Laura Heaton

Laura Heaton is a writer and journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. Her work in East Africa over the past ten years has focused primarily on conflict and human rights, humanitarian assistance, and women’s experiences in war. Laura is currently contributing to a book on the role of women’s leadership in the rebuilding of post-genocide Rwanda, working with U.S. Ambassador Swanee Hunt. Her reporting has appeared in several magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, Newsweek, Foreign Policy, National Geographic, The Daily Telegraph, and the International Review of the Red Cross, a journal published by the International Committee of the Red Cross and Cambridge University Press. She was a Climate Change Reporting Fellow with GroundTruth in 2016.

Somalia’s arid landscape as seen from inside a decaying colonial building in the Somaliland town of Sheikh. (Photo by Nichole Sobecki/GroundTruth)

Environment

Amid conflict, Somalia turns to renewable energy for growth

BONN, Germany – Throughout two weeks of negotiations here at the annual United Nations climate summit, the second...

Nov 17, 2017

GroundTruth fellows Nichole Sobecki (left) and Laura Heaton (right) stand between two cannons on their reporting trip to Somalia, where they documented links between drought and violent conflict.

Navigator

Reporting in a high-risk place? Here’s how you can prepare.

This article originally appeared on Navigator, GroundTruth’s newsletter for early-career journalists. You can subscribe to Navigator here. Editor's...

Jun 12, 2017

As many as 500 people turned out for a “sister march” in the Kenyan capital, the crowd a diverse mix of Americans, Kenyans, and sympathetic expats of other nationalities united in concern about changes promised by President Donald Trump -- and what those changes could mean for gender inequality, human rights, and progressive policies globally. (Photo by Nichole Sobecki/GroundTruth)

Rights

‘Sister march’ in Nairobi draws hundreds: ‘I can’t afford to sit this out’

NAIROBI, Kenya — The dusty road leading into Karura Forest is busy with bikers, walkers and dogs on...

Jan 21, 2017

Women burn trash on the roadside in Dadaab refugee camp. In 2011, a severe drought pushed tens of thousands of Somalis from their homes, swelling the camp's population. Host to more than a third of a million people, Dadaab is the world's largest refugee camp, but it's now in danger of being shut down. (Nichole Sobecki/GroundTruth)

Season 3 - Living Proof |Episode 1

Somalia’s climate for conflict

The human consequences of climate change are the focus of this new season of GroundTruth. Reporting fellows...

Nov 11, 2016