Former fellows of the Knight Science Journalism have been hard at work reporting stories that reveal how science impacts lives around the world. From unchecked garbage fires to academic freedom, our alumni are telling the stories that link science to policy, and the everyday impacts on communities. Read on for compelling coverage of science, whether it’s explaining the past or shaping the future.
An Eye on Science Policy
Emily Foxhall (‘25) moved back to Texas after her KSJ fellowship in June. Shortly after, on July 4, she was dispatched to report on the deadly flooding that struck a region of the state known as Hill Country. She says she hasn’t stopped covering the disaster since “because there are so many important aspects to it: How the flood traumatized people; how local leaders were unprepared; how Texans continue to live and develop in risky areas.” Over the course of two months, Foxhall reported this story about the unfathomable grief one couple is working through after losing their daughters and parents to the flood. She has also reported bereaved parents seeking policy change after their children died at summer camp, the lack of federal disaster help, and politicians weaponizing the flood response in a redistricting battle.
In July, Laura Bliss (‘23) published an investigation in Bloomberg Businessweek that uncovered the toxic consequences of trash smoldering beneath the surface of landfills in California and the efforts by the waste industry to avoid regulation in this area. In response, California regulators proposed new regulations that would address landfill fires. Then, in late November, the California Air Resources Board voted to adopt new landfill regulations, including provisions designed to lower the risk of landfill fires.
Teresa Carr (‘18) conducted an investigation on marijuana regulation for Undark, supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Foundation. The story took her from cannabis farms in Oregon to meetings between activists and regulators at the Oklahoma state capitol exploring how mislabeled and contaminated marijuana wind up on dispensary shelves. With help from Aleszu Bajak (‘13), who analyzed data obtained from open records requests, the story documents how testing labs are at the center of quality issues and how a few states are beefing up the scientific infrastructure necessary to keep better tabs on quality.
Mićo Tatalović (‘18) has been reporting for Science, Chemistry World, Physics World, and Science Business on an unfolding situation in Serbia. Students there have been involved in mass demonstrations against corruption for a full year now, which has affected research faculties but has been backed by academics on the whole. The government has issued policies that Tatalovic says curtail academic freedoms, and that academics see as “revenge” for supporting students. One such policy he reported on limited paid research time to just one hour a day, effectively blocking access to most big international grants. His most recent reports detail the European Union’s rebuke of the government actions.
Venkatesh Hariharan (‘99) wrote a piece for the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) on how countries with different levels of AI capabilities can think through their AI strategies. He says his KSJ fellowship influenced his approach: “I tried to cut through the enormous hype around LLMs and companies like OpenAI and offer a pragmatic path forward for all those concerned about the future of AI. At KSJ my goal was to look at technologies that can advance development and democratise access to knowledge. After talking to hundreds of technologists at MIT and Harvard, I came to the conclusion that open source software was that key technology. Since then, I have been an evangelist for open access and open source software.”
Achievements and Accolades
Rebecca Boyle (’22), Iván Carrillo (’17), and Nicola Twilley (’21) were named recipients of the 2025 Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications, presented by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in partnership with Schmidt Sciences. The awards honour science journalists, scientists and communicators for creative, original work that articulates scientific, engineering and medical advances to the public. These alumni swept the “Science Journalist: Freelancer” category — Carillo and Twilley as winners and Boyle as the top prize winner. A total of 24 awards were issued across eight categories.
Tasmiha Khan (‘22) is a 2025-26 Solutions Journalism Network’s Youth Building & Belonging Fellow. The yearlong program is based on the principle that “instead of only supporting healing from harm, true youth mental health solutions should aim to build lasting well-being and belonging.” The fellowship supports 10 U.S. journalists in reporting on what’s working to support well-being, economic mobility, and social connection among young people. Khan is also a member of the 2025 cohort of Nova Media Fellows.The Nova Media Fellows program supports outstanding print, digital, and broadcast journalists and nonprofit newsrooms reporting on the complex, intertwined factors that affect health and well-being.
