Fred Pearce is a freelance author and journalist based in London. A former news editor of New Scientist magazine, he has been its environment consultant since 1992, reporting from more than 80 countries. He also writes regularly for the Yale e360 web site in the US, and the Guardian and other newspapers in the UK. Recent commissions include National Geographic and the Washington Post. He won a lifetime achievement award for his journalism from the Association of British Science Writers in 2011, and was voted UK Environment Journalist of the Year in 2001.