Outrider Foundation today announced Guardian photo editor Thalia Juarez as its 2026-2027 visual reporting fellow. The fellowship supports a dedicated reporter in producing original, high-impact climate and environmental photojournalism.
Juarez was named the Guardian's inaugural Outrider Visual Reporting Fellow in 2024, and over the course of the fellowship has produced photojournalism and essays that have deepened and enriched the Guardian's coverage of climate impacts on people and places across the US. She has brought a special focus to how climate change intersects with migration, labor, racial equity and public health, including the threat of displacement driven by sea level rise in New Orleans and a look at how Latino communities are mobilizing to monitor and improve local air quality in the face of weakening pollution regulations.
Fellowship Story on Native Plants
Juarez's fellowship story today, in partnership with reporter Whitney Bauck, follows the growing movement to replace grass lawns that rely heavily on pesticide and fertilizer with native, biodiverse plants. As her photographs beautifully capture in the piece, creating an abundance of native plants helps support a thriving ecosystem in suburban areas by providing food and habitat to support local wildlife.
“The climate crisis is the defining story of our lifetime and documenting its escalating, human impacts is more urgent than ever,” said Thalia Juarez, the Guardian's photo editor and 2026-2027 Outrider Visual Reporting Fellow. “I'm grateful for this continued opportunity and look forward to working with colleagues across the newsroom to bring these urgent global stories to life.”
Juarez's Background and Achievements
Juarez has been a photo editor at the Guardian since 2022, commissioning national photo coverage across news, features, investigations and special projects. An FAA-certified drone pilot, Juarez has previously reported and photographed for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, NPR and The Washington Post, among other leading news outlets, with a focus on the climate crisis, environmental accountability and the lived experiences of Latino communities in the US. In 2018, she was recognized in TIME's Top 100 Photos of the year and in 2020, she was named a Rising Star Fellow from Pictures of the Year International.
The Guardian's participation in the Outrider fellowship program is made possible with philanthropic support from theguardian.org – an independent 501(c)3 dedicated to supporting independent journalism – and its partnership with Outrider Foundation. All reporting published by the Guardian remains editorially independent.
Support from Outrider and theguardian.org
“We are delighted to continue partnering with theguardian.org to support the Guardian's exceptional climate coverage,” said Robert K Elder, president and CEO of Outrider Foundation. “As misinformation and AI distort our media landscape, visual journalists like Thalia Juarez are vital truthtellers.”
“Philanthropic support is essential to making ambitious climate journalism possible – and ensuring it remains free and accessible to all,” said Nicole Kotzen, senior vice-president for development at the Guardian and executive director of theguardian.org. “Theguardian.org is proud to partner with Outrider Foundation to support Thalia's climate photojournalism, which helps readers engage with the science shaping the future of our planet and inspires real-world change.”
The Outrider Foundation supports fellows in newsrooms across the country, including at CNN, The New York Times, TIME and Vox.
