PROFILE

Writer, reporter, and editor with two decades of experience in feature and news coverage of environmental, political, social, and urban issues, as well as arts and culture, food and drink, and travel-related topics

EXPERIENCE

Freelance Journalist and Editor (Istanbul, 2008–Present)

  • Feature and news reporting for publications including Apollo, Atlas Obscura, BBC Wildlife, California, The Christian Science Monitor, CityLab, Culinary Backstreets, The Daily Beast, Deutsche Welle, Discover, Disegno, Ensia, Equal Times, GOOD, Hyperallergic, IPS, Lonely Planet, Metropolis, Monocle, MORE, The National, National Geographic, Politico, Runner’s World, October, Salon, Sierra, Surface, TakePart, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Time Out Istanbul, The Washington Post, Wired, Women's eNews, Women's Running, Yale Environment 360, and Zester Daily

  • Covered environmental news in Turkey and the region as Istanbul correspondent for TreeHugger.com, with additional contributions to PlanetGreen.com (2008-2012)

  • Writing and updating print and online travel guides to Istanbul and Turkey for DK Travel, Fodor's, Lonely Planet, TripAdvisor, Zagat, and other publishers

  • Copy-edited travel guidebook and online content for Lonely Planet (2017–2019)

  • Creating communications materials, including stories, reports, and social-media packages, for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

  • Writing and editing reports, factsheets, press releases, and other materials for corporate, NGO, academic, and other clients

Editor-in-Chief, Time Out Istanbul (Istanbul, 2013)

  • Directed day-to-day editorial operations, created issue line-ups and edited all copy for monthly city magazine

  • Assigned and edited features and department pieces, regularly recruiting new writers and keeping to a tight monthly budget

  • Supervised the work of an assistant editor, page designer, photographer, and editorial interns, as well as freelance translators

  • Wrote features and department pieces, focusing on current events, art, and travel

  • Managed magazine’s website and social-media presence

  • Collaborated with Time Out International staff on special projects

Front Page Editor, Hürriyet Daily News (Istanbul, 2009–2011)

  • Edited front-page news articles, special projects, and other top stories for daily English-language newspaper

  • Worked with writers, reporters, and copy editors to improve their skills

  • Wrote headlines, spots, captions, graphic text, and other front-page display copy

  • Helped create and maintain editorial style guide and editorial consistency throughout the newspaper

  • Contributed articles on environmental issues and other topics

Senior Associate Editor, Sierra (San Francisco, 1998–2008)

  • Wrote feature, news, and lifestyle articles and created feature packages for nationally circulated environmental magazine with 1.4 million readers

  • Assigned and edited articles from freelance writers

  • Created Sierra’s first green-lifestyle department and promoted it through radio and television appearances and interviews with print reporters

  • Created and wrote the primary content for Sierra’s lifestyle blog, “The Green Life”

  • Edited the book Hey Mr. Green: Sierra Magazine's Answer Guy Tackles Your Toughest Green Living Questions (Sierra Club Books, April 2008)

Freelance Journalist and Editor (San Francisco, 1998–2001)

  • Wired.com — Wrote news and feature articles on the politics and culture of technology

  • SonicNet.com — Copy-edited daily music news content, using AP and house style

  • Wrote and edited for other online and print publications

Associate Producer, CNET (San Francisco, 1997–1998)

  • Wrote daily features and a weekly department on education, science, and the arts

  • Generated article topics, created weekly publishing schedules, and assisted in creating a long-term content development plan

Assistant Editor, MotherJones.com (San Francisco, 1996–1997)

  • Assigned, edited, fact-checked, and proofread daily and weekly news articles, columns, features, and other content by freelance and staff writers

  • Researched and wrote news articles, media reviews, and press releases

  • Planned and executed the redesign of significant portions of the website, supervised HTML production, and helped create and maintain searchable online databases

EDUCATION

University of California at Santa Cruz — Bachelor of Arts in Community Studies with a Journalism minor, June 1996; Regents Scholarship, honors in the major

Dilmer Language Teaching Center, Istanbul — Upper-Intermediate Turkish, July 2008

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Board Chair, Foreign Media Association Turkey, 2023–

Board Member, Foreign Media Association Turkey, 2021–2023

Mongabay Special Reporting Initiative Fellow, 2015

Hrant Dink Foundation Turkey-Armenia Travel Grant, 2015

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

Extensive blogging experience on a variety of online publishing platforms; social-media savvy; basic HTML and Photoshop skills; published photographer