I am a journalist & anthropologist writing about the environment, politics, and conflict, mostly from the Balkans and Africa.
My interest is in telling stories that cross borders and show the complex realities of human life. My work has been published in more than fifteen countries and I am a regular contributor to De Groene Amsterdammer, NRC Handelsblad, and Süddeutsche Zeitung. I also do live-reporting (TV, radio) on current affairs & politics from the Netherlands. I am available for assignments. Contact: info@anthrovision.com
Publications
ARTE/ZDF, Arirang TV, Al Jazeera, BBC News, Courrier International, Devex, De Groene Amsterdammer, Deutsche Welle, El País, France 24, Internazionale, Luxembourg Times, Mail & Guardian, Mediapart, Mo*, Mongabay, National Public Radio (NPR), NRC Handelsblad, Nederlands Dagblad, New Internationalist, Het Parool, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Tages-Anzeiger, The Guardian, The New Humanitarian, The Sunday Times, The New Internationalist, Trouw, De Volkskrant, Virgule, Vreme, NPO Radio 1.
Awards and grants
2024
Shortlist True Story Award
2023
Fonds BJP - Serbia
Earth Investigation Grant, Journalismfund Europe - Baltic States, Germany, the Netherlands
Fonds BJP - Mauritania
Pulitzer Center Fund - Japan
Earth Investigation Grant, Journalismfund Europe - Bosnia
Earth Investigation Grant, Journalismfund Europe - Cameroon
Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) Dejan Anastasijevic prize - winner
2022
Earth Investigation Grant - Journalismfund.eu - Serbia and Guinee
IWMF - Howard G. Buffet Fund for Women Journalists
Free Press Unlimited - Travel grant Ireland
Journalismfund.eu - European Crossborder Grant
Fonds Bijzondere Journalistieke Projecten, Suriname & The Netherlands
2021
Fetisov Journalism Awards - Shortlist of ‘Outstanding Investigative Reporting’
IJ4EU Investigative Grant, Romania
Fonds Bijzondere Journalistieke Projecten, Georgia
2020
Renovabis Hope for Eastern Europe - Research Prize Eastern Europe, Georgia
2019
Reporters in the Field - Fellowship, Robert Bosch Foundation, Indonesia & Singapore
Earth Journalism Network - Reporting grant, Netherlands and Germany
Free Press Unlimited - Reporting Grant, Kenya
2018
European Journalism Center - Global Health Journalism grant, Democratic Republic of Congo
Free Press Unlimited - Grant, Madagascar
Hostwriter Story Prize, winner
2017
Pulitzer Centre on Crisis Reporting - Malawi
2015
Lorenzo Natali Media Prize - winner, Liberia
Affiliations
Frontline Freelance Register
Reporters Without Borders
The Dutch Association for Journalists
Dutch Association for Investigative Journalists
International Press Institute
Television
Arte Re: Exoten in Vogelkafig. Arte/ZDF.
Arte Re: Schneeglöckchen aus Georgien - Arte/ZDF.
Live TV-reporting for France 24 from the Netherlands on current affairs and politics.
Radio
Ontbossing Bosnië door corruptie - NPO Radio 1, Bureau Buitenland.
De rebellie van Wagner-leider Prigozjin (bijdrage over protesten in Servië - Buitenlandse Zaken, De Groene Amsterdammer.
De schimmige wereld van de handel in zangvogels - De Groene Amsterdammer Podcast.
Omstreden mijn in Servië belangrijk voor toekomstige vergroening Europa - NPO Radio Bureau Buitenland.
Live reporting/correspondence from the Netherlands for: Radio Melbourne (Australia), BNR Newsradio (Netherlands), VTR (Belgium).
Books
"Toxic planet. The Global Health Crisis". Pulitzer Centre for Crisis Reporting.
Mentions
European Centre for Press and Media Freedom - abusive call mayor in Bosnia to investigative team after reporting on corruption in the wood sector.
Riikka Maukonen (2021) – "Interview: ‘Our job is to find proof of corruption", IJ4EU.