Eva Wolfangel (‘20) was in South Africa at the World Conference of Science Journalists offering a session on Artificial Intelligence in Journalism. Wolfangel described the context that drove her to propose the session, “AI is transforming journalism – but not always in ways we like. Some see it as a powerful tool, others as an existential threat. As newsrooms shrink and AI is increasingly used to cut costs, we’re witnessing entire magazines produced by machines: quickly, but often poorly.” The WCSJ session covered how AI can empower journalists, where it undermines the craft, and how journalists can defend quality reporting without rejecting innovation. Wolfangel is glad to have had the opportunity to present, “as someone who has been working on AI for many years, I believe this is a conversation we urgently need to have. It’s vital that we, as journalists, help shape how this technology is used rather than being shaped by it.”
Mićo Tatalović (‘18) was awarded a Maria Leptin|EMBO Science Journalism Fellowship this autumn with a placement at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, UK. The 3-month fellowship supports science journalists who wish to deepen and broaden their knowledge of life and associated sciences. It is run by the European Molecular Biology Organization and funded by a private donation from Professor Maria Leptin, the president of the European Research Council. Tatalović focused on astrophysics and astrobiology, and also on other areas of cutting-edge science.
Pamela Ferdinand (‘04) is covering commercial determinants of health for the journalism nonprofit U.S. Right to Know, where she helped launch their Healthwire project. Healthwire is designed to bring health-related news based on reputable research studies to mainstream readers. All of their articles are available for republishing anywhere in the world, for free.
June Kinoshita (‘92) “retired” after twelve years at the FSHD Society, a research-focused patient advocacy nonprofit, to start a new project that aims to bring local journalism back to the city of Waltham, Massachusetts. She reports, “I co-founded The Waltham Times in 2024 and am thrilled to be back in journalism as we explore the nonprofit model for sustainable local news. I’m proud that we’re producing a real city news publication with a team of incredible volunteers and freelance reporters. Every day is an adventure!”
Additions to the KSJ Bookshelf
Sam Bloch (‘22) published his first book “Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource,” this summer. The nonfiction book was supported by his KSJ project fellowship. Bloch examines the key role that shade plays not only in protecting human health and enhancing urban life, but also looks toward the ways that innovative architects, city leaders, and climate entrepreneurs are looking to revive it to protect vulnerable people — and maybe even save the planet.
Melanie D.G. Kaplan (‘22) spent her project fellowship with KSJ working on the book “Lab Dog: A Beagle and His Human Investigate the Surprising World of Animal Research,” which was published in October. Kaplan adopted her beagle Hammy after he had spent nearly four years in a research lab, and she was curious to know about his past and the broader world of animal research. The book takes readers on Kaplan’s quest for answers, and includes plenty of Hammy in the pages as well. She recalls “introducing Hammy to former KSJ director Deb Blum, who helped make this happen,” as a reporting trip highlight.
Meera Subramanian (‘17) collaborated with illustrator Danica Novgorodoff to create “A Better World Is Possible: Global Youth Confront the Climate Crisis,” a nonfiction graphic novel for a young adult audience that will be published by First Second Books, a Macmillan imprint, on March 3, 2026. It features four real-life youth climate activists and the forces that shaped their recognition of the climate crisis. Throughout the stories are deeply researched and fact-checked interludes that explore climate science, environmental justice, biodiversity, and more, along with— of course—solutions. The book is already a Junior Library Guild selection, and received a blurb from John Green, who called it “an urgent, helpful, and hopeful portrait of what’s possible….” Subramanian is currently an Environmental Justice Community Impact Fellow at Boston University’s Center for Media Innovation for Social Impact, where her project is to bring the book to a wider audience.
The latest book from Hillary Rosner (‘11), “ROAM: Wild Animals and the Race to Repair Our Fractured World” came out in October as well. In it, Rosner examines how human infrastructure and actions have made it increasingly hard for other species to move around the planet, and explores efforts to knit the natural world back together. Part environmental investigation, part personal journey, the book makes the case for restoring lost connections and learning to co-exist with our wild neighbors.
