About
Lawrence Hislop is an award-winning photographer, videographer and web site producer with extensive international experience managing projects that focus on communicating environmental issues, climate change and local resilience.
Multimedia Showcase
My Skills
Recent Videos
Trailer [2 mins]
Full Film [10 mins]
Status and Trends of Arctic Biodiversity (Arctic Environmental Change)
Trailer [2.25 mins]
Full film: [20 mins]
Professional Experience
Member of Senior Management Team leading all fundraising initiatives for polar and high mountain environmental communication projects. Developed high-level strategic partnerships, program administration, team building and overall monitoring and evaluation of program. Built and directs core multicultural staff of six professionals and ten consultants located on three continents working in multi-media, communications, data analysis, and policy development, leading to innovative and impact oriented outreach. Maintained Polar and Mountains corporate webpage.
During this time I was responsible for communications and outreach in the Himalayan Climate Change Adaptation Programme (HICAP) and have worked extensively in the wider Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH) including Nepal, Bhutan, India, China and Pakistan, producing stories and visual documentation of climate change adaptation and resilience. There is extensive information about the project and my multimedia products at the following web site.
One of the main outputs of the project was a short documentary film called Scaling Mountains, Gaining Heights – Women Environment Leaders. The video is based on interviews I conducted with women environmental leaders from the HKH, and the film highlights how mountain women, in their role as managers of their local environment, hold valuable lessons for dealing with climate change.
In addition to producing photo and video based materials I have also led journalism-training workshops in the HKH region and have taught local writers, photographers and videographers to create stories for regional media about climate change. Outputs of the training can be found on this web site.
I have contributed as author and photographer to two scientific publications about climate change impacts in the HKH:
- Women at the frontline of climate change – Gender risks and hopes
- The Last Straw? The additional burden of climate change on food security in the Himalaya
I have also worked with Mongolian reindeer herding communities in a UN Environment Programme project called Nomadic Herders and have produced written and visual stories of how climate change is impacting traditional livelihoods and culture. One of the main outputs is a publication called Changing Taiga: Challenges for Mongolia’s Reindeer Herders which is in print, pdf and e-book format. One of my photos from this book was used in the printed version of the UNFCCC Climate Adaptation Calendar for 2012.
In 2006, I lived in Punjab, India for one month and documented the development of new water sanitation systems and wastewater treatment plants in rural areas of the province for the Indo-Canadian Friendship Society. The outputs were used to leverage additional funds to expand the project into new villages. Photographs from the project can be viewed on my website.
I am one of the primary photographers on a project called Many Strong Voices (MSV) which focuses on bringing personal stories and faces of climate change the Arctic and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Pacific to the attention of the general public and decision-makers at international climate change negotiations. manystrongvoices.org/portraits/
The project was voted one of the top ten most influential climate change campaigns in the world by the Guardian newspaper.
I have worked with various UN agencies and the global mountain partnership to produce a series of mountain policy brochures used for discussions on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The briefs cover thematic areas including Energy, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction, Forests and Biodiversity. PDF’s in multiple languages can be viewed here.
As a video producer I have created a series of short films for the University of the Arctic called Snowy OWL talks. These videos are based on public presentations by inspirational leaders, and serve as general information for the public as well as supplementary course material for students studying in or about the North.
I have extensive technical knowledge of photography, videography, web development and print production processes. My products have been showcased in major international conferences, UN events, exhibitions and have been broadcast widely over the internet. I am accustomed to producing material for various stakeholders at very high quality and in a timely manner, which can be used for public presentations, printed materials and efficiently viewed/downloaded on the internet.
My graduate education in environmental policy combined with more than 10 years of professional work as a project manager in an international environmental organisation (GRID-Arendal) has provided me with a solid foundation for understanding contemporary global issues related to climate change, biodiversity, pollution and related environmental concerns. I have developed an extensive network of partners in communications and environmental issues.