Moore, J. (2020) – “What African Nations Are Teaching the West About Fighting the Coronavirus”. Mention of anthropological research in South Sudan in The New Yorker.
Articles (selection)
Holandski premijer u Srebrenici: Vazan, ali zakasneli gest - Vreme.
Gevaarlijk beest: verkiezingen in Servië - De Groene Amsterdammer.
In Belgrado versiert de oppositie de straten - De Groene Amsterdammer.
Droga se kuva u sve vecim kazanima - Vreme.
Onder Bosnische bossen glinstert het zilver: brengt de nieuwe mijn voorspoed of giftig water? - NRC Handelsblad.
Nederland dumpt zijn vervuilende auto’s in Servië. Heeft het klimaatbeleid zo nog wel zin? - Trouw.
Darf man Oktopusse noch essen? - Süddeutsche Zeitung, Basler Zeitung, Tages Anzeiger, Der Bund.
El hambre de pulpo amenaza a la mayor potencia de pesca artesanal de cefalópodos del mundo - El Pais.
Caught in Mauritania and eaten in Japan, the common octopus is being fished out - Daily Maverick, Vreme.
Sally Hayden over haar boek over de migratiecrisis: ‘De taal van de ambtenaren verdoezelt schendingen van de mensenrechten’ - NRC Handelsblad.
Krstaski pohod holandskog Trampa - Vreme.
Kautschukanbau: Europas Gier nach Gummi - Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Waar Ndjelee eerst woonde, ligt nu een rubberplantage - De Groene Amsterdammer.
En Bosnie-Herzégovine, une ville asphyxiée par une usine sidérurgique - Mediapart.
ArcelorMittal's green goal seems distant in the Bosnian town of Zenica - Luxembourg Times, republished in Virgule.
De omwonenden van de Bosnische ArcelorMittal-fabriek durven hun spinazie niet in de openlucht telen - NRC Handelsblad.
Na de rouw volgt in Servië de woede - NRC Handelsblad.
In Servië liggen realityshows én de regering onder vuur - De Groene Amsterdammer.
Zeewierkoorts - NRC Handelsblad.
Oliepijpleidingen door het leefgebied van de berggorilla - NRC Handelsblad.
Algen: Industrie gegen Natur - Süddeutsche Zeitung.
The plans for giant seaweed farms in European waters - BBC News.
De schimmige wereld van de handel in zangvogels - De Groene Amsterdammer.
Servië staat niet te koop - De Groene Amsterdammer.
Poetins oorlog in Oekraïne verscheurt Servië - De Groene Amsterdammer.
Lithium, Geld, Politik: Ein Dorf in Serbien kämpft gegen ein Bergwerk - Deutsche Welle.
Studija Rio Tinta o uticaju na životnu Sredinu: Pritajena kompanija, skrivena država - Vreme.
Wo kommst du denn her? Der Handel mit Schneeglöckchen. Süddeutsche Zeitung.
'De zee sleurt onze doden mee - Mo*.
Living and working on Georgia's largest garbage dump. Deutsche Welle.
Lost to sea: The Ivory Coast villagers saving their ancestors from rising waves. Climate Home News.
Hoe EU miljoenen weglekten in Roemenië. NRC Handelsblad.
Im Sumpf. Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Investigation: Where did the EU's billion for the Danube Delta go to? Info Sud-Est.
Wildlife forensics - how a giant pangolin named ghost could help save the species. The Guardian.
Investigating the murky trade in aquarium fish and coral. Earth Journalism Network
Das Leiden der Zierfische. Süddeutsche Zeitung. Reprint in Der Tages-Anzeiger.
Hoe aquaria wereldwijd het koraalrif bedreigen. Vissen op Nemo’s. Groene Amsterdammer. Reprint inMo*.
“After the Ban, I Lost Everything”. BBC.
Coronavirus: A devil's bargain for Dutch sex workers, Deutsche Welle.
New Mourning Rituals Offer Comfort And Closure During An Outbreak, National Public Radio.