A third book from David Stipp (’94), “Why Rats Laugh & Jellyfish Sleep: And Other Enchanting Stories of Evolution,” was published in September by Timber Press. The book is based on the idea that Mother Nature (aka natural selection) has strewn arresting puzzles all around us in the form of adaptations that cry out for elucidation. By examining questions posed by familiar creatures — such as why rats laugh, bumblebees sometimes turn cannibalistic, and earthworms socialize — it argues that the Darwinian whydunit is science’s best answer to the enticing whodunit, and that there’s no better way to get in touch with, and treasure the living world than by looking at it through a Darwinian lens.
What We’re Writing
The following compendium includes a sample of recent alumni stories curated by Federico Kukso (‘16):
Fabiana Cambricoli (‘25): “Scientists discover new coronavirus in Brazilian bats with traits similar to the COVID-19 virus,” in Portuguese, Estadao.
Yarden Michaeli (‘25): “Starvation Is Everywhere’: Virtual Tours of Gaza Clinics Expose the Scale of the Horror,” Haaretz.
Anil Oza (‘25): “Amid attacks on such work, NIH-led research links structural racism to increased heart disease,” STAT.
Ahmad Gamal Saad-Eddin (‘25): “Chemistry and Its Surroundings: A New Definition of Emptiness,” Nature Middle East.
Sharon Muzaki (Africa Middle East Fellow ‘24): “Building Africa’s next generation of vaccine scientists,” Nature Africa.
Jessica Hamzelou (‘24): “Here’s why we don’t have a cold vaccine. Yet,” MIT Technology Review.
Kai Kupferschmidt (‘24): “Cold storage: On an Arctic archipelago, frozen soil may preserve a hidden history of viruses,” Science.
Wojciech Brzeziński (’23): “Space Craft: What Makes Poland Shine in Orbit,” in Polish, Tygodnik Powszechny.
Melanie D.G. Kaplan (‘22): “Trump’s Animal-Research Plan Has a Missing Step: No one is tracking the total number of animals used across U.S. labs,” The Atlantic.
Jared Whitlock (‘21): “In China, a low-cost push to rival a life-saving, $2M medicine,” Endpoints News.
Richard Fisher (‘20): “‘The most desolate place in the world’: The sea of ice that inspired Frankenstein,” BBC.
Tim De Chant (‘19): “How one founder plans to save cities from flooding with terraforming robots,” TechCrunch.
Rowan Jacobsen (‘18): “Chasing photons in pursuit of a good night’s sleep,” Harper’s Magazine.
Federico Kukso (‘16): “How dinosaurs developed enormous bodies and long necks,” in Spanish, Agencia SINC.
Betsy Mason (‘16): “The Coyote Next Door,” bioGraphic Magazine.
Rod McCullom (‘16): “Fresh Insights Into the Stubborn Problem of Lead Water Pipes,” Undark.
Giovana Girardi (‘15): “Climate Disasters Are Traumatizing Brazil’s Children,” The Nation.
Yves Sciama (‘14): “‘Invasive species’: what if we stopped using warlike and xenophobic terms?” in French, Mediapart.
Amanda Gefter (‘13): “Finding Peter Putnam: The forgotten janitor who discovered the logic of the mind,” Nautilus Magazine.
Eli Kintisch (‘12): “Iranian missile strike devastates two buildings at Israel’s Weizmann Institute,” Science.
Esther Nakkazi (‘08): “Chronic respiratory diseases and inhalers in Africa,” The Lancet: Respiratory Medicine.
Valeria Román (‘05): “Alert in Latin America over the silent advance of kidney disease,” in Spanish, Infobae.
Claudio Angelo (‘04) with climate policy specialists Caroline Prolo, Eduardo Viola: “What Now, André?” Piauí Magazine.
Steve Nadis (‘98): “A New Geometry for Einstein’s Theory of Relativity,” Quanta Magazine.
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