Writing

My science journalism pieces have appeared in a number of publications, including Nature, Nautilus, The Scientist, Undark, PNAS, Spacing Magazine, Hakai, the Forbes.com website, BOLD blog and various other places.

I won the ABSW Award for Opinion Piece or Editorial of the Year in 2020 and was a finalist in the Research Policy category in 2023.

Writing samples

I’ve included an occasionally updated selection of my articles below. This list covers topics in genetics, health, citizen science, education, and the overlap of science and the arts. To keep up with new writing, please subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on social media to get the latest updates.

One man’s mission to revive a forgotten, life-saving cancer drug
Dutch immunologist Jacques Neefjes believes the drug aclarubicin, unavailable in Europe for 20 years, could have helped 100,000 people with a rare blood cancer
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www.theguardian.com
Do kids benefit from making art in nature? | BOLD
Could combining nature with art improve children’s wellbeing and help them manage climate anxiety?
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bold.expert
Language barriers in conservation research could be hurting biodiversity efforts | Ensia
Some researchers say that ignoring non-English papers could have disastrous consequences for conservation.
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ensia.com
Genetic Medicine Is Poised to Create New Inequality. Here’s How to Fix It. | Undark
Opinion | To boost the participation of marginalized communities in genetic studies, doctors must first win back their trust.
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undark.org
Life After Sequencing | The Scientist
Fifteen years after publication of the human genome’s first draft sequence, what has become of the hundreds of researchers who worked on the project?
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www.the-scientist.com
Millions Of Borderlands 3 Players Have Helped Microbiome Research | Forbes.com
4.5 million gamers played the Borderlands Science mini-game that helped researchers solve the genetic code of bacteria in the human microbiome.
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www.forbes.com
Can thinking like a scientist help us tackle societal issues? | Physics World
Eva Amsen reviews Third Millennium Thinking: Creating Sense in a World of Nonsense by Saul Perlmutter, John Campbell and Robert MacCoun
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physicsworld.com
Using a Board Game to Plan for a Changing Planet | Hakai Magazine
For one Māori community, a board game sparked serious discussions about flood risk.
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hakaimagazine.com
Communicating science at a music festival — with 135,000 attendees | Nature
Helen Currie has shared her fish-migration research at several UK festivals, including Glastonbury.
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www.nature.com
Glacier Lessons as a Glacier Lessens | Hakai Magazine
For nearly 10 years, Jón Stefánsson’s grade-seven students have been tracking the disappearance of their local glacier.
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www.hakaimagazine.com
Including Globally Diverse Groups Improves Music Research | Undark
Opinion | To learn about how the human brain perceives music, researchers must expand studies beyond Western music and culture.
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undark.org
Remote education inspires new ways to teach chemistry lab courses | C&EN
The pandemic forced chemistry instructors to rethink how to teach the lab component of undergraduate chemistry classes
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cen.acs.org
George Washington Carver Was An Artist Long Before He Became A Peanut Scientist | Forbes.com
George Washington Carver wasn’t just a peanut scientist, but a skilled artist as well. One of his paintings was even shown at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.
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www.forbes.com
Wildlife education with Pokémon Go | BOLD
Augmented reality games like Pokémon Go involve the real world in the gameplay. This can make popular games a great jumping-off point to make players aware of their own local environment.
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bold.expert
How We Got From Doc Brown to Walter White
The changing image of the TV scientist.
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nautil.us

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