I’m Elia Kabanov, an award-winning science writer and data journalist based in London. For more than 20 years, I’ve researched and written about science and technology. In recent years, I’ve expanded into data visualisation, maps and interactive journalism.

My work spans journalism, science communication and editorial projects for media, universities, NGOs and companies around the world. I’ve worked with organisations including the British Council, Novartis, Siemens, the Goethe-Institut, Grist, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, IMAX, Yandex and Meduza.

Contact me if you think my experience would be helpful.

My achievements:

  • Information is Beautiful Awards Silver + two longlisted features (USA, 2025)
  • International Centre for Journalists, A Journey of Shared Discovery Fellow (USA, 2019)
  • Erice International School of Science Journalism Fellow (Italy, 2017)
  • Deutsche Welle, The Best of Blogs Winner as the Best Russian Blog (Germany, 2010)

Career highlights:

I started publishing online in 2001, when I founded one of Siberia’s first online film magazines. By the mid-2000s, I was working across journalism, digital media and communications, and in 2008 I launched Metkere.com, a science, technology and culture blog that won Deutsche Welle’s Best of Blogs award two years later.

Science journalism gradually became the centre of my work. In 2011, I co-authored the book Scientific Answers to Space Questions. In 2016, I compiled and edited a handbook on science communication. From 2018 to 2022, I worked as a science writer and digital advisor at the independent Siberian publication Tayga.info, where I launched its science coverage. I have also written about science and technology for publications and organisations in several countries, while continuing a long-running column on historical films and television for Diletant. In 2022, I became a co-author and presenter of a new YouTube channel about science, which now has more than 450,000 subscribers.

Since 2022, teaching and editorial development have become a larger part of my work. I developed and taught a course on science content production at ITMO University, advised its AI Communications specialisation, and co-produced an online course on AI for sustainability on Udemy. I also launched Hypertextual, my science and technology newsletter, and Deptford.org, an independent publication about local history, maps and data.

Since 2024, I have increasingly combined reporting and writing with data visualisation, maps and interactive journalism. I have led visual projects about cities and sustainability, produced independent data stories and digital history projects, and won an Information is Beautiful Award in 2025.

For the full chronology, see my projects.

My media appearances and public talks:

My interviews and expert commentary were featured on the BBC, in The New York Times, CoinDesk, Le Monde, The Guardian, Slate, and numerous other outlets.

I have given hundreds of talks and lectures on science, technology and media, from Berlin and Delhi to Dhaka and Vladivostok.

On a personal note:

I reside in London with my wife, Anastasia. Previously, I lived and worked in Vilnius, Seattle, Moscow, and Novosibirsk. I’ve visited 52 countries, crossed the Arctic Circle eight times, dined in the Kremlin, sailed the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas, and won a storytelling competition sponsored by Grant’s whisky.

I’ve walked the Pilgrims’ Way and the Thames Path, kayaked in the Sea of Japan, swum in Siberian rivers at 0 °C, and helped clean rivers and lakes along the way. I’ve been ordained as a minister, had my wedding officiated by an astronomer, performed in several plays, and been kissed on the cheek by the first woman in space. I have also tried, so far unsuccessfully, to prosecute Vladimir Putin for his war crimes.

I love bees.