Conor Purcell

As a science journalist, Conor Purcell has explored weather and climate topics for leading publications. Recently, he has highlighted how university staff are successfully challenging their institutions’ ties to the fossil fuel industry, showcasing the power of grass-roots activism in driving meaningful change.

Conor Purcell has received the EMS Journalist Award 2025 for his article Fossil Fuel Ties: How Staff Are Putting Heat on Universities. In this article he addresses one of the major challenges of our time: climate change and the responsibilities of scientific institutions in the face of it. Through a clear-eyed and timely investigation for Research Professional, the piece probes the tension between academic independence and financial ties to the fossil fuel industry—an industry that remains a leading contributor to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

At the heart of this dilemma is a fundamental expectation: that scientific research informing key assessments—such as those conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—must remain independent and free from conflicts of interest. Yet fossil fuel companies, many of which have historically denied or sought to delay action on climate change, continue to fund research at universities, raising concerns about the integrity and perceived neutrality of these institutions.

Purcell brings this issue into sharp focus, highlighting the growing calls from staff and students for universities to divest from fossil fuels. The article thereby compellingly illustrates the wider societal context in which climate scientists operate and highlights how deeply entwined the credibility of science is with the transparency and accountability of the institutions that support it. In doing so, it reinforces the importance of climate science and the need to protect its independence.

This piece exemplifies the kind of journalism the EMS seeks to recognise: work that brings climate science into meaningful dialogue with society, illuminates complex challenges, and advances public understanding of climate-related issues.

About Conor Purcell

Conor Purcell is a science journalist with a PhD in Earth Science. He regularly contributes to publications including Nature, Science, Scientific American, New Scientist, MIT’s Undark, and The Irish Times.

He writes mostly on Earth science – particularly oceanography and climate – but also physics, mathematics, space and health. In 2019 he was the Journalist in Residence at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, in Potsdam, Germany. In 2021 he won the EMS Journalistic Award for an article at Nature. Since 2022 he is the Ireland Correspondent at Research Professional.

Conor is also co-director of NovaAuraResearch, undertaking scientific research for the NGO community across Europe. He is the founder of xyMaths.ie, a resource for secondary school mathematics students in Ireland, and previously created Wide Orbits, an online platform exploring ideas, issues, and culture.

He is a member of the Irish Science and Technology Journalists’ Association (ISTJA). A selection of his published journalism can be found at cppurcell.tumblr.com.