Helena Carpio is a Venezuelan investigative multimedia journalist interested in the ever-changing relationship between society and the natural environment. She weaves data, photography, video, writing and sound, and leverages new formats to build empathy and understanding. A pioneer of scientific data and GIS journalism in Venezuela, her interdisciplinary work bridges academic methodologies and open remote sensing data with on-the-ground reporting.

Helena was raised in a farm in rural Venezuela and grew up between roadtrips and canoeing expeditions. She has a B.A. from Boston University in International Relations focused on economic development and sustainability, and a minor in journalism. 

As a multimedia and data journalist, her recognitions span multiple disciplines: two News & Documentary Emmy nominations for video, a VR project selected by La Biennale di Venezia - College Cinema, and investigative honors from The Pulitzer Prizes, Fundación GABO, the Inter-American Press Society, and the World Association of News Publishers. Her photography has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Humanitarian, Americas Quarterly, and Rolling Stone, among others. She is also an IWMF Adelante Fellow and a Pulitzer Center grantee and Ocean Reporting Fellow.

For most of her career she served as environmental journalist and Head of Innovation — a department she founded — at Prodavinci, Venezuela's award-winning independent magazine, where she led investigations on glacier retreat, wildlife trafficking, and wildfires, while producing the outlet's first podcast series and the country's first VR360 documentary. She currently co-anchors Fuerza Latina, a Deutsche Welle television program, and freelances for international media.

In between spare time and crunch time Helena is also an avid mountaineer, obsessive music listener and all around hugger. In 2017 she was part of the first all women expedition to ever climb a Tepui, unique flat-topped mountains in the Guiana Shield made out of some of the oldest sedimentary rock in the planet. And in 2021 she was part of the first expedition to successfully cross Sierra de la Culata, Venezuela’s longest Andean mountain-range, hiking over 124 miles above 13,200 feet to measure and register the tallest peaks in the country.

Helena is based in Caracas, Venezuela. 

Contact:

hele.carpio@gmail.com


 

 

 

Awards and recognitions

2026

The Pulitzer Prizes - Finalist in the National Reporting category, as part of the Washington Post team that tracked the impact of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.

2024-2025

Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting- Ocean Reporting Network Fellowship. Fellow

2022

Premio Internacional Rey de España de Periodismo - premio en la categoría Cooperación Internacional y Acción Humanitaria por “La promesa rota: el colapso de la seguridad social en Venezuela”

Premio a la Excelencia Periodística de la Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa (SIP) - mención honorífica en periodismo sobre medio ambiente “Roberto Eisenmann Jr” por “Incendios en Venezuela”

XII Concurso Nacional de Periodismo de Investigación del Instituto de Sociedad y Prensa (IPYS) Venezuela - mención especial en la categoría cobertura por “Incendios en Venezuela”

2021

Premio Gabriel García Márquez de Periodismo (Premio Gabo) - nominación en la categoría de Innovación por “Naturaleza en llamas”

Amazon Rainforest Journalism Fund (Pulitzer Center) Grant for “Forests to ashes: How wildfires are threatening Venezuela's megadiverse Protected Areas and endangering its biodiversity” project. Grantee

World Association of News Publishers (WAN IFRA) Digital Media Awards LATAM - first place for best data visualization in small newsroom for “Nature in flames”.

Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award - shortlist for best environmental story for “Nature in flames”

Premio de la Sociedad Interamericana de Prensa (SIP) a la Excelencia Periodística - mención de honor en periodismo sobre salud por “En tiempos de pandemia”

XI Concurso Nacional de Periodismo de Investigación del Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS) Venezuela - primer lugar en categoría cobertura por “Covid-19 llega a un país en crisis: despachos desde Venezuela”

2020

Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting Covid-19 Grant for Prodavinci’s “COVID-19 Strikes a Country in Crisis: Dispatches From Venezuela” project. Grantee

International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) Adelante Reporting Fellowship for Mexico-Guatemala border in March 2020. Fellow

Premio Roche de Periodismo en Salud (Fundación GABO) - mención de honor en periodismo de soluciones por ”Tiempos de Malaria en Venezuela”

2019

La Biennale di Venezia - selected “Frontera” for its College Cinema Virtual Reality Workshop + Venice Film Festival Production Bridge

40th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Nomination in Outstanding Feature Story in Newscast for Nightline’s Exodus: A Mother's Journey

IX Concurso Nacional de Periodismo de Investigación del Instituto de Sociedad y Prensa (IPYS) Venezuela - primer lugar por “Vivir sin agua”

IX Concurso Nacional de Periodismo de Investigación del Instituto de Sociedad y Prensa (IPYS) Venezuela - mención especial por “El ataque del dragón amarillo”

Inkafest Mountain Film Festival 2019 - premio al Mejor documental de Latinoamérica por Tepuyeras

2018

39th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Nomination in Outstanding Feature Story in Spanish for Zero Hour: Venezuela’s crisis through a mother’s eyes

Ascenso Film Festival - Best film, best film in its category and best photography for Tepuyeras