Alina is a Wellington-based writer, narrative strategist, and storyteller specialising in the impact space. Focused on human-centric stories, she is passionate about the use of narrative and story to support systems-level change across a number of sectors and industries. Prior to late 2019, she worked with the Edmund Hillary Fellowship team for five years to help develop the programme and tell the stories of the 200+ global impact Fellows in the community. Alina has worked in communications across government, business, the NGO sector, social enterprise, and the arts. She is a NZ national poetry slam winner under the alias Ali Jacs, and is currently in the midst of writing her first book, on storytelling for impact.
Alison McCulloch is a writer and former journalist. She has worked at newspapers in New Zealand and the United States, including seven years as a staff editor at The New York Times. She is the author of "Fighting to Choose: The Abortion Rights Struggle in New Zealand" (Victoria University Press, 2013). Alison was previously Editor of the Scoop Review of Books.
Dr Betsan Martin is currently leading a NZ Law Foundation research project on freshwater water governance to bring the Waitangi Tribunal recommendations of freshwater into effect. The focus is on a Commission, Māori interests and title to water, allocation and the water economy. She has a long engagement with Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Betsan’s academic studies in ethics and philosophy bring ‘responsability’ into focus for justice to strengthen relationship and accountability and bridge the separations between people and nature. She is chair of the international Alliance for Responsible and Interdependent Societies. Along with research and publishing, Betsan works with Public Issues and an ecumenical climate justice network in Aotearoa New Zealand
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Michael Pringle is a Wellington-based writer, researcher and environmental advocate.
He is a researcher and archivist in environmental history, biodiversity and current events. Michael is a researcher for environment-related publications and oral histories associated with the green movement. He has published newsletters for NGO’s. His writing spans contemporary issues in Aotearoa New Zealand, always mindful of the global dimensions of climate change, the biodiversity crisis and COVID-19 recovery.
When not engaged in formal research in New Zealand his literary interests extend to Asia. Literature, history, gardening and long walks are his favourites, along with keeping RadioNZ’s Concert programme on air.
Rogue journalist. Bogan socialist. Anarcho-psychonaut. Guerilla poet. Utopia prepper. Proudly 100 percent reader-funded through Patreon and Paypal. Much work done with assistance from soulmate/brother-in-arms/co-conspirator Tim Foley.
Read Caitlin’s articles on Medium here or on Steemit here, follow her on Twitter here, and follow her on Facebook here. You can also subscribe to this website’s mailing list here.
If you would like to support Caitlin, you can share her articles around, buy her book, or throw some coin in her hat on Patreon or Paypal.
Shine on.
Charles Eisenstein is a teacher, speaker, and writer focusing on themes of civilization, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolution. He is the author of several books including The Ascent of Humanity, Sacred Economics, The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible and Climate - A New Story.
Dave Hansford is an award-winning writer and photographer based in Nelson, specialising in science and environment issues. He spent 14 years as a press photographer before turning to freelance writing in 2002.
He has worked as a science reporter for National Geographic News and environment writer and columnist on The Listener, and in 2012, had a regular environment slot on TVNZ’s Good Morning show. His writing and photography has also appeared in North and South, Good, NZ Business, BBC Wildlife, Australia Nature, Action Asia, Destinations, Wilderness, Forest & Bird and Seafood magazines, as well as newspapers around the world.
He worked as an editor on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 5th Assessment Report, and between 2010 and 2013, edited NIWA’s Water & Atmosphere magazine.
He currently writes mostly for New Zealand Geographic magazine, where he pens a regular science column, Life. When he’s not working (even when he is) he enjoys tramping, climbing, mountain biking, kayaking and diving.
In 2016, he published his first book, Protecting Paradise; an examination of the science and mythology around 1080, and the psycho-social phenomena it engenders.
He recently received a Queen’s Service Medal for services to the environment.
Dr Thomas Owen is a writer, teacher, researcher and filmmaker in Communication Studies at Auckland University of Technology. He teaches papers in 'Global Crises and the Media' and 'Intercultural Communication,' and is the author of the book 'Patents, Pills and the Press' about the global HIV/AIDS medicines crisis. Thomas divides his time between homes in Auckland, New Zealand, and Dawson City, Yukon, Canada.
Ellen Rykers is an award-winning journalist curious about all things scientifically weird and wonderful. Her work has taken her from the tropical rainforest of northern Australia to the icy shores of Antarctica. Ellen's pieces have appeared in New Zealand Geographic, National Geographic and North & South, among other publications. When not putting pen to paper (or fingertips to keys), she spends her time traveling the world with her hiking boots.
