Neena Bhandari is a Sydney-based foreign correspondent and freelance journalist. She is a regular contributor to SciDev.net, Inter Press Service (IPS), InDepth News Analysis (IDN), BBC Indian Languages, and various mainstream international and national publications.
She started her career with India’s leading national daily, The Times of India, in 1985. She has since worked in India, the United Kingdom and Australia, reporting on a range of issues from health and science, environment and development, travel and indigenous affairs, to gender and human rights.
She was the Australia, New Zealand & Fiji correspondent for India’s leading news agencies, Indo Asian News Service (IANS) until November 2008 and before that for the Press Trust of India (PTI) from October 2000 to 2004. In Australia, she has contributed features to the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, Australian university publications and ethnic Indian newspapers.
Neena launched the Foreign Correspondents’ Association (Australia & South Pacific) website in 2003 and worked as the Online Editor until June 30, 2008.
She has been participating in public panel discussions and seminars on Australia-India bilateral relations, media, corruption in cricket, Australian elections and Asia, politics and trends in South Asia, Bhopal gas tragedy and eradication of polio at universities, conferences, Asia Link workshops, SBS Radio and ABC Television (Asia-Pacific).
She has a special interest in Post Polio Syndrome (PPS). She has written for the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on After eradication: India’s post-polio problem. She is a frequent speaker on Poliomyelitis at various international forums and writes on poliomyelitis and PPS . She has recently launched Post Polio – India, which aims to be an umbrella website for polio survivors and their families, health professionals, researchers and organisations to connect and share experiences and expertise.
Neena is a keen environmentalist and enjoys environment and wildlife research work. She is listed as a researcher on Google’s number one International Wildlife Film website and she is a member of the Climate Change Media Partnership. She was a member of the Final Jury at the 23rd International Wildlife Film Festival in Missoula, Montana (USA). She has written on a range of environment and development issues from rural India and followed up administrative action for project implementation at government and institutional levels. She has written four booklets for the Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi, India.
She also has expertise in writing, editing, designing and producing newsletters. She has edited and produced newsletters for Sir Roden Cutler Charities, the Foreign Correspondents’ Association (Australia & South Pacific) and Hydro@Waverley.
Neena has Master of Arts in Political Science and Bachelor of Law degrees, Diploma in Environmental Law and a Certificate in International Humanitarian Law from the Red Cross.
What steered me into journalism?
Science Journalists Association of Australia SJAA Profile
