Sharon Guynup

About

In words, still images and video, I focus on environmental reporting. I cover wildlife, forest and ocean ecology, ecosystems. I report on conservation solutions and success stories as well as the threats that face all living things, from climate change, pollution and environmental crime to zoonotic disease. In 2024, I received the Eliza Scidmore Award for Outstanding Storytelling from the National Geographic Society and a New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship in Prose. In 2023, I was named a "Changemaker" by New York University. Other recognition includes awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, The Arlene Award For a Story That Makes a Difference, and I lived in Turkey for a year as a Fulbright Scholar. I look at environmental issues and public policy as a global fellow for the Environmental Change and Security and China Environment Programs at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. My work has had tangible impact: my National Geographic Magazine story on captive tigers in the U.S. helped pass a law, The Big Cat Public Safety Act. My coverage of wildlife trafficking from the famed Thai Tiger Temple tourist attraction prompted government officials to shut it down and confiscate 178 tigers. I consult and speak internationally on journalism, wildlife, environmental crime, and environment health issues in press interviews, working on TV and film projects, and giving public lectures. My books include The Ultimate Book of Big Cats and Tigers Forever: Saving the World's Most Endangered Big Cat, published by National Geographic, and State of the Wild 2006: A Global Portrait of Wildlife, Wildlands and Oceans, produced for the Wildlife Conservation Society, published by Island Press. As an editor, I've produced special issues for Scientific American and worked for numerous publications. My teaching experience includes a three-year stint as internship coordinator at New York University’s graduate Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program writing classes at Stevens Institute of Technology. I'm an enthusiastic field reporter/photographer/producer and certified scuba diver, with experience working in India, Turkey, most of Central America; Brazil, Haiti, Cuba, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Botswana, Australia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, South Africa, Europe, and the U.S. Lastly: I love to brainstorm and collaborate: group projects produce powerful results!