Nature writer of the year announced

An artist with a lifelong passion for animals and the countryside is the winner of the 2009 BBC Wildlife/Earthwatch Nature Writer of the Year Award.

Abi Burns will be joining the Earthwatch expedition Samburu Communities and Wildlife as her prize, and will have her winning essay published in the summer special issue of BBC Wildlife magazine. Her moving and thought-provoking story of a badger and its cubs impressed the panel of judges.

Abi, who lives near Lincoln, has a PhD in zoology from Oxford University, but she now works as an artist and writer, with a particular interest in the relationship between humans and the natural world.

Abi says, "This is the first writing competition I have entered. The challenge of writing a nature story which would engage people appealed to me. I was also really keen on going on one of the Earthwatch expeditions and being able to do some genuine conservation work."

Her story focuses on a patch of ancient woodland near her family home in Cornwall, where she has been observing wildlife for 20 years. She says, "I think it is best to write about what you know well and I have become very involved with the lives of the wood's badgers. The story was also about the loss of undisturbed places in Britain, which I feel strongly about."

Earthwatch Head of Marketing and Communications, Caroline Chisholm, was among the judging panel. She says, "We had some excellent entries this year, but in the end the quality of Abi's story, combined with her subtle reflections about the impact of habitat loss on our native species, won us over. It was a touching and beautifully written piece about a subject which is clearly close to Abi's heart."

As her prize, Abi had a choice of three Earthwatch expeditions, but she opted for the expedition to Kenya.

"The Samburu one really stood out because of my interest in the relationship between traditional communities and the environment. The culture of the Samburu people sounds fascinating and I am really keen to see how this project is helping balance the needs of villagers with those of large predators. The expedition will give me a privileged insight into the Kenya the tourists don't see and I think it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Now Abi is pursuing both her writing and art as she believes they complement each other. She is also currently researching a book on Britain's native breeds of livestock and indigenous farming communities, and their link with landscape and nature.

• The BBC Wildlife competition was open to writers aged 18 or over, whether previously published or not. They were invited to share their experiences of the natural world in an essay no longer than 800 words. The judging panel included Earthwatch supporter Kate Humble, one of the BBC's leading natural history presenters. To read Abi's winning story, buy the summer special issue of BBC Wildlife magazine, available on 9 July.