Bryony Cottam

Bryony grew up in a small town in the West Midlands where she spent much of her time dreaming of being anywhere else. After spending time in Canada, Russia, Morocco and France, she eventually returned to the UK to pursue a career in journalism. She wrote about sustainable tourism for Responsible Travel before joining Geographical in 2021. Bryony’s covered the dugout canoe culture in Estonia; regenerative seaweed farming in Wales; ground-breaking earthquake research in Turkey; and adaptation and mitigation responses to climate change in countries around the world. She writes the weekly Geographical newsletter and co-edits the monthly podcast. 


Fighting malaria in the DRC: the war against infectious diseases

Fighting malaria in the DRC: the war against infectious diseases

Jan 23, 2025
Bryony Cottam meets a doctor dedicated to combating malaria and other deadly diseases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Eagle Creek Wildfire in Columbia River Gorge forest, Oregon

Geo explainer: Why are wildfires getting worse?

Jan 9, 2025
Discover the several reasons behind increasingly common wildfires around the world, including those in California
Injecting a vaccine

Our best shot at a healthier future

Dec 30, 2024
Immunisation has saved millions of lives, but new vaccines are urgently needed. Now we know where to focus our efforts first
A volcanic eruption from Mount Tolbachik in Kamchatka, Russia

How glaciers could help predict future volcanic activity

Dec 29, 2024
Millions live in the shadow of active volcanoes. Keeping an eye on nearby glaciers could help to predict future volcanic activity
Entrance to Los Alamos

Living in the shadow of the world’s first atomic bomb at Los Alamos

Dec 4, 2024
Chernobyl levels of plutonium pollution found around Los Alamos, despite the area being opened to the public after cleaning programmes
Bioprospecting the Arctic: a new frontier for antibiotic discovery

Bioprospecting the Arctic: a new frontier for antibiotic discovery

Nov 21, 2024
The search for novel microbes in Arctic ecosystems, known as bioprospecting, is yielding promising results for the development of new drugs
Sacha, flying with Berwick swans migrating from the Arctic

Sacha Dench on the importance of vultures – and why we must tackle their decline

Nov 12, 2024
Conservationist Sacha Dench on her latest project focusing on the importance of vultures – and why their survival matters
A heat pump in snow

Can the UK catch up in the race to decarbonise home heating?

Nov 5, 2024
The UK lags behind in its efforts to decarbonise home heating – but progress in other sectors would help close the gap.
The first open-source atlas of the world’s ecosystems has launched

The first open-source atlas of the world’s ecosystems has launched

Oct 25, 2024
Just over half the world's ecosystems have been mapped. The Global Ecosystems Atlas will help to monitor them, and could help chart the rest
Image of Guy Shrubsole's book 'Lie of the Land' against a green field

Review: The Lie of the Land

Oct 12, 2024
Guy Shrubsole's latest book on land stewardship and the work of individuals and communities working to restore communal ownership
Sky rapids behind extreme flooding in the Middle East

Sky rapids behind extreme flooding in the Middle East

Oct 1, 2024
Atmospheric river rapids are a little-understood phenomenon believed to be behind recent devastating rainfall in Iran
4-year-old Hana stands with her kitten outside her damaged apartment in Lyman.

Surviving in Ukraine’s ‘Grey Zone’

Sep 16, 2024
As devastation from the war continues, Sean Sutton captures the lives of Ukraine's civilians living near the front line's 'Grey Zone'.
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