The Guardian’s Correspondent in Sokoto State, Tunde Omolehin, has been selected as a fellow for the 2025 Dataphyte Biodiversity Reporting Fellowship.

Tunde, who recently joined the newspaper, is one of 10 fellows who emerged from a competitive pool of over 200 applications for the maiden biodiversity reporting project in Nigeria, organised by Dataphyte Foundation with support from Earth Journalism Network (EJN).

According to the Dataphyte Programme Officer, Funmilayo Babatunde, the fellowship, which commenced in August with training, is scheduled to run through October 2025.

“With threats to Nigeria’s ecosystems growing, this fellowship aims to equip journalists with the tools and knowledge to centre biodiversity in national environmental discourse with journalism around Nigeria’s biodiversity crisis,” Funmilayo said during the in-person training held in Abuja.

The Country Director of Dataphyte, Oluseyi Olufemi, stated that the fellowship provides training and support for reporting on critical issues, including species extinction, destructive land-use practices, nature-based conservation strategies, and the unintended consequences of conservation efforts.

Before joining The Guardian, Tunde, with experience in investigative journalism, had worked with major national dailies in Nigeria and was a freelance writer with international news outlets.

His previous data-driven stories have won several awards, including the PAJI African Prize for Investigative Journalism in Dakar, Senegal (2023), the Hostwriter Collaborative Prize in Bou, Germany (2022), and a Runner-up (Online) category in the International Organisations for Immigration (IOM) Reporting Award (2023).

Previously, Tunde has been a fellow of several journalism institutions, including School of Digital Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa, Wits Center for Journalism, University of Witswatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, African Academic for Open Source Investigation Course, Africa Data Hub Community Journalism Fellowship, and member, Journalists Forum For The Promotion of Health and Environment (REMAPSEN), among others.