Nur Banu Kocaaslan
Communications Program Lead
Born in 1988 in İzmir, she graduated from Galatasaray University with a degree in Economics. She began her career as a journalist working as a reporter and editor for Cumhuriyet, Dünya, and Diken, where she focused on environmental issues, urban politics, and cultural heritage. Later, she became the media specialist for the SARAT Project (Safeguarding Archaeological Assets of Turkey), managed by the British Institute at Ankara (BIAA). As part of this project, she trained journalists from various regions of Turkey on how to write about archaeology news. SARAT Project was awarded by the 2020 Europa Nostra Award for its diverse programs.
In 2020, inspired by her experience with the SARAT Project, she founded the Climate Journalism Network, which aims to increase journalists' knowledge and skills on the climate crisis. With this project, she delivered climate journalism training to over 200 journalists and journalism students, conducted interviews with climate journalists from international news outlets such as The Guardian, New York Times, and The Independent, and prepared guides for journalists. She was a member of the grand jury for the 2022 Climate Journalism Awards, organized by the international journalism initiative Covering Climate Now.
In 2022, she founded the Climate Communication Association, a journalism initiative that focuses on climate issues. She provides climate journalism training for various organizations and writes articles and news for different media outlets.
She manages the online and offline communication strategy for Anatolian Grasslands, where she joined the team in late 2022.