De nasmaak van de dood. De Groene Amsterdammer.
Smoke and Mirrors. Revealing Malawi's untold health and environmental crisis. The New Internationalist.
In der Giftküche von Malawi. Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Silence marks Ebola milestone, but scars remain. The New Humanitarian.
Madagascan gold: meet the vanilla hustlers. The Guardian.
'They believe I was cursed with blindness because God was angry'. Al Jazeera.
Vanille fever: fear sours the sweet scent of Madagascar's success. Mail & Guardian. Reprint in Courrier International.
Zoete Korrels, Zwarte Handel. Vanillekoorts. Groene Amsterdammer. Reprint in Internazionale.
Illegal logging in Malawi: can clean cooking stoves save its forests? The Guardian.
Married, raped, abandoned: the shocking sex trade of Syrian refugee girls sold to Saudi men. Sunday Times.
Research publications (selection)
Minority Rights Group and CLEAR Global (2023). Barriers for Maay speakers in Somalia in getting access to polio vaccines.
Gercama, I., Haroon, Y., Khair, K., Hajmusa, A., Kambal, A., Langelier, J., Aelbers, S., Scott, I., Rhynard-Geil, M., (2021). Involve Us: Information & Participation Dynamics, Desires and Challenges in Sudan’s Tigray refugee response. Internews, ISP.
Ripol, S., Gercama, I., Jones, T. (2020). Assessing Key Considerations for Burial Practices, Death and Mourning in Epidemics (March 2020), SSHAP Practical Approaches Issue 2, UNICEF, IDS & Anthrologica.
Gercama, I., Jones, T., Tulloch, O. (2020). COVID-19: Risks Related to Population Movement and Gatherings During Ramadan. UNICEF, IDS & Anthrologica.
Butler, N., Gercama, I., Jones, L., Tulloch, O. (2020) Compliance with Physical Distancing Measures for COVID-19 and Implications for RCCE in Eastern and Southern Africa (April 2020), SSHAP.
SSHAP (2020) Assessing Key Considerations for Burial Practices, Death and Mourning in Epidemics (March 2020), SSHAP: UNICEF, IDS & Anthrologica.
Gercama, I., Tulloch, O., Bedford, J., (2019). “We have to work together as one to stop Ebola” A rapid qualitative study on preparedness and community perceptions. Anthrologica, Save the Children, Internews.
Pendle, N.; Marko, F.D.; Gercama, I. and Bedford, J. (2019) Key Considerations: Cross-Border Dynamics Between South Sudan and DRC, UNICEF, IDS & Anthrologica.
Peyton, D.; Gercama, I. and Bedford, J. (2019) Key Considerations: Ebola Preparedness and Readiness in Goma, DRC. UNICEF, IDS & Anthrologica.
Ripoll, S.; Gercama, I.; Jones, T. and Wilkinson, A. (2018) Social Science in Epidemics: Ebola Virus Disease Lessons Learned – Background Report, UNICEF, IDS & Anthrologica.
Ripoll, S.; Gercama, I.; Jones, T. and Wilkinson, A. (2018) Social Science Lessons Learned from Ebola Epidemics – Evidence Summary, UNICEF, IDS & Anthrologica.
I. Gercama, Bedford, J., (2018). Formative research to inform adolescent programming in Guatemala. World Food Programme and Anthrologica.
Abu Hamad, B., Jones, N., Samuels, F., Gercama, I., et. all. (2016). A promise of tomorrow: the effects of UNHCR and UNICEF cash assistance on Syrian refugees in Jordan. UNHCR and UNICEF.
Abu Hamad, B., Jones, N. (2016). ‘I prefer to stay silent’: exploring opportunities for and challenges to adolescents’ psychosocial and mental health in Gaza, ODI.
Jones, N., Gercama, I., Presler-Marshall, E., Abu-Hamad, B. (2016). Adolescent perspectives on services and programmes in conflict-affected contexts: a participatory research toolkit. ODI.
Lectures
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development, Ferrara Internazionale Journalismfest, OM.