Rob Edwards

I have been a freelance journalist specialising in environmental issues for more than 25 years. I have written for New Statesman, The Guardian, The Observer, The Mail, The Sunday Times, Scotland on Sunday, The Scotsman, The Glasgow Herald, the Edinburgh Evening News and others. Since 1999 I have been the environment editor of the Sunday Herald and a correspondent for New Scientist. I have also produced TV programmes, given many talks, chaired conferences and been regularly interviewed on radio and television. I have co-authored three books about nuclear power, and won a series of awards, most recently being shortlisted as environment journalist of the year in the British Environment and Media Awards. I am a member of the National Union of Journalists, and live in Edinburgh, Scotland.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Birth

13 October 1953 in Liverpool, England.

Education

1966 -1972: Watford Boys Grammar School
1973 -1976: Jesus College, Cambridge (MA English Literature)

Employment

1977-78: Organiser, Scottish Campaign to Resist the Atomic Menace (SCRAM)
1978-80: Campaigns Organiser, Shelter (Scotland)
1980-83: Research Assistant to Robin Cook MP
1981-83: Scottish Correspondent, Social Work Today
1982-85: Co-ordinator, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) at Sizewell Inquiry
1983-89: Scottish Correspondent, New Statesman
1989-93: Scottish Correspondent, The Guardian
1988-94: Columnist, Edinburgh Evening News
1989-94: Environment Editor, Scotland on Sunday
1993: Producer, Children Under Fire (documentary for Channel 4)
1994-96: German Correspondent, New Scientist, Scotland on Sunday, The Scotsman
1999: Producer, CCTV (documentary for Channel 4)
1996- Consultant, New Scientist
1999- Environment Editor, Sunday Herald

Awards

1989: Regional Journalist of the Year, British Environment and Media Awards
1992: Specially Commended, British Environment and Media Awards
1993: Commended, Industrial Society Environment Award
1993: Commended, UK Press Gazette Regional Awards
2001: Newspaper of the Year (Sunday Herald), British Environment and Media Awards
2002: Environment Winner, NetMedia European Online Journalism Awards
2005: Listed, Paul Foot Award
2006: Shortlisted, Journalist of the Year, British Environment and Media Awards
2009: Listed as one of Scotland's 50 green champions

Books

1982: Fuelling the Nuclear Arms Race (Pluto Press, with Sheila Durie)
1988: Britain’s Nuclear Nightmare (Sphere Books, with James Cutler)
1995: Still Fighting for Gemma (Bloomsbury, with Susan D'Arcy)

Other

Member of the National Union of Journalists
Listed in Debrett's People of Today and Who's Who in Scotland
Married, with two daughters, and fond of music

Quotes

"I do not see how a reporter attempting to define a situation involving some sort of ethical conflict can do it with sufficient demonstrable neutrality to fulfil some arbitrary concept of 'objectivity'. It never occurred to me in such a situation, to be other than subjective, and as obviously so as I could manage to be...As I see it, the journalist is obliged to present his attitude as vigorously and persuasively as he can, insisting that it is his attitude, to be examined and criticised in the light of every contrary argument, which he need not accept but must reveal."

James Cameron, Point of Departure, Oriel Press, 1967.

“Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here. So get out there...and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breath deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards.”

Edward Abbey (1927-1989).