Ashley Ahearn

Ashley Ahearn covers topics ranging from fisheries management policy to carbon trading and climate change for Living on Earth, Public Radio International's weekly science and environment program. She has completed fellowships at the Metcalf Institute, the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources and SoundVision Productions. A member of the Society of Environmental Journalists, Ashley has lived and worked in Washington, the UK and the Czech Republic but now calls Boston, Massachusetts home. This spring Ashley will be researching and reporting an audio documentary on international conservation efforts along the route of the former Iron Curtain. During the Cold War era development stalled along the Iron Curtain, creating an accidental wilderness corridor. Efforts are underway to preserve parts of this area, which stretches from the Baltic to the Adriatic Seas, while promoting eco-tourism and sustainable development as well. The Cold War destroyed transboundary relationships between Eastern and Western Europe, now a shared commitment to conservation is bringing people together once again. Ashley plans to look at the successes and challenges of the proposed "European Greenbelt"" and how nature might heal the scars of war. "

Between 2005 and 2009 the Institute for Human Sciences at Boston University also awards Milena Jesenská Fellowships to US journalists for research stays of up to three months at the IWM in Vienna.