We wanted to introduce you to our brilliant team of journalists and media experts who will be working together to produce lively, informative and dynamic radio productions throughout CSD-17.  

Richard Black is an environment correspondent with BBC News, working primarily for the website. He has held this post for about four years, following a long spell as science correspondent with World Service and a shorter one covering environmental issues for BBC national radio. Prior to that he produced and presented radio programmes covering science, environment and health, including co-founding the World Service strand One Planet, which marries environment and development issues. He has reported from major events such as the 2002 UNAIDS conference, 2005 UN World Summit, 2006 and 2008 UNFCCC conferences and the 2008 IUCN World Conservation Congress. He writes the BBC’s environment blog Earth Watch. Richard is married with two daughters and lives in London.

Felix Dodds is the Executive Director of Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future.  He has been active at the UN since 1990 attending the World Summits Rio, Habitat II, Rio+5, Beijing+5, Copenhagen+5, WSSD. He has also been to all the UN Commissions for Sustainable Development and UNEP Governing Council.  He has set up three global NGO coalitions for UN Conferences, Summits and Commissions these are the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (1993), the UN Habitat II (1995) the WHO Health and Environment Conference (1999). He co-chaired the NGO Coalition at the UN Commission on Sustainable Development from 1997 to 2001. He introduced Stakeholder Dialogues in 1996 through the UN General Assembly for Rio+5 and helped run some of the most successful ones at Bonn Water (2001) and Bonn Energy (2004).

Emily is a project manager at Stakeholder Forum where she specialises in engaging civil society and stakeholders at the international level of decision making, and communicating sustainable development to wider audiences.  Before joining SF she worked as a documentary-maker in television where she worked on any number of projects ranging from the ethics of stem cell science and the impact of malaria in Africa the theories behind ‘UFOlogy’.  Emily has a degree in English Literature from Balliol College, Oxford, and an MSc from the London School of Economics in International Development.  

Catherine is a radio journalist from Nairobi with an enduring interest in health and environment issues.  For the last three years Catherine has been working for Capital FM Nairobi as a Health and Science reporter, covering events such as World Conference of Science Journalists in Australia, the Africa Rice Congress in Tanzania and 12^th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Nairobi.  She has undergone professional journalism training and has a diploma in Journalism and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communication and Public Relations. Catherine has also benefitted from several short courses including the Reuters Foundation Course on Reporting Climate Change in Africa.

Merim Tenev is a radio and television journalist from Bulgaria.  His career began when, as a teenager, he started contributing to programmes on Bulgarian National Radio. Later, whilst studying Political and Social Sciences at the University of Panteion in Athens, he became a reporter for the Bulgarian Section of the BBC World Service in Greece. On his return to Bulgaria, Merim became a presenter and editor for the newsroom of the Bulgarian National Radio.  Merim is currently working as an editor on the International desk of Bulgaria’s television news channel, Re:TV

Madhyama Subramanian is an independent filmmaker and visual communication designer from New Delhi, India. She has over five years’ experience in documentary making and communications design and has a passion for socioeconomic, environmental and cultural issues. In the past she has worked for The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi as a producer and film editor, organising projects for organisations such as the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd and the Ministry of External Affairs. She has a graduate diploma in Design (GDPD) with a specialisation in Film and Video Communication from the National Institute of Design, (NID) Ahmedabad.

Armando Canchanya is the anchor of Peru´s principal radio news programme on RPP Noticias. Armando has over ten years’ experience of reporting Peruvian and international issues and has won prizes for his work. He studied journalism and law at university and has received training from the BBC World Service and the Japanese Foreign Press Centre. Recently his work has been included in an anthology produced by the Gabriel Garcia Marquez Journalism Foundation

Michael Strauss is Executive Director of Earth Media, an independent communications and political consultancy based in New York.  He has served as media coordinator for NGO coalitions at U.N. CSD meetings since 1992. As a journalist, he has covered impeachment hearings in the U.S. Congress; organic farming, education and the environment in Sweden and Denmark; the Green movement in Eastern and Western Europe; Mayoral campaigns in New York City; and corruption and housing issues in the South Bronx. He provided daily on-air commentary for South African Broadcasting Company [SABC] on the negotiations in Johannesburg during the World Summit on Sustainable Development. He has worked as a producer and been an interview guest on WNYC [radio and television] in New York, Pacifica radio, and public radio stations in the U.S.

Sharon Shattuck graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in environmental science and botany, and has worked in Panama as a research assistant with the Smithsonian Institution, and in Chicago as a conservation botanist with the Field Museum.  Also a musician and visual artist, she now attends New York University's graduate school of journalism for documentary film and radio.  In her career, she hopes to use her mishmash of talents to bridge the communication gap between scientists and the public in an entertaining, accessible way.

Brett Israel is a current M.A. student in the Science, Health & Environmental Reporting Program at NYU. Brett graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.S. in biochemistry and molecular biology. He was working on a Ph.D. at Emory University when he started covering science for the Emory student newspaper and discovered a greater passion for writing about science than performing experiments. Brett joined SHERP with a particular interest in sustainability and transportation. In his free time, he is an avid Atlanta sports fan and a public transit advocate.