Barbara Celis is a Spanish freelance reporter, filmmaker and communications expert who is currently living in Rome.
A journalist with more than two decades of international experience, she has worked as a freelance correspondent in New York, London, Taipei, and Rome. Throughout her career, she has published regularly in leading media outlets such as El País, CTXT, El Confidencial, Rolling Stone, LA Weekly and many others, covering politics, culture, and human rights. Her work combines narrative journalism with in-depth investigation.
Alongside her reporting work, she has pursued a creative career as a documentary filmmaker and journalism lecturer. She has earned recognition for her work, winning five international journalism awards, including the SIP–IAPA Excellence in Journalism in 2015, and receiving fellowships from institutions such as Fundación Gabo in 2023 and the USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Felowship in 2009. In recent years, she has specialised in climate change and development, working for Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP). She has led communication strategies and authored three FAO books on climate, water, and nutrition.
Barbara holds two Master's degrees in Journalism and a Postgraduate Certificate in Climate Change and Development, both from SOAS. She currently teaches at the Escuela de Periodismo El País in Madrid.
