About Me:

​My name is Sam (he/they) and I'm an environmental and science journalist. As a recent editorial fellow at Sierra, I covered stories about environmental science, conservation, and animal behavior. And during the summer of 2022, I wrote for Smithsonian as a AAAS Mass Media Fellow. 

​Before becoming a journalist, I studied biology and psychology as an undergraduate student at the University of California Berkeley and then went on to get an M.S. in biology from Purdue University and a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Florida. During graduate school, I studied the ecology and behavior of insects and amphibians.

You can check out a selection of my work below or browse my larger writing portfolio. And feel free to contact me with any questions.

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Crabs’ Sense of Smell Gets Worse in Acidic Seawater

Even in Antarctica, Krill Are Eating Plastic

Fungal Disease Poses Looming Threat to Salamanders

The Pandemic Diet (For Falcons)

The Mysterious Death of the Bumblebee Queens

Environmentalists Push to Protect the Okefenokee Swamp From Titanium Mining

Sea Stars Threatened by Intensifying Marine Heatwaves

These Five Innovative Rovers Will Soon Explore the Moon

How Animals Survive in a Savanna Full of Predators

Baby Sloths Are About as Cute As You Would Expect

Cougars Are Killing Feral Donkeys, and That's Good for Wetlands

The Done-Up Bird Gets the Worm

Lunar Pits Maintain Surprisingly Comfy Temperatures

First images of mysterious 'milky seas' captured

The DNA of hundreds of insect species is in your tea

This seabird species dives deeper when the water is clearer

Dengue fever and Zika virus make humans more attractive to mosquitoes

When cats chew catnip, it works as a bug spray

Honeybees experience withdrawal symptoms when deprived of alcohol​

Leatherback sea turtles struggle to find the ocean on moonless nights​

Access to free school lunch creates health benefits for a lifetime​

Domestic cats fall for the same visual illusions as we do

Living near a Superfund site shortens life expectancy for low-income residents​

Florida Farmworkers Have Lacked Access to Basic Health Care Resources Throughout the Pandemic

Even megalodon babies needed nurseries to survive​

An ecological trap exposes many bats to a deadly fungus

Brood parasites are quite picky about who they offload their kids on, depending on the climate

A viper's zig-zag colors help blur their predators' vision

Bumble bees cut holes in plants’ leaves to trigger flowering

Glowing worms have less sex when the lights are on