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I live in the bustling, coastal town of Portland, Maine, where I make my living as a science writer. I specialize in health, but I've got wide-ranging interests, and over the years I've written about coral reefs, energy policy, climate change, and much more.
For me, the best part of the job is reporting. I like working through the layers of a story until the people and history behind it fall into place. The National Association of Science Writers recognized my reporting skills with its top prize—the science-in-society journalism award—for my coverage of electronic waste exports to China.
Prior to being a science writer I worked as a toxicologist with an environmental consulting firm. More than the narrow focus on research, it was always the big picture in science that attracted me. That's still the case today. Newsworthy events or findings don't come out of nowhere, they have an underlying context, and that's what I'm always looking for in my work.
Apart from journalism, my big passions are music and playing the guitar, skiing, and traveling. My reporting trips have taken me to Africa, the Caribbean, South America, and Europe. In past adventures, I backpacked around the South Pacific and Asia.
I grew up in Argentina and Connecticut, graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Connecticut, and then received a master's degree in public health from the University of Massachusetts. Happily ensconced in Maine, I now work out of an office on Commercial Street, in Portland's Old Port, a stone's throw from Casco Bay.
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Offshore oil drilling in the Arctic
Oil companies are salivating over huge stores of oil and natural gas in Arctic oceans. The following stories describe the opportunities and dangers they face up there.
Despite Data Gaps, U.S. Moves Closer to Arctic Drilling
The Obama administration is on course to approve oil and gas exploration off the coast of Alaska. But in June, the US Geological Survey published a 279-page report revealing major uncertainties in the science needed to support drilling in arctic seas. This article investigates.
Join the Live Chat of this article online at Science Magazine
Science Magazine
August 2011
Offshore Exploration in the Arctic: Can Shell's Oil-Spill Response Plans Keep Up?
Shell will likely begin drilling offshore in the Alaskan Outer Continental Shelf this summer. This article takes a close look at how the company would respond to a catastrophic oil spill in ice-filled seas.
Environmental Health Perspectives
May 2012
Drilling in an Arctic Frontier
Imagine a massive oil spill in the Arctic Ocean. How would the ecosystem respond? Here's a look.
Chemical & Engineering News
January 2011
Arctic Oil Drilling Plans Raise Environmental Health Concerns
The Pew Environment Group just published a major report on offshore arctic drilling. Here's what it had to say.
Environmental Health Perspectives
March 2011
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| Cancer
Written mainly for doctors and scientists, these stories cover the latest in research.
Conflicting Clinical Guidelines
Who's right? Who's wrong? Clinical guidelines for cancer treatment often give conflicting advise. This article investigates.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
December 2012
Increasing Efforts to Regulate Computed Tomography Scans
More than 80 million people in the US get computed Tomography (CT) scans every year. This article investigates possible cancer risk from their radiation exposure.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
April 2012
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Coral Reefs
Corals thrive only in a narrow temperature range. These stories explore how corals respond to a changing climate.
Trees of Life: Corals are Thriving in a Unique Habitat
Corals are threatened all over the world. So why are these corals so healthy?
Audubon
January 2011
In Hot Water: Global Warming Takes a Toll on Coral Reefs
In 2005, more than half the corals in the US Virgin Islands National Park were wiped out by disease after a sudden spike in water temperature. This article explains the biology of coral disease; an ecological threat that scientists have only begun to understand.
Environmental Health Perspectives
July 2008
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