Science Journalism Portfolio
Stories for General Readers
Animal CSI: Forensics comes for the wildlife trade
Scientists are using the latest in DNA fingerprinting to combat the multibillion-dollar business of trafficking plants and animals.
Knowable Magazine, 2023
Could Getting Rid of Old Cells Turn Back the Clock on Aging?
Researchers are investigating medicines that selectively kill decrepit cells to promote healthy aging — but more work is needed before declaring them a fountain of youth.
Knowable Magazine, 2022
The Tale of the Domesticated Horse
The beloved animal has shaped human history over millennia, just as people have influenced its evolution — but only recently have scientists discovered exactly when and where it went from wild to tame.
Knowable Magazine, 2022
Pencils Down: The Year Pre-College Tests Went Away
Many colleges and universities stopped requiring the SAT and ACT during COVID. Will they go back to testing in the future? Select: (a) Yes (b) No (c) Depends (d) Not enough information.
Knowable Magazine, 2021
Winner, Excellence in Reporting, American Society of Journalists and Authors
The New Neuroscience of Stuttering
After centuries of misunderstanding, research has finally tied the speech disorder to certain genes and brain alterations — and new treatments may be on the horizon.
Knowable Magazine, 2020
The FBI’s Repatriation of Stolen Heritage
When the bureau’s Art Theft Program teamed up with a cultural anthropologist to investigate one man’s private collection, they began a years-long project to return cultural objects and human remains to their rightful homes.
Sapiens, 2020
Regeneration: The Amphibian’s Opus
Certain salamanders can regrow lost body parts. How do they do it? And could people someday do the same?
Knowable Magazine, 2020
Part of Series that received an Honorable Mention, Consumer Science & Technology, Folio Magazine Eddie Awards
The Unexpected Diversity of Pain
It comes in many types that each require specialized treatment. Scientists are starting to learn how to diagnose the different varieties.
Knowable Magazine, 2020
From Tiger Scat to DNA to — Hopefully — Survival
Researchers dig out the elusive cats’ genetic material where they can, to guide efforts at conservation and diversity.
Knowable Magazine, 2019
Threads of Time
Archaeologists are learning how ancient clothing, shrouds and even Viking sails might have been made.
Science News, 2019
Night Visions
Many animals once thought to have poor sight in low light use tricks in their nervous systems to see brilliantly in the dark.
Scientific American, 2019
How Halloween has Traveled the Globe
Whether trick-or-treating in the United States or costume play celebrations in Japan, All Hallows’ Eve has taken many forms as its traditions travel the world.
Sapiens, 2018
Uncovering Ancient Clues to Humanity’s First Fires
How and when our ancestors mastered the use of fire remains a hotly debated question. Researchers are hunting for answers buried in ancient ash and baked soils.
Sapiens, 2017
Fins of Pain
Exploring the diversity of venomous fish.
Science News cover story, 2017
Wasting Away
Cachexia is the weight and muscle loss that often goes with caner. Two promising treatments are in trials.
Los Angeles Times Health section front page, 2012
Cooling Trend
Lowering body temperature is an effective emergency treatment. Yet some doctors are slow to adapt.
Los Angeles Times Health section front page, 2011
Wise at Heart
Over 60 years, the Framingham Heart Study has revolutionized knowledge of cardiovascular disease and its risks. No reason to stop now, either.
Los Angeles Times Health section front page, 2009
Column One: Babel’s Modern Architects
Hush now, Tolkien fans and grunting Klingonists. More newly created tongues are getting their moment, thanks to the Web.
Los Angeles Times front page, 2007
Articles for Scientists
Gunes, genes and soil: Tales of pathogens past
Armed with DNA sequences and powerful computational tools, archaeogeneticists are turning their attention towards ancient microbes to give bacteria their due in human history.
Nature, 2023
Is this RNA a Key Ingredient in the Origin of Life?
A Nobel-prizewinning scientist’s team takes a big step forward in its quest to reconstruct an early-Earth RNA capable of building proteins.
Nature, 2023
The Truth About Gain-of-Function Research
Granting new abilities to pathogenic microbes sounds dangerous, but what has the research told us?
Nature, 2021
The Incredible Diversity of Viruses
They’re everywhere virologists look, and they’re not all bad. Scientists are beginning to identify and classify the nonillions of viruses on the planet and their contributions to global ecosystems.
Nature, 2021
Honorable Mention, Trade, American Society of Journalists and Authors
The Mysterious Microbes at the Root of Complex Life
As scientists learn more about enigmatic archaea, they’re finding clues about the origin of the complex cells that make up people, plants, and more.
Nature, 2021
Life Force
Scientists are pushing forward their understanding of the role of mechanical forces in the body, from embryo to adult.
Nature, 2021
Hear this story aloud on the Nature Podcast.
Survival of the Littlest
Babies born before 28 weeks of gestation are surviving into adulthood at higher rates than ever. What are the consequences, in later life, of being born so early?
Nature, 2020
Manipulating Memory
Strategies to make lab animals forget, remember, or experience false recollections probe how memory works and may inspire treatments for neurological disease.
The Scientist, 2020
Winner, Trade, American Society of Journalists and Authors
Feel the Force
After decades of puzzling over how cells sense touch and pressure, scientists are zooming in on the proteins responsible.
Nature, 2020
Hope for Coral Reefs
The ocean is warming and reefs are fading. But optimistic marine scientists are working to keep some corals alive until the climate stabilizes.
Nature, 2019
The Pain Gap
After decades of assuming that pain works the same way in all sexes, scientists are finding that different biological pathways can produce an ‘ouch!’.
Nature, 2019
I discuss this story on the Nature Podcast.
Blowin’ in the Wind
Can forests weather more major hurricanes?
The Scientist cover story, 2019
The Ancient Ones
Newly discovered archaea reveal bizarre biology.
The Scientist cover story, 2018
Better Beings?
As the technology to create genetically modified babies moves closer to practice, what questions should we ask before such procedures are contemplated?
Nature Biotechnology, 2017
Runner-up, The Hastings Center Awards for Excellence in Journalism on Ethics and Reprogenetics
Prehistoric Animals, In Living Color
Paleontologists are looking beyond bones to reveal the hues of prehistoric animals that vanished millions of years ago. But the young field has its share of disagreements.
PNAS Front Matter, 2016
A Day in the OR: Surgeons Zap Neurons for Parkinson’s, AD
Part 6 of a 6-part series on deep brain stimulation.
Alzforum, 2013
From Pond Scum to Pharmacy Shelf
Protein-based therapies promise to treat everything from cancer to arthritis, but the bacteria and mammalian cells that usually produce proteins leave much to be desired. New research shows that green algae — and genetically tweaked yeast — can churn out proteins that are cheaper and better tailored for human use than those made by traditional systems.
Nature Medicine, 2010
Part of winning entry for the Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award