A closer look at the world we share
I founded Rachel Carson Prize for readers who want to understand the environment beyond a passing headline. A discovery beneath the ocean, a change in a familiar landscape or a question raised by new research deserves more than a moment of attention. It deserves an explanation that helps us see how it fits into a larger story.
Based in Oslo and published in English, we are an independent environmental news publication with an international outlook. We explore climate, biodiversity, oceans and conservation, guided by a straightforward ambition: to make the natural world, and the changes affecting it, easier to understand.
Our starting point is curiosity
Environmental news often begins with something unfamiliar: a scientific term, a distant place or a finding that challenges what we thought we knew. We want our publication to be a place where readers can explore those subjects without needing specialist knowledge.
For me, accessibility does not mean stripping a story of its complexity. It means taking the time to explain it. What does a study actually show? How does a change affect a habitat? What remains uncertain? These are the questions we want to keep at the centre of our work.
From Oslo, with a wider view
Oslo is our home, but it is not the boundary of our coverage. We look for environmental stories across countries and ecosystems, from northern coastlines to tropical forests, and from remote habitats to the places where people live and work.
Publishing in English allows us to address an international readership. Our aim is to give each story enough local context to make sense of the place it comes from, while exploring the connections that make it relevant beyond that location.
Climate, living things and the search for solutions
Our coverage brings together three connected themes: a changing climate, the living world and environmental solutions.
We explore scientific discoveries alongside stories about wildlife, oceans, forests and the relationships between people and their surroundings. We also examine ideas intended to address environmental challenges, including habitat restoration, clean energy and new approaches to using resources.
Our interest in solutions comes with questions, not automatic approval. What is being tested? What evidence supports it? Where are the limitations? A promising idea deserves attention, but it also deserves careful examination.
Clarity without shortcuts
Our editorial ambition is to help readers distinguish what is known from what is suggested, disputed or still being investigated. We aim to put findings into context, explain unfamiliar language and avoid presenting a single result as the whole story.
We also want to leave room for discovery. Alongside difficult environmental questions, there is space here for an overlooked species, an unexpected observation or research that opens up a new way of seeing familiar surroundings.
Understanding the environment should involve more than following a succession of warnings. It should also deepen our attention to the world around us.
A tribute to Rachel Carson—not an award organisation
Rachel Carson is the inspiration behind this publication. Our tribute is reflected in the approach we aspire to take: curiosity about nature, care with evidence and writing that welcomes readers into a subject.
Despite sharing its name, this website is not affiliated with, endorsed by or associated with the Rachel Carson Prize environmental award or its organisers. We are an independent news publication, not the award’s official website. We do not administer the prize, accept nominations or select recipients.
Nor do we claim to speak on Rachel Carson’s behalf. Our dedicated Rachel Carson page offers a separate tribute to her life and work.
A publication open to its readers
I want this publication to remain open to questions, corrections and perspectives we may have missed. Readers can help us notice a story, understand a place more fully or recognise where an explanation needs improvement.
Whether you are sharing research, suggesting a subject or questioning something we have published, our contact page is there to begin that conversation.
Ingrid Solheim
Founder, Rachel Carson Prize