023, I was part of the editorial team of “One World”, the magazine produced for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
In 2022, I was awarded the “Prix Média” by the “Swiss Academy of Sciences” (SCNAT) for outstanding science journalism. In 2023, I was nominated for the “European Science Journalist of the Year Award”. My 3-part radio feature on everyday Ethiopian-Chinese relations in Addis Ababa was shortlisted for the 2019 “real 21” media price for outstanding reporting in the global south.
I have reported about aquaponic projects in Amman, slum upgrading in Johannesburg, a devastating drought in California, ecotourism and ethnic minority rights in Ecuador, China`s mega-projects in Ethiopia, the challenges of urban development in Mali, and environmental activism and political unrest in Myanmar. Sometimes I also work as a photo journalist, visualising stories myself.
As well as writing for different media, I develop and produce documentaries, podcasts, and web-based multimedia projects. In 2022, I co-produced a multimedia web feature in seven chapters on the issue of pandemic prevention and one health. In 2019, I co-founded “treibhaus – der klimapodcast” a monthly podcast about different aspects of the ongoing climate crisis. In 2017, I wrote and co-produced a 55-minute documentary about environmental destruction and community ecotourism in the Ecuadorian Amazon (Die Friedensköche am Rio Napo). It has been screened at over 20 festivals around the world and has been nominated for several awards. In 2021 and 2015, I co-produced short documentaries about civil society engagement during the historic climate conferences in Glasgow (Last Call!) and Paris (The Climate Changers).
Places
Werkraum Warteck
Burgweg 15
4058 Basel
Telefon 078 658 06 08
text@samuelschlaefli.ch