I am a freelance reporter, editor, and storyteller since 2007. While I started my career as a science journalist, over the years I became more interested in how natural and social phenomena are interlinked. Originally trained in chemistry, I studied journalism and sociology andobtained a MA in Changing Societies at the University of Basel.
I have reported about aquaponic projects in Amman, slum upgrading in Johannesburg, devastating droughts in California, ecotourismand ethnic minority rights in Ecuador, Chinas megaprojects in Ethiopia, the challenge of urban development in Mali and environmental activism and political turmoil in Myanmar. Sometimes I also work as a photojournalist and visualize stories myself.
I regularly report about science, society, and environment for different magazines, newspapers, online platforms, and podcasts. My reporting appeared in GEO, Spiegel Online, der Standard, NZZ, NZZ am Sonntag, SRF, WOZ, swissinfo.ch, The Myanmar Times, Horizonte, Globe, and UniNova. Since 2018, I am part of the editorial team of “One World”, the magazine of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
In 2022, I was awarded the “Prix Média” from the “Swiss Academy of Sciences” (SCNAT) for outstanding science journalism and in 2023 I was nominated for the “European Science Journalist of the Year Award”. My 3-piece radio feature about everyday Ethio-Chinese relations in Addis Ababa was shortlisted for the 2019 “real 21” media price for outstanding reporting in the global south. My reporting was supported by “real21-Medienfonds”, the “SwissAssociation of Science Journalism” (SASJ) and the “Gebert Rüf Foundation”.
Besides writing for different media, I develop and produce documentary films, 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. 2017, I wrote and co-produced a 55-minutes documentary film about environmental destruction and communal ecotourism in the Ecuadorian Amazon (Die Friedensköche am Rio Napo). It has been shown at over 20 festivals throughout the world and was 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