Journalism and Writing

How trees and forests reduce risks from climate change

Across the globe, increasing tree cover is a popular solution to offset carbon emissions. Replenishing trees is only part of the answer, and scientists seek an increased role as part of a multi-layered policy approach.

Meta, Colombia. Photo by Lisa Palmer

Published in Nature Climate Change, May 2021.

Finding Peace:

Displaced and disenfranchised by decades of war, some Colombians are rebuilding their lives—and their forests—through ranching.

RED-LETTER DAY As part of a reparations program, the Colombian government offered Mercedes Murillo Gutierrez a parcel of scrubland to farm. © Juan Arredondo

Published in Nature Conservancy, May 30, 2020


Hacking Conservation

Alex Dehgan leads the technology non-profit Conservation X Labs from Washington DC. Credit: Stephen Voss for Nature

Published in Nature, May 30, 2019


One meal a day

Photograph by Chris De Bode

Published in The New Republic, July 2017


Urban Agriculture growth in U.S. cities

Published in Nature Sustainability, January 8, 2018


Adding power to the value of trees

Published in Nature Energy, April 11, 2017


‘It’s a perverse system’: How Colombia’s farmers are reforesting their logged land

Published in The Guardian, December 29, 2017


The next water cycle

Published in Nature Climate Change, October 29, 2014

Colombia finds hope for saving its wild lands.

Published in E360, October 25, 2017.


 A new climate for grazing livestock.

Published in Nature Climate Change, May 8, 2014

New Security Beat (Feb. 12, 2020). To Envision a More Sustainable Future, Tell the Story of Conservation Technology.  

https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2020/02/envision-sustainable-future-story-conservation-technology/

Mongabay (August 15, 2019). Precision conservation: High tech to the rescue in the Peruvian Amazon. 

https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/precision-conservation-high-tech-to-the-rescue-in-the-peruvian-amazon/


Hot, Hungry Planet: The Fight to Stop a Global Food Crisis in the Face of Climate Change

The U.N. predicts the Earth will have more than 9.6 billion people by 2050. With resources already scarce, how will we feed them all? Journalist Lisa Palmer has traveled the world for years, documenting the cutting-edge innovations of people and organizations on the front lines of fighting the food gap. Here, she shares the story of the epic journey to solve the imperfect relationship between two of our planet’s greatest challenges: climate change and global hunger.

“This lively, concise book is packed with practical and often surprising ideas for meeting the
profound challenges of global food scarcity. Lisa Palmer is a clear-eyed realist, but her fascinating tour of our Hot Hungry Planet will leave you more optimistic than you may have
thought possible.”

— Dan Fagin, Pulitzer-prize-winning author of Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation


See additional writing selections here.