The Outlaw Ocean Institute

Each year, we select several young journalists to train and support.

Meet the Fellows

  • Gaea Cabico, The Outlaw Ocean Institute Fellow
    Meet Gaea

    Gaea Cabico

    Philippines

    Gaea Katreena Cabico is a journalist with Philstar.com, an online news outlet based in Manila, Philippines. She has been writing stories focused on marginalized people, development-induced displacement and those affected by and adapting to climate change since 2019. Cabico has covered watershed degradation and the deforestation of Philippine forests, specifically the Sierra Madre Mountain Range in Luzon, as well as initiatives of surrounding communities to restore these wooded areas. In her ongoing reporting, she continues to explore the impacts of fossil gas projects, mining activities, reclamation projects, dam projects, and attacks on environmental defenders in the Philippines.

    During her professional career, Cabico has been a fellow at Earth Journalism Network, Stanley Center for Peace and Security, Climate Tracker, Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Journalism Fund, United Nations Human Rights Office Southeast Asia Regional Office, and UN Women. In 2020, she was one of the top 10 finalists for the Journalism for an Equitable Asia Award for her story about the human and environmental costs of an airport project in Manila Bay. Her reporting honed in on the destructive influence of the plan on the natural environs, food security and the livelihoods of the local fisherman of the Bulacan province.

  • Min Kyi Thein, The Outlaw Ocean Institute Fellow
    Meet Min

    Min Kyi Thein

    Myanmar

    Min Kyi Thein began his journalism career in Myanmar in 2012 as a freelance cameraman for Global Media Services. He joined Associated Press Television News (APTN) in a similar capacity in 2014, covering national breaking news and politics. While shooting video for APTN, Thein witnessed conflicts between Myanmar’s army and the Rohingya in Rakhine State. He covered the plight of internally displaced people in the wake of these tensions. Over a period of several years, Thein also worked on stories involving the return of ex-slaves to Myanmar, the restriction of the rights of Rohingya fishermen, the illegal logging trade in central Myanmar and various natural disasters around the country.

    After chronicling events in Myanmar for seven years, Thein received an offer from Channel News Asia (CNA), based in Singapore, to be a videographer for domestic and international news. When Myanmar’s army staged a coup in 2021, the intrepid Thein requested to be assigned to the CNA Myanmar Bureau based in Yangon. Since that time, he has been carefully navigating the delicate terrain of the military state in Myanmar through the lens of his video camera.

  • Mustapha Manneh, The Outlaw Ocean Institute Fellow
    Meet Mustapha

    Mustapha Manneh

    The Gambia

    Mustapha Manneh is a freelance journalist based in The Gambia. For the past five years, Manneh has been writing stories about fishmeal factories in The Gambia and Senegal, with a focus on the community impact of these factories and the local resistance to them. His reporting has also highlighted the tenuous China-Africa relations that color the process of fishmeal investment in Africa. Manneh currently freelances for China Dialogue as West Africa Regional Editor. He is particularly interested in environmental pollution, marine biodiversity, ocean policy and the Africa-China relationship.

    Manneh is Editor in Chief of Kartong Weekly News, a community social media online newspaper, and founder of Their Voice Must Be Heard, a youth-led human rights non-profit organization supporting the needy and advocating for social justice in The Gambia.

    In addition, Manneh has worked with a variety of non-governmental and civil society organizations including: Greenpeace Africa, Amnesty International, Environmental Justice Foundation, Mbolo Association, National Youth Council, and Innovators Spaces. He was also a consultant for The World Bank.

To learn more, email: media@theoutlawocean.com