Dara McAnulty
Dara Seamus McAnulty, born on 31 March 2004, is a naturalist, writer and environmental campaigner from Northern Ireland. He is autistic and writes about nature and his life outdoors. He grew up near the Mourne Mountains, finished Shimna Integrated College in 2022, and studied natural sciences at Queens’ College, Cambridge.
His debut book, Diary of a Young Naturalist (May 2020), describes his love of nature as a teenage autistic boy. It earned him the Wainwright Prize for UK nature writing in 2020. He was also the youngest winner of the RSPB Medal in 2019 for his environmental campaigning against harm to wildlife and biodiversity.
McAnulty writes for newspapers and magazines. Since June 2021 he has been a monthly nature columnist for The Irish Times. He has written for The Guardian and The Big Issue, and has appeared on BBC radio and TV shows such as Springwatch and Countryfile, and on BBC Radio 4's Tweet of the Day. He is an ambassador for the RSPCA and the Jane Goodall Institute. He also took part in The People’s Walk for Wildlife with Chris Packham.
He has received several honors, including being named a Points of Light in 2018 by the UK Prime Minister. His second book, Wild Child, was shortlisted for the 2022 Wainwright Prize for Children’s Writing on Nature and Conservation. In 2023 he was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the environment and to people with autism.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 17:49 (CET).