Billi Bierling – Journalist and Climber

PERSONAL DETAILS

Name: Ms Billi Bierling
Date of Birth: 16 June 1967
Address: Lazimpat, Kathmandu, Nepal
Nationality: German
Email: billi.bierling – at – vtxmail.ch
Telephone: Germany: +49 (0)162 700 3494         Nepal: +977 98416 12426

WORK EXPERIENCE

January 2008 – August 2008: Advocacy Officer, United Nations OCHA, Jerusalem

• Editing all of OCHA’s outputs
• Compiling case studies for OCHA reports
• Updating website and presentations
• Filming and conducting interviews in the West Bank

January 2005 – January 2008: Freelance Journalist, Kathmandu, Nepal

• Writing mountaineering and political news for several publications, such as the BBC, The Guardian and swissinfo
• Writing and editing briefing papers for the Swiss Development Agency
• Filing radio reports on political issues for Deutsche Welle – English Service
• Editing papers for ICIMOD, a non-governmental organisation in Nepal
• Assisting the Himalayan chronicler, Miss Elizabeth Hawley, in interviewing and archiving Himalayan expeditions

Since November 2005: Press Officer, SDC Humanitarian Corps, Switzerland

• The Swiss Development Agency’s Corps for Humanitarian Aid employs me on a stand-by basis as spokeswoman for either the SDC directly or the Swiss Foreign Ministry in times of crisis

December 2004 – present: Expedition Leader in the Himalaya, Nepal and Tibet

• Leading mountaineering expeditions to Himalayan peaks

July 2001 – December 2004: Broadcast and Internet Journalist for swissinfo, Bern

• Writing news and feature articles for the swissinfo website
• Producing radio features and packages (digital editing)
• Presenting and producing a current affairs programme
• Writing and presenting international news bulletins

February 2003: Associate Producer for CBS 60 Minutes

• Managing a film crew for a television documentary

June 2000 – April 2001: Coordinating Editor for the Financial Times, London

• Coordinating the news flow between the Financial Times and the Financial Times Deutschland.
• Selecting and translating stories from German into English

July 1999: BBC World Service

• Work experience at the World Service Programme “Outlook”

Dec 1999 – May 2001:  Editor,  IKEA Magazine “room”, London

• Writing and editing features for a German lifestyle magazine.

Oct 1995 – July 1997: German Copywriter / Editor – Cabouchon Ltd., London

• Coordinating and producing a corporate German magazine

Feb 1994 – July 1994: English Teacher – Volkshochschule, Munich

• Teaching English grammar, conversation, reading and writing.

Oct 1991 – July 1993: German Teacher – Sutton High School, Sutton (UK)

• Teaching German to A-level and GCSE students.

EDUCATION

Oct 1998 – Sept 1999: MA in International Journalism, City University, London
Successful completion of an MA course in broadcast journalism. The course included writing radio news, researching and putting together radio features, presenting the news, digital and reel-to-reel editing.

Sept 1990 – July 1995: Fachakademie für Fremdsprachenberufe, Munich
Degree in Translating and Interpreting
Simultaneous and consecutive interpreting, economics, translation from & to German, essay writing

Sept 1988 – July 1990: Fachschule für Fremdsprachenkorrespondenten, Munich
Degree in Foreign Language Correspondence
Translation from and into English focusing on economic matters, Spanish, English and German shorthand.

February 1993: TEFL-Diploma – Teacher Training International, London
A six weeks TEFL training course (Grade Merit)

June 1992: Cambridge Proficiency in English (Grade: B)

September 1992: Endorsement to Certificate of Proficiency – Translation from & into German (Grade: C)

SPECIAL INTERESTS

High altitude mountaineering in the Himalayas and Andes, ski mountaineering, rock climbing, swimming, cycling, running. I lead expeditions to 7,000-metre-peaks in the Nepalese Himalaya and have travelled extensively in Nepal, Tibet, South Africa, Europe and South America.

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Fluent English and German (mother tongue standard), working Spanish, some French and Nepali, excellent communication skills and a broad knowledge of Internet technology, and Cool Edit Pro and Dalet for digital editing. Experience in editing text and broadcast material, sub-editing, proof-reading and layout design.