Photo: Carlos Mavroleon
I am a journalist, editor, TV and radio broadcaster, with a Master’s in Wildlife Management and Conservation. I specialise in conservation, the wilder side of travel and spiritual well-being. My snaps are published alongside my written work in magazines and newspapers.
I write a column, Time Out for School House from the stable of the Country & Townhouse and I host a podcast, Hope Springs for the Resurgence Trust talking to visionaries, conservationists, mental health, environmental and climate change activists about their inspiration and motivation to make positive change for the benefit of our planet.
Photo: Rio Helmi
Recently, my work has been published in The Telegraph, Resurgence & Ecologist, Country & Townhouse, Gourmet Traveller, International Traveller, School House magazine and The Ecologist.
I am working on a memoir exploring the relationship between trauma, nature and ego.
I live in England but work globally
Photo: Max Milligan
“Annabel’s disarming conversation style, coupled with her passion for the subject matter gives space for a very authentic podcast. A strong voice in the fight for our environment.”
Jim Murray, actor, angling activist and artist
Reporting on a chimp orphanage in Zambia, Daily Mail 1995
Curiosity and a passion for the natural world has drawn me to explore forgotten corners of the earth for over thirty years, seeking to report on the connections made by conservationists and NGO’s to protect wildlife, support indigenous communities and to encourage economic prosperity in developing countries, with the occasional foray into more conflicted zones.
I started writing about the environment and its conservation in 1990 when You Magazine sent me to Sudan to search for a vanishing lake, winning an award nomination.
In 1994, a commission to write about mountain gorillas in Uganda segued into covering the outbreak of the genocide in neighbouring Rwanda for The Sunday Times. I was the first journalist to cross the country during the war.
Africa is an important part of my life; I wrote and edited pro-bono reports for Tusk Trust and for Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, the model for much of eco-tourism across the African continent today.
Rwandan genocide, Sunday Times 1994
Sudan, You Magazine, 1992
Kenya, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, 2000
Capturing wolf prints. Yellowstone 2001
In 2001, after living in Yellowstone Park and studying their wolf reintroduction programme, I stowed away my passport and took a step back from journalism to take a Master’s degree in Wildlife Management and Conservation at Reading University. I completed my thesis on Lochmaea Suturalis in 2005, spending three glorious months striding across Scottish moorland in search of a pretty little bronze heather beetle.
Thesis on Lochmaea Suturalis (heather beetle) Scottish highlands 2005
I began my career in journalism working as a rookie reporter in Hong Kong and the Far East in my early twenties. After two years in advertising, I joined You Magazine, The Mail on Sunday colour supplement which at the time aspired to be a British Newsweek and then moved to The Sunday Times. I travelled the world seeking quirky and offbeat stories; writing about the transition of Eastern Europe post-communism, going undercover reporting on the rise of ecstacy and drug dealing to the life of a beauty queen and interviewing everyone from conservationists and Countesses to Phil Collins and HH The Dalai Lama.
I have also had columns in The Sunday Times, The Telegraph and the Evening Standard and have considerable experience of television and radio, working on BBC TV and radio documentaries including Panorama. Prior to becoming a mother, I was a regular on TV chat shows such as Esther Rantzen, Kilroy Silk and Richard Littlejohn; a commentator on Women’s Hour, The Today Programme and World at One and a frequent guest news presenter on BBC News24 and the radio.
HH The Dalai Lama, Vogue and The Sunday Times, Mongolia 1995
Chair, YouGov conference, London 2021
Neurodiversity in my family drew me into education. As Editor of School House magazine I promoted awareness of specific learning differences, child-centric education and entry into STEAM subjects. I fostered awareness of the environment, the need for a GCSE in Natural History and building bridges across international communities. I launched various guides and bespoke magazines, and spoke and chaired discussions at educational conferences including the BSA, the GSA, the Independent Schools Show and YouGOV.
I regularly contributed OpEd’s on education for The Daily Telegraph.
The Arctic, Telegraph 2024
In 2021, with my children settled in university, I dusted off my passport and set off to reconnect with a 21st century world, reporting on travel and conservation for The Telegraph, Country & Townhouse and Resurgence & Ecologist as well as reviewing spiritual and mental wellbeing escapes for The Global Retreat Company, which is a kitemark for quality in this field.
I am a recognised authority on conservation and sustainability.
Judge, Country & Townhouse, Journey to Net Zero, Future Icons Awards, London 2025
My instagramming reports on conservation are attracting a growing following and I am the founder of i-Nature connecting conservationists around the world.
As well as my Master’s in conservation I hold a BA in Economic History from Durham University, I am a trustee for Nature’s Fund for Women, a member of the Advisory Committee for the Scientific Explorers Society and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. I have sat on advisory committees for charities including Tusk and Merl, the Museum for English Rural Landscape. I hold a PADI diving certificate.
Nepal, Telegraph 2024
“Annabel is a conservationist and explorer displaying a masterful use of the pen. She seeks out stories from the coalface of an environment impacted by climate-change and tells them in a way which is eye-brow raising and compelling.”
Rosie Stancer, polar explorer and Chair of the Advisory Committee, Scientific Explorers Society
As featured in
