Parrot TikTok stars on the verge of extinction. A measles uptick outside London. Bad Bunny’s conservationist moment at the Super Bowl. In print, on screen, and on air, Knight Science Journalism Fellows have been leaving an outsized imprint in the news landscape in the new year. Here’s what some of our esteemed alumni have been up to:
Projects, Prizes, and Career Moves
Mico Tatalovic (‘18) has been on an ambitious four-year quest to produce specially tailored guides to science journalism for various countries in southeast Europe. The idea is to combine advice on international best practices in science journalism with local nuances and knowledge of the specificities of the national media and research landscapes, in order to give aspiring science journalists a realistic and useful set of guides that could help them build a career reporting in their own language for media in their own country. The project has been spearheaded by the Balkan Network of Science Journalists, with help from the European Federation of Science Journalism and funding from EurekAlert!
Last December, the project reached a new milestone, publishing its seventh local science journalism guide, “Science Journalism in Turkey and Communicating Science to the Public” — the first such guidebook in Turkish. The new guidebook follows previous editions published for journalists in Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, and Slovenia. Two more guidebooks, tailored to journalists in Greece and Macedonia, are planned for this year. Each guide is published in the local language and dozens of journalists from nine countries have contributed to writing and editing the guides so far. The Romanian guide was coordinated by form KSJ Fellow Andrada Fiscutean (‘20).
“It has been challenging commissioning so many guides in other languages, and finding the people with the right experience who are also willing to work on these on a relatively small budget, but I am really proud of what we’ve achieved here, producing a series of great practical guides, often the first such publications in these nations,” Tatalovic said. “My time as a KSJ fellow definitely helped me think about the importance of such projects that help transfer skills and share experiences between science journalists.”
Rene Ebersole (’22) recently co-founded Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors, or WIRE, a non-profit journalism organization devoted to deep investigations exposing exploitation of wildlife and nature. Her first investigation for the organization, a 13-page print and online story and companion short film about the illegal African grey parrot pet trade that is driving the world’s smartest bird toward extinction in the wild, was released in November by Rolling Stone. After the story’s release, Ebersole spoke about the project as a featured guest on Science Friday.
The parrots have become popular on TikTok and other internet platforms, Ebersole explained on Science Friday. “The fact that you can see these animals performing and it creates a demand for more people to have them as pets is one thing,” she added. “But animals are also sold illegally on the same platforms where they’re performing. The illegal wildlife trade online is thriving.”
In November, Aaron Scott (’25) was hired by Oregon Public Broadcasting as the executive editor of the Science and the Environment Team — made up of a dozen producers, cinematographers and editors — as well as the executive producer of OPB’s award-winning shows “Oregon Field Guide” and “All Science. No Fiction.“
He’s delighted to return to OPB, having previously worked as a producer on “Oregon Field Guide,” where he created the podcast “Timber Wars.”
Susan Phillips (’14) won a national Edward R. Murrow Award in the Large Market Radio, Digital category for “Climate Fixers,” a series of short videos for Philadelphia’s WHYY News highlighting local individuals working on climate solutions. “This was the first time I did any video reporting,” Phillips said. “The project was aimed at a younger audience and meant to inspire at a time when much of the news about climate is demoralizing.”
In other awards news, Anil Oza (’25), Isabella Cueto (’22), Gideon Gil (’15), and Usha Lee McFarling (’93) were part of a STAT team that won a George Polk Award in the Health Reporting category, for its 10-part series, “American Science, Shattered,” 17-part series “The MAHA Diagnosis,” and other reporting. Laura Bliss (’23) was part of a team at Bloomberg Businessweek that was named a National Magazine Award finalist in the public interest category, for their story “America’s Hot Garbage Problem.” Pere Estupinyà (’08) was awarded Spain’s Joan Guinovart i Cirera National Prize for Scientific Communication, presented by the Government of Catalonia, through the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation. The award recognizes Estupinyà’s accomplishments over a 24-year career in science journalism.
New on the Bookshelf
The latest book from Meera Subramanian (’17), “A Better World Is Possible: Global Youth Confront the Climate Crisis” will hit shelves on March 3, 2026. A collaboration with illustrator Danica Novgorodoff, the graphic novel features the stories of four real-life youth climate activists and the forces that shaped their recognition of the climate crisis, all framed around the historic 2019 climate strike in New York City. Woven through the stories are deeply researched and fact-checked interludes that explore climate science, environmental justice, biodiversity, climate solutions, and other topics.
Author John Green called it “an urgent, helpful, and hopeful portrait of what’s possible” and Booklist gave it a starred review
“As a long-form science journalist, it was a delightful challenge to distill complex, interdisciplinary information about climate change into a format that was accessible to youth as well as adults who might feel like they should know more than they do about the subject.,” Subramanian said. “Collaborating with an illustrator was also such a lovely break from the often-solitary work of a journalist.
Emily Willingham (’22) has authored a new book, “If Your Adolescent Has Autism: An Essential Resource for Parents,” published last November by Oxford University Press. The book offers the latest in evidence-based information about what happens when autism and adolescence intersect, addressing middle school and high school, along with the transition period from high school into adulthood, college, and employment.
“My application for the KSJ fellowship was focused on adolescence,” said Willingham, “and I am glad to have a book that is related to some of the work I did during the fellowship.”
What We’re Writing
The following compendium includes a sample of recent alumni stories curated by Federico Kukso (‘16):
Fabiana Cambricoli (‘25): “After 90, genetics plays a greater role in longevity, and we want to discover those genes, says Mayana Zatz,” Estadao (in Portuguese).
Ahmad Gamal Saad-Eddin (‘25): “History through a grain of pollen,” Nature Middle East.
Jessica Hamzelou (‘24): “Measles cases are rising. Other vaccine-preventable infections could be next,” MIT Technology Review.
Kai Kupferschmidt (‘24): “Nearly one-third of social media research has undisclosed ties to industry, preprint claims,” Science.
Dyna Rochmyaningsih (’24) “The Indian Ocean disaster is a climate tragedy — and needs more attention,” Nature.
Inayat Singh (‘24): “Warming temperatures are shrinking snowpack in key Canadian watersheds, study suggests,” CBC.
Andrada Fiscutean (‘20): “13 cybersecurity myths organizations need to stop believing,” CSO.
Richard Fisher (‘20): “A painting that captures perfectionism,” Psyche.
Eva Wolfangel (‘20): “Lawsuit against Meta: They’ve already lost the battle over the images,” in German, Die Zeit
Tim De Chant (‘19): “Why investors are going gaga over solid-state transformers,” TechCrunch.
Rachel E. Gross (‘19): “So You Have Bacterial Vaginosis. What Do You Do Now?” The New York Times.
Rowan Jacobsen (‘18): “Chasing Photons: In pursuit of a good night’s sleep,” Harper’s Magazine.
Federico Kukso (‘16): “Syphilis: a hunter, a bacterium, and the deep origin of a modern disease,” Agencia SINC (in Spanish).
Rod McCullom (‘16): “As More Schools Turn to AI Weapons Detection, Questions Persist,” Undark.
Giovana Girardi (‘15): “By manipulating science, Trump launches his worst attack on the fight against the climate crisis,” Pública (in Portuguese).
Yves Sciama (‘14): “Is the Earth at risk of tipping over?” Mediapart (in French).
Valeria Román (‘05): “From Bad Bunny’s crested toad to Darwin’s frog: endangered amphibians in America,” Infobae (in Spanish).
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