DR. LAGIPOIVA CHERELLE JACKSON
Vaʻasiliʻifiti Dr. Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson, from the island of Savaiʻi in Samoa, is a scholar and journalist who has reported on the Pacific Islands for over 20 years, with a focus on climate, gender, culture, and human rights. She is the Director of Indigenous Climate Journalism at New Narratives and currently reports on Pacific issues for The Guardian. As a Reuters Fellow at the University of Oxford, Dr. Lagipoiva conducted the first in-depth study on media coverage of the climate crisis in the Pacific, examining how island nations are portrayed in global media. As the inaugural Climate Collaborations Editor for The Associated Press, she led the revision of the AP Stylebook's climate chapter and designed the AP's first global training on climate journalism. She served on the advisory board of the Oxford Climate Journalism Network and currently co-chairs Covering Climate Now, the largest U.S. network of climate journalists and news organizations. Dr. Lagipoiva currently represents the Journalists Association of Samoa to the Gender Council of the International Federation of Journalists, where she actively advocates for the rights of women journalists globally. She holds a Ph.D. focused on the state sovereignty implications of the climate crisis, a Master's in Development Studies with an emphasis on gender and culture in Polynesia, a B.A. in Pacific literature, and advanced diplomas in journalism, media law, and cultural reporting.