Airwars is a not-for-profit transparency watchdog which tracks, assesses, archives and investigates civilian harm claims in conflict-affected nations. Founded in 2014, by Chris Woods and Basile Simon, we are today a leading authority on conflict violence as it affects civilian communities.

Our mission:

To reliably and independently document the human cost of war in order to promote a more peaceful world where human lives are acknowledged and taken into account by militaries, policy-makers and global citizens with dignity and empathy.

Our impact goals:

Pressure governments and military actors to acknowledge and take responsibility for the full human toll of their actions
Ensure measures to prevent human suffering, particularly amongst civilian populations, are centred in military policy and practice
Give individuals, communities and international actors the tools and evidence to pursue justice and accountability

Headquartered in the UK, Airwars is affiliated with the Department of Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London. Our subsidiary organisation Airwars Stichting is registered as a not for profit in the Netherlands, which is also home to our satellite European office in Utrecht. Airwars staff and volunteers are variously based in the UK, Middle East, Europe and North America.

Read our latest Annual report here.

Team

Emily Tripp

Emily is the Director of Airwars. Since 2021 she worked as our Research Manager, and took over the leadership of the organisation in June 2022 from founder and former director Chris Woods. Her previous experience includes working in humanitarian aid delivery in the Middle East, with a focus on carrying out research and managing assessment teams in Syria and Libya to help inform humanitarian responses.

Joe Dyke

Joe leads our Investigations and Accountability Unit. Joe has a decade of experience living and working in the Middle East, including as Chief Correspondent for the Palestinian Territories for AFP. His role is to carry out in-depth investigations and lead major media partnerships across a variety of conflict-related topics.

Clarie Alspektor

Clarie joined Airwars as our Head of Research in October 2022. She previously worked as a Middle East Researcher for the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons. Her expertise is in qualitative and quantitative analysis related to the protection of civilians, as well as in data management.

Shihab Halep

Shihab Halep is our Senior Conflict Researcher, leading our local open source research teams. A refugee from Aleppo, he is our Syria specialist – with extensive experience monitoring and researching strikes from foreign actors in Syria (such as Russia and the US-led Coalition); Shihab additionally oversees and trains our monitoring teams for Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and Iraq.

Kathrin Hanki

Kathrin is our Operations Coordinator. Kathrin has worked on building systems for community-led organisations, with extensive experience both internationally and in London.

Anna Zahn

Anna is a Conflict Research consultant based in the US currently working on casualty assessments across multiple conflicts and belligerents, and began with Airwars as a volunteer in 2018. She has an MA in American foreign policy and international economics from Johns Hopkins SAIS, and has previously worked in communications and political campaigning.

Clive Vella

Clive is our Open Source Research Lead. Originally starting with Airwars as our geolocation specialist, Clive has worked across our conflict portfolio verifying the locations of strikes and answering spatial questions internally and externally. He now leads our geospatial department, supplementing the work of both our investigations team and research teams to provide advanced analysis and innovate our practices. Clive holds an MA from the Centre For Research Architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Salim Habib

Salim Habib is a Baghdad-based Conflict Researcher and journalist who monitors and follows up for us reports of civilians killed and injured in Iraq by US-led Coalition air and artillery strikes; as well as monitoring reports of civilian harm resulting from Turkish actions in northern Syria, and Kurdistan/ northern Iraq. Salim has worked in Iraq as a researcher and field producer for many major international news organisations, including the BBC, the UK’s Channel 4, Al Jazeera English, Al Arabiya and ABC News

Megan Karlshøj-Pedersen

Megan is our Policy Specialist, working across the US, the UK, and several European countries. She previously worked as a Conflict Researcher and Advocacy Officer at the Oxford Research Group’s Remote Warfare Programme and has extensive experience as an organiser within migration-focused projects.

Sanjana Varghese

Sanjana Varghese is an investigator in our Investigations and Accountability Unit. She graduated with a degree in Research Architecture with a studio in Forensic Architecture, from the University of Goldsmiths. She has previously worked as a freelance journalist for a number of publications, including WIRED, The New Statesman, and The Economist.

Duncan Salkovskis

Duncan joined the geolocation team as a volunteer at the start of 2021, and is now working with Airwars as a geolocation researcher. He has also previously worked as a campaign organiser and engineer. Duncan graduated with an MA from the Centre for Research Architecture at Goldsmiths, and his research is concerned with the geo- and biopolitics of precaritisation.

Júlia Nueno

Júlia is an engineer and researcher in the Investigations and Accountability Unit. She graduated with an MA in Research Architecture at Goldsmiths. Her work is set on the intersection between technology, data, and rights, and she focuses on the development of crowd-source and open-source tools.

Iryna Chupryna

Iryna Chupryna started as a Conflict Researcher for Airwars in December 2022. A war refugee from Ukraine, previously she was engaged in various media monitoring projects focusing, among other things, on the monitoring of Russian war propaganda. She graduated with MSc in International Public Policy from the University College London.

Igor Corcevoi

In September 2022, Airwars welcomed Igor as a Conflict Researcher based in the UK. With a background in governmental affairs and a passion for promoting transparency and accountability, Igor works to uncover the human toll of the war in Ukraine.

Yulia Oborskaya

Yulia has been working as a Conflict Researcher at Airwars since 2022. She has an MA in Psychology from the National Pedagogical Dragomanov University. Previously, she worked in the creative field with international non-governmental organizations.

Anika Venkatesh

Anika graduated from the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University in 2022 with a degree in International Politics and Mathematics. Previously Anika pursued internships in the intersection of law, policy and human rights advocacy.

Azul De Monte

Azul De Monte (she/they) is a visual artist, researcher, and designer. With a BA in Image and Sound Design from the University of Buenos Aires and an MA in Art Praxis from the Dutch Art Institute, Azul’s focus is on translating investigations into audiovisual forms that efficiently portray their processes and conclusions. Azul has been working with Airwars since November 2022.

James Foley

James works with Airwars as a volunteer Developmental Consultant, focusing on researching and identifying potential funders and special projects, and supporting Airwars’ strategic development. He is located in the US and has been with Airwars since 2017. James holds a BS degree in Community Health Administration and Planning, focusing on financial modelling and healthcare data analytics, and holds additional certifications in studies of forced migration. James’ most recent role was with a regional healthcare organisation as Vice President of Strategic Planning, where he also managed the corporate foundation.

With thanks to our 2023 volunteers

Research

Alice Lindsay, Aya Wazaz, Brian Osgood, Eleonora Sobrero, Joe Murphy, Jordan Smolinsky, Martha Greenhough, Richard Quinlan, Samuel Doak, Alice Smith, Steve Pine, Reine Radwan, Aimee Johnson, Austin Graff, Nitish Vaidyanathan, Alexander Royall, Anna Bailey-Morley, Luca Poletti, Niamh Gillen

Geolocation

Flavia Palladino, Rowena De Silva, Claire August, Lisa Maillard, Faye Harvey

Who We Are