As a freelance science writer, I wear a lot of hats and write for many different places. Here are a few of the pieces I’ve written:
2019
Freelance journalism (selected pieces)
- 02/12/19: “This houseplant can clean indoor air” (Science News for Students)
News Features for Scientific Journals
- 03/21/19: “A New Wave of Genomics for All” (Cell)
2018
Freelance Journalism (selected pieces)
- 11/08/18: “A Germ of An Idea” (column) (Lateral)
- 10/08/18: “And Still the Galaxies Turn” (column) (Lateral)
- 09/01/18: “‘Bone-Crushing’ Dogs Left Evidence in Their Poop” (Scientific American)
- 08/23/18: “A Catastrophic Hypothesis” (column) (Lateral)
- 07/18/18: “The Surprising Reason Tiny Lemurs ‘Grow’ Their Own Gardens” (National Geographic)
- 07/02/18: “Lowering the stakes on exams could help close the gender gap in STEM classes“ (Nature jobs blog)
- 06/04/18: “The General Mishmash-ome” (column) (Lateral)
- 05/02/18: “How a Eurasian Steppe Empire Coped With Decades of Drought” (Sapiens)
- 04/16/18: “A Bear For All Seasons: Colorado’s bears won’t hibernate if humans keep the dumpsters overflowing” (Sierra)
- 04/05/18: “Electric Shark Boogaloo: Is there such a thing as an electric fence but for sharks?” (Sierra)
- 03/14/18: “Faultlines in Geology” (column) (Lateral)
- 03/14/18: “Paradigm Shift 101” (column) (Lateral)
- 02/05/18: “The Great Snake Debate” (video script) (PBS Eons)
- 02/01/18: “Are You a Wizard or a Prophet?” (book review)(NEO.LIFE)
Institutional Writing (selected pieces)
(Note: I try to limit the amount of institutional work I do to avoid accumulating conflicts-of-interest. At present (1/21/19), the only institutional work I’m doing is for the Harvard Molecular & Cell Biology Department website and news-feature pieces for Cell Press journals on a freelance basis. I previously interned at Cell Press’s media relations office. Full list of perceived conflicts-of-interest available upon request.)
- 10/29/18: “Postdoc Profile: Jonny Kohl” (Harvard MCB)
- 09/07/18: “Summer Interns Gain Research Experience and Forge Friendships Through SROH” (Havard MCB)
- 02/26/18: “FAS Center for Systems Biology Reflects on Two Decades of Research Camaraderie” (Harvard MCB)
News Features for Cell Press Journals
- 03/08/18: “Microbiome Research in a Social World” (CELL)
- 07/13/17: “Biology Gone Wild” (Cell)
- 06/01/17: “From Cell Stem Cell to Clinical Trials: The Biotech Journey of Two Papers” (Cell Stem Cell)
- 05/18/17: “Silicon Valley Meets Biomedical Research in the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative” (Cell)
2017
Freelance journalism (selected pieces)
- 12/18/17: “When Giant Fungi Ruled” (video script) (PBS Eons)
- 11/28/17: “Some E-Cigarette Flavors May Be More Harmful Than Others” (The Atlantic)
- 10/12/17: “6 Amazing Things to Watch in Synthetic Biology” (NEO.LIFE)
- 09/21/17: “Is Rock Climbing Bad for Cliffs?” (Sierra)
- 08/31/17: “The Audacity of Synthetic Biologists” (NEO.LIFE)
- 08/09/17: “Correcting the Circulation Myth” (Lateral)
- 07/25/17: “The Upside of Rotting Carcasses” (Smithsonian)
- 07/14/17: “Rats can tell when they’ve forgotten something, just like us” (New Scientist)
- 07/06/17: “Makers of the World, Unite” (NEO.LIFE)
Favorite Press Releases from Internship at Cell Press
- “Structure of LSD explains its potency”
- Led to coverage in: Gizmodo, Nature, Newsweek, Scientific American, and WIRED, among others
- “How exercise — interval training in particular — helps your mitochondria stave off old age”
- Led to coverage in: CNN and Good Morning America (network TV), among others
- “Neanderthal DNA contributes to human gene expression”
- Led to coverage in: BBC Inside Science (radio), New Scientist, SciShow (Youtube), and Smithsonian, among others
- “This timid little fish escapes predators by injecting them with opioid-laced venom”
- Led to coverage in: The Atlantic, Discover, The New York Times, and NPR, among others
- “No rest for the aged: As people get older, sleep quantity and quality decline”
- Led to coverage in: Huffington Post and Popular Science, among others
- “How octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish defy genetics’ ‘central dogma'”
- Led to coverage in: The Atlantic, WIRED, PLOS blogs, and The Washington Post, among others
