Article Publications
National Geographic: Members of Congress urge investigation into Okavango oil exploration
National Geographic reporting spurs a bipartisan call for “a thorough and coordinated investigation” by federal agencies. BY LAUREL NEME AND JEFFREY BARBEE PUBLISHED JUNE 23, 2021 8 MIN READ Two members of the United States Congress have sent a plea to the secretary of state, the attorney general, and other top officials urging a “thorough…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Oil exploration company in Okavango wilderness misled investors, complaint to SEC says
A whistleblower complaint to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cites “egregious” violations by ReconAfrica and executives. BY LAUREL NEME AND JEFFREY BARBEE PUBLISHED MAY 21, 2021 • 15 MIN READ ReconAfrica, a Canadian company exploring for oil and gas upstream of one of Africa’s most lush and wildlife-rich habitats, may have fraudulently misled investors…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Oil company exploring in sensitive elephant habitat accused of ignoring community concerns
Namibians allege ReconAfrica disposed of wastewater unsafely, without permits, and ignored concerns about potential impact of oil drilling on water and wildlife. BY JEFFREY BARBEE AND LAUREL NEME PUBLISHED MAY 11, 2021 • 12 MIN READ ReconAfrica, a Canadian company exploring for oil and gas in Namibia upstream of a world-famous UNESCO World Heritage site…
Read MoreMongabay.com: Life and new limbs: Creative thinking, 3D printers save injured wildlife
Beauty the eagle before and after the prosthetic beak. Image courtesy of Janie Veltkamp. Life and new limbs: Creative thinking, 3D printers save injured wildlife BY LAUREL NEME ON 5 MAY 2021 Prosthetics for injured animals are becoming increasingly possible and accessible thanks to 3D printing. Historically, artificial devices for wildlife have been expensive and very…
Read MoreThe New York Times for Kids Magazine: Vibe Check: How Animals Show They’re Happy
By Laurel Neme, illustrations by TKTKTK Published in the New York Times Kids Magazine, March 28, 2021 Read this story as a pdf – Vibe Check: How Animals Show They’re Happy
Read MoreNational Geographic: Test drilling for oil in Namibia’s Okavango region poses toxic risk
The petroleum exploration company ReconAfrica doesn’t appear to have taken what experts say is a key step to prevent contamination of groundwater. ANIMALS WILDLIFE WATCH BY JEFFREY BARBEE AND LAUREL NEME PUBLISHED MARCH 12, 2021 – NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 7 MIN READ The Canadian oil and gas company ReconAfrica began exploratory drilling in Namibia upstream…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Test drilling for oil and gas begins in Namibia’s Okavango region
This month, ReconAfrica’s multimillion-dollar drilling rig pierced a riverbed in elephant habitat some 160 miles from the wildlife-rich Okavango Delta. BY JEFFREY BARBEE AND LAUREL NEME PUBLISHED JANUARY 28, 2021 – National Geographic WALVIS BAY, NAMIBIAThe search for oil and gas in the watershed of the world-famous, wildlife-rich Okavango Delta moved one step closer to reality when a…
Read MoreNational Geographic: Oil Drilling, Possible Fracking Planned for Okavango Region—Elephants’ Last Stronghold
Hundreds of oil wells could come to cover a huge expanse in Namibia and Botswana, in what has been called possibly the “largest oil play of the decade. BY JEFFREY BARBEE AND LAUREL NEME PUBLISHED OCTOBER 28, 2020 – National Geographic JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – Conservationists and community leaders in the spectacular Okavango wilderness region of Namibia and Botswana…
Read MoreNational Geographic: This ‘Rhino Court’ Had 100 Percent Poacher Convictions. Why Was it Closed?
Some conservationists and activists in South Africa are concerned that criminal syndicates are making it even more difficult to protect rhinos from poachers. By Laurel Neme PUBLISHED AUGUST 18, 2020 This ‘Rhino Court’ Had 100 Percent Poacher Convictions. Why Was it Closed? “GO NOW! THE spoor is fresh!” Sandra Snelling, an operations manager for South African…
Read MoreNew Yorker: Bill McKibben column: Annals of a Warming Planet: Our Best Chance to Slow Global Warming Comes in the Next Nine Years
By Bill McKibben January 7, 2021, THE NEW YORKER The events of the past few days are shocking in their novelty—the glory of seeing the !rst Black Democrat ever elected to the Senate from the South, the shame of seeing a President incite a mob to storm the Capitol. Who knows what drama will come next, except…
Read MoreThe New York Times for Kids Magazine: Cold? No Problem. How 6 Animals Winterize Themselves
By Laurel Neme, illustrations by Serge Seidlitz Published in the New York Times Kids Magazine, December 27, 2020 Read this story as a pdf – Cold? No Problem – How 6 Animals Winterize Themselves
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