Why has the US government profiled pesticide scientists?

Alasdair speaks to journalist Margot Gibbs about her investigation into a US government-funded PR firm that profiled pesticide scientists. 

Last autumn, Lighthouse Reports - in collaboration with media partners across Europe - published an investigation into v-Fluence, a US-based PR firm that worked to discredit anti-pesticide scientists and campaigners.

Alasdair speaks to Margot Gibbs, a journalist who led the investigation, about its findings and what it reveals about the agro-chemicals lobby.

Margot Gibbs is an investigative reporter at Lighthouse Reports focusing on money trails and food systems reporting. Before joining Lighthouse she was a reporter for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Finance Uncovered. 

 Audio engineering by Vasko Kostovski.

Further reading:

• 'US-funded ‘social network’ attacking pesticide critics shuts down after Guardian investigation', The Guardian, February 2025
• 'Poison PR', Lighthouse Reports, September 2024
• 'How the US agrochemical lobby is meddling in the future of Kenyan farming', The New Humanitarian, September 2024
• 'Secret files suggest chemical giant feared weedkiller’s link to Parkinson’s disease', The Guardian, October 2022
• '"Monsanto papers": the pesticide giant's war against science', Le Monde, June 2017
• Merchants of Doubt, Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, 2010

Click here to read our investigation into the UK biomass supply chain, or watch a clip from the BBC Newsnight documentary.