With nearly 20 years' experience as a journalist, writer, policy advisor, and communications consultant and with two highly regarded books under my belt, I can offer a wealth of research, editorial and communications services for organizations and individuals in the development, non-governmental and intergovernmental fields. Previous and current clients include the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations, the European Union, the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, and the International Commission on Missing Persons. Please browse my website or contact me for my resume to find out more, and explore my areas of expertise and consultancy services below.
Research
Within my fields of expertise, I can offer policy advice, advocacy, and research services, producing reports and papers of the highest quality which draw on my in-depth knowledge in these fields and my many years of writing and editorial experience. My fields of expertise in which I can conduct original research and advocacy include migration, refugees,
climate and migration, human rights, European politics, conflict resolution, and all forms of extremism. You can read more about my areas of expertise below.
Editorial
I can provide writing and editorial services across all subject matters, responding quickly and professionally to any brief across many mediums. I have a wealth of experience writing op-eds, and am able assist in the authoring, structuring and pitching of opinion pieces. Other services include producing concise, attention-grabbing press releases and other communications materials. I am also happy to assist in the writing and editing of reports, and have many years' experience writing copy for websites and other online platforms.
Communications
With nearly 20 years experience in journalism, including a number of positions on editorial desks, I excel at recognizing angles which grab the attention of the media, and can use this knowledge to help clients forge memorable media campaigns which get to the heart of an issue. I can offer a range of consultancy services in this area, from collaborating in devising an overall media strategy, identifying key media-friendly messages from reports and other materials, and authoring press releases and related communications copy.
Areas of expertise
My work has taken me to many corners of the world to cover a huge variety of subjects, but throughout my career I have strived to focus on the human impact of the issues of the day and gravitated towards stories on human rights, conflict resolution and development. My early years working in Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar sparked my interest in these themes, and this continued as I covered the conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2018, and later the Syrian civil war and Arab Spring. Writing about migration and refugee policy was a natural continuation of these interests, and in 2016 I published my first book, Cast Away: Stories of Survival from Europe’s Refugee Crisis. I continue to follow migration and refugee-related issues closely and have a particular interest in climate change and migration.
Observing the growing backlash against refugees and rising support for divisive political parties led to another key area of research and expertise, extremism. My new book, Far Out: Encounters with Extremists will be published in Spring 2022 and examines the underlying causes of extremism in society today, looking at case studies from the far right, Islamist extremism and the far left. Underlying my work is a desire to examine the human motives behind the headline-grabbing phenomena of the day, with the view to forging a more tolerant and just society for all.