Ochieng' Ogodo's Page

What is your name?

Ochieng' Ogodo

What is your job title?

Media consultant and freelance journalist

What organisation do you work for?

Freelance

What aspects of biodiversity are you most interested in?

Access and benefit sharing, Agriculture, Biodiversity targets, Biotechnology, CBD negotiations, Communicating biodiversity, Climate change, Ecosystem services, Education, Endangered species, Forests, Invasive species, Poverty and biodiversity, Protected areas, Taxonomy, Trade and biodiversity, Traditional knowledge, Urban biodiversity, Wetlands

What languages do you speak?

English, Luo, Kiswahali

Please use this section to introduce yourself in more detail, adding any other relevant information not included in your previous answers. The site administrator will use this answer to decide whether to approve your membership

OCHIENG’ OGODO is an award winning Kenyan science journalist writing for local and international media. He is the English-speaking Africa and the Middle East region winner for the 2008 Reuters-IUCN Media Awards for Excellence in Environmental Reporting. As a journalist, his works have been published in various parts of the world including the UK, USA and Africa. Currently he is the Sub-Saharan Africa News Editor for Science and Development Network [Scidev] of UK, The Sunday Express [Kenya], Egypt based Islamonline. He is a correspondent for WeNews based in New York and a regular contributor to The Standard (Kenya) and New Agriculturalist based in UK.
He is also one of the blog authors for the World Conference of Science Journalists [WCSJ] that will be held in London from June 29-July 3, 2009
He ventured into journalism in 1996 at The East African Standard, one of the two leading media houses in Kenya and with good following in East Africa as well. At The Standard he worked at the News Desk which entailed rigorous reporting including news breaking based on assignments and personal initiatives.
From September 1999 to October 2003 he moved to the Investigative Desk as one of the few writers to the then widely read investigative pullout, The Big Issue. He comprehensively and extensively wrote on human interest issues, personality profiles, entertainment, transport and maritime. Ogodo did commentaries and analysis on major topical issues as well as undertaking Special Projects.
From October 1, 2003 to November 1, 2006 he was he was a staff writer with Biosafety News- a Nairobi based Science, Biotechnology, Health, Environment and Agriculture Magazine.
He was a Senior Staff Writer at Doctor News East Africa [Kenya] from September 2007 to June 2008. Among others, he has made contributions to The Guardian [UK] and Transport International Magazine (UK).
He has been to various international scientific forums. April 16-21, 2007 he attended the World Conference of Science Journalists, Melbourne and presented on Climate Change Reporting: The Developing Word Perspective.
October 15-21, 2005; he was in the World Media Team on the invitation of US Grains Council for the Tenth Biotech Harvest Media Tour in the US. He attended Land Ocean Interaction in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) open science congress in Egmond aan Nzee, Netherlands June 25-July 1, 2005 and presented a paper on the Media and Environmental Protection.
He won Panos London Fellowship to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Curitiba, Brazil from March 14-25, 2006 and another Panos London Fellowship to United Nations Framework on Convention on Climate Change in Nairobi, November 06-17, 2006. He is the chairman of Kenya Environment and Science Journalists Association.
He has attended Commonwealth Press Union (CPU) Environmental Reporting Training Course and Reuters Foundation training on environmental news writing, among others.