(Photo: Vlad Sokhin) I’ve been travelling and storytelling from Papua New Guinea since 2009. I first visited for The Age/SMH, reporting on the catastrophic maternal death rate, and on the impacts of the then new and much hyped ExxonMobil-lead PNGLNG project in the highlands. On numerous return visits, I’ve circled back often to go deeper …
(Photograph: Angela Wylie) Over much of the past 15 years or so, I imagined I had developed two main ‘streams’ of storytelling expertise and networks. One could be broadly categorised as human rights, encompassing stories on health, disease, women and children, aid and development; the other was on climate science, often tracking scientists to their …
It’s always a thrill to have my work included in this fabulous annual anthology published by NewSouth press. Now in its 13th year, this is the eighth edition where I’ve been lucky enough make an appearance – seven as a storyteller, one as editor. As a special bonus this year, one of my recent students … Continue reading
Absolutely thrilled to be announced as a finalist for the 2023 Australia Museum Eureka Prizes – the Oscars of science! – in the science journalism category. The nomination is for a story that has been a big part of my reporting life over many years – the quest for the million year ice core: Buried … Continue reading
“It strikes me, after 14 years (on and off) reporting from all over PNG, that climate damage is the most tangible return many grassroots people have ever known on those gazillions of gallons of extracted fossil-fuel wealth.” I spent a couple of weeks last year visiting three villages in PNG dealing with climate impacts – … Continue reading
Last month, a Queensland archeology professor and his three PNG colleagues, all women, were kidnapped from their field site in remote Western Province and held for ransom. PNG Prime Minister James Marape described the hostage-taking as unprecedented, a “random, opportunistic crime”, but there’s rather more to it. The backstory is interwoven with political, economic and … Continue reading
I was lucky to make a couple of reporting trips back to PNG in 2022. One visit coincided with the 2022 election & produced a couple of pieces for The Guardian about women candidates and the push for women’s representation. I came back with lots of thoughts swirling on a decade of conversations on women … Continue reading
UPDATE: Tune into ABC RN Big Ideas on 23 November for a discussion on this! In 2007 and again in 2008/09 I was lucky enough to spend time in Antarctica researching stories on Australia’s scientific work there, reporting on changes to the polar ice and Southern Ocean, and what they can tell us about our … Continue reading
I returned to PNG in September – thanks to the Walkley Foundation/Sean Dorney Pacific Journalism Grant – to collect field reports and interviews for a forthcoming story for The Monthly on climate justice. But as always in PNG, I came across so many other urgent and important stories. This was one of them. I was … Continue reading
Belatedly catching up posting some of my recent work. This was the second report I filed for The Guardian during a reporting trip to PNG during the 2022 election. I was excited and gratified to be able to interview both the successful women – the new Central Governor Rufina Peter and MP for Rai Coast … Continue reading
It was great to get back on the road reporting in July, and even better to be in Papua New Guinea after three years absence. Nearly 10 years ago, I wrote a long reportage piece for Griffith Review on the push for female representation, and the formidable obstacles female candidates face. Then, there were three … Continue reading
In December I was asked by The Guardian to investigate Papua New Guinea’s frighteningly low vaccination rate – among the lowest in the world. As with everything in PNG, it’s complicated. And difficult to get across from my home office in Melbourne. But with the help of a collection of experts in health and society, … Continue reading
Notebook & Narrative by Jo Chandler 