The Potential Big Impact of Trump's Clean Water Rollback (National Geographic, June 2017)
The Boreal Is Burning (Take Part, November 30, 2015)
How Water is Reshaping the West (Nova Next, November 11, 2015)
Are Harvard's Dying Hemlocks a Warning for Trees Everywhere? (National Geographic, April 2015)
Nature's Anti-Aging Secret (Discover, June 2014)
Seven Wonders of a Hopeful World (Ensia, January 5, 2014)
Palm Oil is Everywhere (Ensia, October 2013)
Allergies in the Time of Research (New York Times, July 21, 2013)
Is Conservation Extinct? (Ensia, July 2013)
Pregnant Pause (Ensia, June 2013)
Chop and Change (United Hemispheres, May 2013)
Mapping the Microbiome (NOVA, February 2013)
Studying Seemingly Immortal Species (The New York Times, December 2012)
Attack of the Mutant Pupfish (Wired, November, 19 2012) This story won a 2013 AAAS-Kavli award and an SEJ award for Outstanding Feature Story.
A Chemist Comes Very Close to a Midas Touch (The New York Times, October 15, 2012)
The Color of Bunny (High Country News, February 6, 2012) This story won a 2013 NASW Science in Society Award.
Spotted Horses in Cave Art Weren’t Just a Figment, DNA Shows (The New York Times, November 7, 2011)
A Colorful Way to Watch Evolution in Nebraska’s Sand Dunes (The New York Times, August 8, 2011)
The Low-Hanging Fruit (Popular Science, July 2011)
The New Green Economy (Wired UK, October 2010)
For the Love of Fish (Audubon, July/August 2010)
One Tough Sucker (High Country News, June 7, 2010) This story won a 2010 AAAS Kavli award!
Why the Buffalo Can’t Roam (OnEarth, May 11, 2010)
And some older work, about…
The Natural World, or Life on Earth
The Birds and the Bees (Newsweek, December 14, 2009)
The Future of Our Forests (The Denver Post, December 6, 2009)
Homeless on the Range (OnEarth, December 3, 2009)
Earth in the Balance Sheet (Mother Jones, Nov/Dec 2009)
The Borneo Identity (Town&Country, October 2009)
Q&A: The Big Dig (OnEarth, Fall 2009)
A Green Victory in the Bag? (The Big Money, October 5, 2009)
Orangutan Orphans Have Nowhere to Go (Newsweek, August 17, 2009)
A Slow-Moving Disaster (High Country News, August 17, 2009)
The Future of Farming: Solutions for a Hungry World (Popular Science, August 2009)
Scrubbing Out Sea Life (Slate, June 16, 2008)
Banff in the Crosshairs (Men’s Journal, April 2008)
Seeds to Save a Species (Popular Science, January 2008)
Rainforests: Carbon Sink or Carbon Source? (Seed, April/May 2006)
Rain Forest Gets Too Much Rain, and Animals Pay the Price (The New York Times, March 7, 2006)
Turning Genetically Engineered Trees Into Toxic Avengers (The New York Times, August 3, 2004)
Just a Little Bear and Breakfast Place (The New York Times, May 2, 2002)
Renewable Energy
The Future of Energy: A Realist’s Roadmap to 2050 [Hydro] [Wind] [Fossils] (Popular Science, July 2009)
Why, What a Smart Grid You Have! (OnEarth, Spring 2009)
The Energy Challenge: Cooking Up More Uses for the Leftovers of Biofuel Production (The New York Times, August 8, 2007)
Sustainable Living/Green Building
Etiquette: Planning a Green Wedding (Town & Country Weddings, spring/summer 2008)
Purely Paradise (Town & Country, April 2007)
The Blog Generation Takes Up Its Trowels (The New York Times, May 6, 2004)
Getting Her Goat (Grist, September 2, 2003)
Sacrificing the Trees to Save the House (The New York Times, July 10, 2003)
Way Out West, Plastic and Poppies (The New York Times, May 29, 2003)
Salvage Decor, Ready for Its Closeup (The New York Times, December 5, 2002)
Need Coasters? Dust Off Those LPs (The New York Times, December 13, 2001)
Books
High Steaks (Audubon, January/February 2009)
Food Fight (Audubon, November/December 2008)
On the Brink (Audubon, September/October 2008)
Hell on Earth (Audubon, March/April 2008)
Lost in the Wilderness (Audubon, November/December 2007)
Tapped Out (Audubon, March/April 2007)
Scary Beast (Audubon, January/February 2005)
Other Cool Science
A Rocket Engine for the Masses (Popular Science, June 2008)
A World of Data to Help Your Plans to Go Skiing (The New York Times, March 11, 2008)
Telltale Isotopes in Marijuana Are Nature’s Tracking Devices (The New York Times, August 21, 2007)
On the Ice (5280, March 2006)
At the Foot of the Rockies, a Radioactive Wasteland Is Transformed (The New York Times, June 7, 2005)
The Science of O (New York Magazine, April 23, 2001)
...And Various and Sundry Topics
Living Large, But on the Fly (The New York Times, August 5, 2004)
Deliver Us From Evil (New York Magazine, October 29, 2001)
Gimme Shelter (New York Magazine, July 2, 2001)
Hollywood vs the Hacker (New York Magazine, October 16, 2000)