- “Killing flu viruses with help from a frog”
- Led to coverage in: Ars Technica, CNN, The LA Times, NBC News, Popular Science, and The Onion, among others
- “Baleen whales’ ancestors were toothy suction feeders”
- Led to coverage in: The Guardian, Scientific American, and The Verge, among others
Institutional Writing (selected pieces)
- 11/28/17: “MCB postdocs receive prestigious NIH fellowships” (Harvard MCB)
- 09/12/17: “Collaboration and camaraderie fuel the SROH Program” (Harvard MCB)
- 07/12/17: “Award-winning MCB Concentrator Moves Forward to Study Bioscience Enterprise” (Harvard MCB)
- 06/16/17: “MCB’s Behind the Scenes Hero: A/V Technician Jack Conlin Wins Harvard Hero Award” (Havard MCB)
2014-2016
The Atlantic
Science
Scientific American
- Sticky Bacterial Biofilms Dissolve on Contact with Sugar-Cutting Enzymes (aka “Divide and Conquer”, front-of-book)
- “Ultracold-Resistant Chemical on Titan Could Allow It to Harbor Life” (news)
- “Gingivitis Bacteria Triggers a Tailspin in Your Mouth” (front-of-book)
- “The Epstein–Barr Virus Wears Chain Mail” (news)
Lateral
- “The Depths of Space: Earth’s oceans are impressive, but space exploration has revealed many seas beyond our own“ (backgrounder/history)
- “Lynn Margulis and the radical origin story“ (column)
Method Quarterly
- “Atom by Atom: Building Protein Models” (science history mini-feature)
NOVA Next
- “Hacking a Bacteriophage’s Genome May Lead to a Cystic Fibrosis Treatment” (news)
- “Junk Food Can Alter Your Immune System” (news)
Scope (MIT)
- “How Did These Indestructible Pond Critters Get Their Genes?” (news)
- “What Paleo Voice Recognition Can Tell Us About Early Humans’ Hearing“ (news)
- “Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Russians, & Mistletoe“ (science history)
Knight Science Journalism
- “Science Writers Consider Alternative Narratives” (recap of NASW conference session)
- KSJ Alum: Esther Nakkazi ’08 (mini-profile)
- KSJ Alum: Natasha Mitchell ’06 (mini-profile)
- KSJ Alum: Adam Rogers ’03 (mini-profile)
- KSJ Alum: Hepeng Jia ’12 (mini-profile)
- KSJ Alum: Cynthia Graber, ’13 (mini-profile)
- KSJ Alum: Debbie Ponchner ’03 (mini-profile)
- KSJ Alum: Annaleee Newitz ’03 (mini-profile)
Scientista Foundation
- “Autism isn’t just about genes & proteins; it’s also about how those proteins are folded” (explainer)
- “Nobel Nominee Spotlight: Maud Slye, cancer pathologist” (science history)
- “Nobel Nominee Spotlight: Cécile Vogt, neurologist” (science history)
Minority Postdoc
- “AAC&U Keynote Addresses Student Identity and the STEM “Push-Out Culture” (recap, co-authored with A.I.Roca)
nSCI Profile Series
- “Ruha Benjamin on Science and Society” (interview)
- “Monica Ramirez-Andreotta– Scientist, Artist, Community Educator” (interview)
- “Monica Feliu-Mojer– outreach scientist” (interview)
- “Ari Daniel– radio and multimedia producer” (interview)
- “Alexis Gambis — science filmmaker” (interview)
Medium
- “Fear of Becoming Jonah: Impostor Syndrome in Science Journalism” (essay)
- “8 Lessons I’ve Learned Re: Building a Functional Journalism Career This Year” (listicle)
- “On Becoming a Main Character in My Own Writings (and learning how to step aside)” (essay)
- “In Defense of the Notebook that No One Ever Sees” (essay)
2013 & earlier
Bard Science Journal:
- Full issue of Bard Science Journal: May 2013 online includes:
- “The Fly Room: Genetics-Inspired Feature Film Will Be Shooting at Bard This June” (news-feature, p. 7)
- “How to Put Together a Scientific Figure: A Senior BSJ Layout Person Shares Experience” (op/ed, p. 20)
- Full issue of Bard Science Journal: April 2013 online includes:
- “Dawkins & Atheism: Is Organized Godlessness Really That Different from an Organized Religion? (essay, p. 9)
- A cartoon explaining cancer immunotherapy (p. 19)
- “Cancer Telephone: The Potential of ‘Don’t Eat Me Signal CD47 as a Target for Antibody Therapy” (term-paper-turned-into-long-explainer, p. 20)
- “Science and Politics: They’re not Independent Variables“ (op/ed on science policy, 2012)
- “Retro-thinking: Scientific Logic & the HIV Denial Movement” (essay, 2012)
Comments
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