It was an honor to meet Asst. Secretary Monica Medina, and offer her a copy of LIFE ON THE ROCKS. At the Society for Environmental Journalism’s Annual Meeting in 2022, I was asked to moderate a session on ocean plastic, a topic I’ve followed for about a quarter century. The issue came …
I would be lying if I didn’t say that I’ve had my share of sweaty palms about the reviews for LIFE ON THE ROCKS. This is a book about coral science, but also a deeply personal book. As I wrote this book, the world was hit by the Covid crisis, a new …
“You operated on that eel?” I asked, my eyes opening wide. Nathan Marcucci, the manager of the aquarium at the San Antonio Zoo, nodded and pulled out his phone showing me a video of how, along with the Zoo’s veterinarian, he’d built a constant flow system to move water over the anesthetized …
They’re here!! They’re here!! What an incredible feeling to hold the physical book of Life on the Rocks in my hands. There’s something almost unreal about paging through the text that’s so beautifully laid out after having it glowing out at me from a screen for so long. This book holds a …
I’ve been quiet on this blog for quite a while, but I’ve been busy writing about coral. Life on the Rocks: Building a Future for Coral Reefs is turned in and in production. I’m so excited for it to come out next spring. I’ve seen the cover – and it’s amazing. I …
With all the fears of invisible pathogens out there right now, I had the pleasure of joining a group of teenage girls working to combat microbial stereotypes this weekend. Calling themselves Bio Buddies, they demonstrated how to use bacterial cellulose to create “clothes” for paper cutout characters. What’s bacterial cellulose? It’s the …
You probably know that feeling of waking up the next morning and thinking, “Dang, I really should’ve said that differently!” That’s how I woke yesterday. This week, I was honored to be part of a panel about climate change that featured Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist who has done an enormous amount …
As someone who cares deeply about the future of our planet, I also feel strongly that the only way forward is to work together. For that reason, I’ve been very intentional about remaining non-partisan in my public positions. I have been vocal about about limiting fossil fuel emissions, but realistic that it …
Last week a producer from the BBC’s show More or Less contacted me with a question from a listener: Can jellyfish swim as fast as an Olympic swimmer? (I’m guessing this question was in part spurred on by Michael Phelps’, umm, race with a shark during Shark Week in 2017.) I LOVE …
For the last month on Mondays at lunchtime, I’ve been logging on to a Zoom Spanish class with a half a dozen other women. All of us have varying degrees of high school, college, and life experience that qualify us as “intermediate” speakers. We all intermittently confuse the differences between ser and …