Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
Journalist | Vancouver |
English
French
About Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
Marc Fawcett-Atkinson is a reporter and writer covering food systems, climate, disinformation, and plastics and the environment for Canada’s National Observer.
His ongoing investigations of the plastic industry in Canada won him a Webster Award's nomination in environmental reporting in 2021. He was also a nominee for a Canadian Association of Journalists's award for his reporting on disinformation.
Marc has previously written for High Country News, the Literary Review of Canada, and other publications on topics exploring relationships between people and their social and physical environments.
He holds an M.A. in journalism from the University of British Columbia and a B.A. in Human Ecology from the College of the Atlantic.
Tea Creek farm regenerates soil and soul
When Jacob Beaton quit his business consulting job and left Vancouver for a homestead in northern B.C., he didn't plan on the farm becoming a hub for reviving Indigenous food sovereignty.
In northern Quebec, people pray for ‘heavy, heavy rain’
Over the past few days, apocalyptic skies have darkened Tony Wawatie's traditional territory around Barriere Lake. Hundreds of wildfires are scorching Quebec's Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, forcing most of the First Nation's roughly 800 members to evacuate.
In the Kootenays, climate conspiracy ‘angst’ stalls climate action
The struggle to fight disinformation and "climate authoritarian" conspiracies is impacting how well local governments can tackle the climate crisis.
To fix social media, design for ‘autonomy and dignity,’ Facebook whistleblower says
Earlier this month, the U.S. surgeon general issued an extraordinary warning: Social media is an "important driver" of a mental health crisis among young people. For Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, that came as no surprise.
Forget herbicides. Sandblasting will whack those weeds
The weed war, which puts more than $528 million in crop losses on the line each year in Canada alone, has for the past 50 years been fought with an arsenal of toxic herbicides that harm human health and contribute to the biodiversity and climate crises.
Wildfire conspiracy theories spread faster than flames
In some corners of Alberta, there are whispers that the military’s presence has nothing to do with the fires.
Exposed: Hidden health risks lurk in the air Canadians breathe every day
High levels of carcinogenic gas near a medical sterilization facility in Scarborough, Ont., highlight a dangerous gap in Canada’s air quality monitoring, says the Environment and Climate Change Canada researcher who discovered the chemical in the area.
Former fossil fuel engineer crusades against gas company greenwashing
Edgar (Eddie) Dearden skips the small talk when he meets someone new, instead starting the conversation by asking them if they "know what natural gas is." The question is the centrepiece of his self-appointed quest to fight the fossil fuel industry's insidious disinformation campaign painting natural gas as a climate solution.
Behind our award-nominated Facebook investigation...
I would love to do more of these kinds of stories, but it will require your help. Your funding goes a long way to help us work with computer experts who can build important investigative tools to keep track of rampant disinformation.
Petitions push feds to ban glyphosate
The battle to ban glyphosate, Canada's most widely used pesticide, has made it to Parliament.