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Portrait of Somini Sengupta

Somini Sengupta

I write about people coping with life on a hotter Earth.

Often that means writing about people feeling the effects of climate change, particularly the world’s poorest, and people trying to adapt to those effects. Often it means holding the world’s powerful to account for their role in the climate crisis. I think of my role as writing about the world as it is, while also writing about those who are imagining the world as it could be.

I’ve spent many years as an international correspondent. As a reporter, I’ve led our coverage of West Africa and South Asia. I’ve worked in more than 50 countries, including 10 conflict zones. I’ve also covered international diplomacy as the United Nations correspondent and been the lead writer of the Climate Forward newsletter.

Yes, I fly. Because reporting requires bearing witness and that requires seeing, listening and sometimes smelling things from up close. That means burning jet fuel, a potent climate pollutant. So I try to plan my trips to maximize reporting on each journey and whenever possible, I collaborate with colleagues in those regions.

I was born in India and grew up first in Western Canada and then in Southern California. I went to public schools, graduating from Covina High School, where I was a band geek (clarinet and bassoon) and ran sprints (not very well) on the track team. I earned a bachelor’s degree in English and development studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and spent a summer studying politics at the University of Oxford.

I have received a George Polk Award for international reporting as well as awards from the National Press Club, the National Association of Black Journalists and the Newswomen’s Club of New York. My first book, “The End of Karma: Hope and Fury Among India’s Young,” was published in 2016 by W.W. Norton.

My north star is accuracy. I take The Times’s journalistic principles seriously. (You can read about them here.) I do not own stocks in any individual companies other than The New York Times Company. I do not participate in media junkets sponsored by companies, countries or organizations that I write about.

I aspire to tell the stories of ordinary men, women and children whose stories are not always heard. I believe strongly in including a diversity of voices, including researchers from underrepresented communities in the United States and beyond.

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