We are excited to wrap up the second edition of the Magma Environmental Reporting Fellowship, which took place online from Oct. 2025 to Jun. 2026 (Check out the previous edition).

During the program, nine selected journalists had the chance to enhance their environmental reporting and narrative writing skills while expanding their portfolios.

Fellows were introduced to Magma’s journalistic approach and the fundamentals of environmental, science and narrative journalism, including how to turn sources into compelling characters, work collaboratively and navigate the basics of freelancing. They also learned about the pillars of climate reporting from Covering Climate Now and gained insights into the major challenges facing the Mediterranean through webinars organized in collaboration with Copernicus Marine Service, Global Fishing Watch, RUIDO Photo, The Wild Line, TerraProject and the Society of Freelance Journalists.

At the same time, they had the opportunity to:

    • Receive mentoring and guidance from experienced independent journalists.
    • Master how to craft a compelling pitch and build relationships with new editors.
    • Obtain a small travel grant for their reporting.
    • Be published in Magma Magazine (More soon).
    • Expand their network and deepen their understanding of freelance journalism.
    • Become part of a growing professional network.
   

Fellows were divided into three small groups based on their interests, with each group assigned to a mentor. Throughout the program, groups received mentoring and editorial guidance as they covered pressing environmental issues and solutions across the Mediterranean region, with a particular focus on climate change. By the end of the program, each team had contributed to a digital issue of Magma Magazine (See previous editions). Their work will soon appear on Magma's website and in other media.

If you are a publication interested in exploring partnerships or collaborations, please reach out to info@magma-mag.net.

Host Editors and Mentors

Marta Vidal

Marta Vidal is an independent journalist focusing on social and environmental justice across the Mediterranean. Her work has been published in The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Washington Post, the BBC, Foreign Policy, Mongabay, among other publications. In 2023, she won the Gazeta Prize — the most prestigious journalism award in Portugal — and the UNESCO Journalism Award for Human Rights for her work on Palestinian birders. In 2024, her reporting on lithium mining in Portugal was shortlisted for the Fetisov Award for Excellence in Environmental Journalism.
Portfolio

Jonathan Moens

Jonathan Moens is an independent journalist based in Rome. He reports on science, global health, climate change, amongst other topics. His work has been published in National Geographic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Undark and more. In 2022, he won the American Society of Journalists and Authors Awards in the science category, and in 2023, he contributed to a series that won the National Association of Black Journalists award.
Portfolio
Linkedin
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Ottavia Spaggiari

Ottavia Spaggiari is an award-winning investigative journalist, longform writer and editor. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The New Yorker, Al Jazeera, The Nation and other publications, and has received international recognition, including the 2023 Amnesty International Media Award and an honorable mention for the 2025 Shaufler Prize. She currently serves as the Endowed Chair in Journalism at Florida A&M University.
Portfolio
Linkedin
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2025/2026 Fellows

Group 1 (mentored by Marta Vidal)

They focused on agriculture, climate change and farming futures.

Neal Haddaway

Neal Haddaway is a Portugal-based photographer and journalist with 20 years of experience covering environmental research. His practice combines visual storytelling with research and participatory ethnography. His work on the social and environmental costs of food systems and their supply chains has been published in magazines, including New Scientist and The Big Issue, featured in solo exhibitions at the UN Stockholm50+ conference and the Royal Geographical Society, and shortlisted for the Earth Photo Prize in 2023 and 2025.

Emerson Mendoza Ayala

Emerson Mendoza Ayala is a travel and environmental investigative journalist and audiovisual communicator from Spain, based between Seville and Lisbon. He specializes in solutions-focused environmental and climate change reporting in the Mediterranean region, and travel, culture and sustainability reporting across Europe and the world. He is a polyglot and multimedia journalist, and his work has been published in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese in Público, Wanderlust Magazine, Lonely Planet, Rough Guides and Ctxt, among other publications.
LinkedIn
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Tristan Bove

Tristan Bove is a freelance journalist and photographer based in Rome. His reporting on climate change, science and economics has been published with Al Jazeera, the Washington Post, BBC Wildlife and the Council on Foreign Relations, among other outlets. A Pulitzer Center grantee, he has reported internationally on climate disruption and solutions, including coverage of collapsing fisheries in Tanzania and extreme flooding in Sri Lanka. Before freelancing, he was a staff writer for Fortune Magazine in New York, where he reported on business, technology and geopolitics.
Portfolio
LinkedIn

Group 2 (mentored by Jonathan Moens)

They focused on rural areas and communities.

Lottie Watters

Lottie Watters is a producer and journalist based between London and Lisbon. She covers social and environmental issues, taking a solutions journalism approach to stories where possible. With experience living in and reporting from the U.K., Spain and Brazil, she has bylines in the BBC, Geographical Magazine, Devex and has worked on documentaries for National Geographic, Netflix, PBS and the BBC, among others.
Resulting stories:
VIDEO/Our grandparents planted these trees saying they would save us (Imagine5)

Ansley Evans

Ansley Evans is a freelance journalist, translator and educator based in Murcia, Spain. Her work reflects the topics that inspire her, mainly agricultural heritage and traditional foodways. She’s drawn to stories with a sense of place, rooted in geography, that reveal connections across cultures and time. She holds a bachelor's degree in Comparative Literature from Colorado College and a master’s degree in French from Portland State University. Originally from Florida, she has resided in the Mediterranean region since 2006 — first in Avignon, France, and now in Spain.
Resulting stories:
Coltivare tartufi del deserto in una Spagna sempre più arida (Lucy sui mondi)

Stefania D'Ignoti

Stefania D'Ignoti is an award-winning independent reporter covering the intersection of migration, conflict and the environment. Her work has been supported by several grants, fellowships and foundations, and has appeared in National Geographic, TIME, the BBC, the Washington Post and Al Jazeera English, among others. She's a Columbia Journalism School alumna and a Forbes Under 30 laureate.
Instagram

Group 3 (mentored by Ottavia Spaggiari)

They focused on coastal and marine issues.

Clea Skopeliti

Clea Skopeliti is a Madrid-based freelance reporter covering the environment, social affairs and disinformation. Her work has appeared in The Independent, Vice, The Observer, The i Paper, Prospect Magazine, and more. She was previously a community journalist at The Guardian.
Resulting stories:
Can we stop ships from killing the Mediterranean’s last great whales? (Mongabay)

Federica Rossi

Federica Rossi is a freelance journalist based in Rome. She covers climate change, the transition to green energy, self-sustaining communities, organized environmental movements, Mediterranean migratory routes and citizenship. Federica collaborates with the Italian daily newspaper Domani and her work has appeared in Euronews, Voxeurop, IRPIMedia, La Repubblica, L’Espresso, among other publications.
Resulting stories:
Can we stop ships from killing the Mediterranean’s last great whales? (Mongabay)

Wouter Massink

Wouter Massink is a freelance multimedia journalist primarily covering environmental issues and workers’ rights in Turkey and the wider region. His work has appeared in outlets such as Mongabay and Turkey recap.
Resulting stories:
Can we stop ships from killing the Mediterranean’s last great whales? (Mongabay)

Project Coordinator

Natalie Donback

Natalie Donback is a Barcelona-based journalist covering climate change, human rights and politics for various international publications. Her work has appeared in TIME Magazine, The Guardian, Grist, Hyphen, Rest of World, the BBC, and many other outlets. She was previously an editor and reporter at Devex, covering global health and the humanitarian sector.
Portfolio
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