Glen Johnson is a New Zealand journalist who has worked as a foreign correspondent for 14 years, predominantly out of the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe. His work has appeared in The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Vice, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Reuters, Le Monde Diplomatique, Balkan Insight, Al Jazeera, The New Zealand Herald and Metro among others. He first wrote for Scoop while a graduate journalism student at Canterbury University in 2008.
I am a former British Army political officer in the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman. During this posting I realised that though I might still believe in my country when right, I could no longer believe in it when wrong. I resigned my commission and took a degree in Politics and International Relations. I and my wife established a school of language in New York primarily for international diplomats and aid workers. In 1985, after ten years, we moved to Marlborough, where we established a fruit distillery. In the early 2000's, Not wanting our grandchildren to live in a world in which economic and armed might is uninhibited by the rule of international law, I again became politicised and began writing a blog on international affairs at www.khakispecs.com. My blog is mainly concerned with politics & international relations written by someone who has set out to discover why the world is so stuffed and if anything can be done to ameliorate its condition. In 2019 I also launched Paddle Now (https://paddlenow.org.nz/) an organisation promoting the international coordination of organised activists to paddle together in order to get the raft to the safe bank of the river upstream from the looming disaster.
Ian Powell is the editor of the health systems blog 'Otaihanga Second Opinion.' He is also a columnist for New Zealand Doctor, occasional columnist for the Sunday Star Times, and contributor to the Victoria University hosted Democracy Project. For over 30 years , until December 2019, he was the Executive Director of Salaried Medical Salaried Medical Specialists, the union representing senior doctors and dentists in New Zealand.
He has an MA in History and Political Science from the University of Canterbury and a Diploma of Industrial Relations from Victoria University of Wellington.
Jack Santa Barbara, Ph.D. is a retired CEO, academic, environmental and peace activist, and philanthropist. He has had a long-standing interest in energy issues and involvement with various NGOs dedicated to strong sustainability and social justice issues.
Jack is an energy consultant and professional engineer, specialising in industrial energy management and sustainability. He is a registered member of Engineering New Zealand (MEngNZ). With sustainability as a focus, Jack enjoys optimizing mechanical/thermal systems and working with teams to solve complex energy and engineering problems across the industrial sector.
Jade Kake (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whakaue, Te Whakatōhea) is an architectural / urban designer, researcher and housing advocate. Jade’s research interests include decolonisation, the re-establishment of papakāinga / kāinga (villages), indigenising urban spaces through kaupapa Māori urban design, and mobilising effective responses to Māori housing and homelessness issues. Jade has experience as a volunteer technical kaimahi for Whangārei hapū (Indigenous subtribes) on sovereignty and Treaty settlement matters, and as a systems advocate for Māori housing at a National level.
Jeremy is a Wellington based journalist and broadcaster. He worked as a producer/presenter on RNZ's Mediawatch and Ideas programmes, co-founded the worker-owned City Voice newspaper in Wellington in the '90s, and has a long association with Scoop Publishing. Email: jeremyrosenz[at]icloud.com
Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw is a public policy and public narrative researcher. She has held roles across academic, government and non-government organisations translating knowledge, and working to get evidence for collective wellbeing at the heart of decision making. She has a PhD in Health Psychology from Victoria University and is the author of A Matter of Fact. Talking Truth in a Post-Truth World a BWB text. Jess is co-director of The Workshop, a research organisation in Aotearoa New Zealand that uses scientific methods to find narrative strategies that deepen people’s thinking about complex issues and their policy solutions.
Jon is a software developer who wants to see humans come back into balance with natural ecosystems. He became a climate activist back in 2007 and has been looking for answers since then. These days, he is often exploring questions around the role of technology in society and how to live well in this time. He is also interested in how we can change our food system to restore the land. Originally from Britain, Jon now lives in Victoria, Australia and is a contributor to the Enspiral network. He is happiest when he's outside rock climbing.
Joseph is Co-editor of Scoop and Editor of The Dig. Joseph is an editor, writer, and social entrepreneur with an interest in open and participatory media and business models. In 2019, Joseph founded The Dig.
Joseph has qualifications in law and anthropology and previously practiced as a lawyer in the Immigration and Human Rights field. He is now applying this background to the practice of ‘reverse anthropology’ using a framing of indigenous worldviews to deconstruct the dominant worldviews and cultural myths of Western society.
Joseph has a longstanding interest in the commons, participatory democracy, social justice, and human rights. He was a co-founder, and founding Director of ActionStation Aotearoa - now NZ’s largest online movement-building organisation. Joseph is also a Director of Freerange Publishing Cooperative, and a long-time contributor to Enspiral - a non-hierarchical collective of freelancers and ventures dedicated to collaborative business practice and purpose-driven enterprise.
He lives in beautiful Taranaki and enjoys watersports, permaculture, tai chi, music, and being in nature.
Manqing is a Doctoral Researcher in Politics and International Relations at University of Auckland; Former Visiting Researcher with The New Zealand Centre at Peking University; Master in International Affairs from Pennsylvania State University, USA; Former Researcher at the Center for Political-Military Analysis, Hudson Institute , Washington, D.C. USA; Former Economic Affairs Researcher at United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Bangkok, Thailand.
Max Rashbrooke is a Wellington-based writer with twin interests in economic inequality and democratic participation, and is currently the 2020 J. D. Stout Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington. He is the author of Government for the Public Good: The Surprising Science of Large-Scale Collective Action, published by Bridget Williams Books (BWB) in September 2018. He is also the author of Wealth and New Zealand, and edited the best-selling work Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis. He is a senior associate of the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, his work appears in outlets such as the Guardian and Prospect magazine, and he is a regular commentator in the New Zealand media.
Murray Grimwood is a hands-on environmentalist, and minimalist. He saw the ‘limits to growth’ coming a long time ago. He was advocating getting ready for sustainability as a County Councillor from 1986, and as a representative at Regional level (C.N.O.U.C.). He has been a Co-ordinator of Environment Access, a member of the Hawkdun Land Management Comittee and deputy-Chair of Sustainable Dunedin City.
Murray writes the occasional op/ed piece, and a monthly column (The Good Life) in The Shed Magazine. He has been involved in various committees from ‘Keep Dunedin Beautiful’ through ‘Dunedin Planning ‘ to ‘Dunedin and Districts Road Safety’. He is a past member of the International Human Powered Vehicle Association (and still an enthusiast).
He and partner Jennie live in a passive-solar, off-grid house built from recycled materials. They grow timber trees, orchard trees, and vegetables on their 60-acre block. They are constantly striving for self-sufficiency. Currently, they are setting up a formal framework whereby they can share the land with younger folk, a logical extension of that thinking.
Murray sails a bit, teaches sailing a bit, writes a bit, never stops inventing, and has a lot of unfinished projects.
PhD (Southampton), MA (Warwick), BAHons (Lancaster). Robert is one of the University of Otago’s inaugural Sesquicentennial Distinguished Chairs and his research interests concern international relations, global security, US foreign policy, great powers, and the Horn of Africa. He served as an editor for International Studies Perspectives (2010-14) and Head of Department of Politics (2013-16). Robert is the author or editor of 12 books. Publications include Strategic Shortfall: The ‘Somalia Syndrome’ and the March to 9/11 (Praeger, 2010), co-edited books titled China and the International System: Becoming a World Power (Routledge, 2013); Science Diplomacy: New Day or False Dawn? (World Scientific Publishers, 2015) and New Zealand and the World: Past, Present and Future (World Scientific Publishers, 2018). Robert is currently writing a volume called Rethinking the Global Impact of 9/11 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). He is a Fulbright Senior Scholar, an Honorary Professor of the New Zealand Defence Command and Staff College, and provides regular contributions to the national and international media on global issues and events.
Social Documentary / Visual Ethnography.
Todd Henry is a documentary photographer, photojournalist, and visual storyteller. He is interested in capturing visual content that examines various aspects of our society that we often take for granted.
In his approach to photography, Todd has a strong focus on the accuracy of the visual representations he creates of individuals, communities, and places. Todd aims to convey his perspective of the world and appreciation of culture through the lens of his camera and on to those who view his photographs.
Current location: Auckland, New Zealand.
Available for assignments worldwide.
Veronika Meduna is an award-winning science writer and broadcaster. In her role as producer/presenter of RNZ's science programme Our Changing World (2005-2016) she told hundreds of stories about science and its social relevance and impact. During her 15 years with RNZ, she worked in news, the parliamentary gallery, for current affairs programmes and in spoken features, on air and online. She contributes to publications in New Zealand, including the NZ Listener, NZ Geographic, The Spinoff and RNZ, as well as overseas, including Deutsche Welle, the ABC and New Scientist. She has written seven books and developed exhibitions, most recently focusing on climate change research in Antarctica. Her work has earned several grants and awards, including the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union's best documentary prize and the Elsie Locke Award for non-fiction. Her book, Science on Ice, was a finalist for the 2013 Royal Society of New Zealand Science Book Prize.
