How much should you worry about toxins like lead deposited in your soil after a fire? And how can you get your yard or garden tested? I wrote about it, for @calmatters.org: calmatters.org/environment/...

I had a great time chasing around parrots in LA for this story -- and ultimately, these nosy, colorful additions to the city are a reminder that many of us come from elsewhere. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

It's such a thrill to be in this group. Looking forward to seeing everyone's projects develop.

Jane Goodall was a massive inspiration. Seeing that animals are actually just like us allows people to find empathy in so many parts of the natural world.

As Jaws turns 50, @kategammon.bsky.social takes a look at the science advisor behind the movie -- and how what he did after Jaws transformed our understanding of sharks again. In @nautil.us: nautil.us/the-shark-wh... 🦈

I traveled down to Orange County to drink some water that had, just an hour before, been ice-tea-colored sewage. Spoiler alert: the water tasted like water. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

This is likely the weirdest and most interesting story you could read today. From @usha.bsky.social. www.statnews.com/2025/05/02/d...

For @sierramagazine.bsky.social, I wrote about some tiny hopeful news: a lot of climate projects are baked into the DOD's goals, so even though the word climate may not appear, "mission readiness" includes those efforts -- both now and in the future. www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2025-...

Such a pleasure to speak with Alan, Susan and Lawrence about their beautiful works of science and personal narrative. Read these books!

Very excited to moderate a panel with Lawrence Ingrassia, Susan Weiss Liebman, Alan Townsend at the LA Times Festival of Books this weekend. Say hi if you're around Sunday! #latfob events.latimes.com/festivalofbo...

“Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last two hundred years. Reducing greenhouse gases requires honesty, courage and responsibility. Those who will have to suffer the consequences will not forget this failure of conscience and responsibility.” — Pope Francis

“De-extinction” is to biodiversity loss what “Mars colonization” is to climate change—wishful thinking that is at its core impossible but nevertheless sucks up attention and resources from actual solutions to these crises (which, ultimately, might be the whole point)

America’s arteries are clogged. THIS is the solution: ‘Even a freeway is redeemable’: world’s largest wildlife crossing takes shape in Los Angeles: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025... by @kategammon.bsky.social via @theguardian.com #borderless

"Bluefish tuna were overfished in the mid-Atlantic this month because NOAA did not issue the regulation to close the fishery after fishermen filled the quota in mid-January." Who could have predicted this! 🤷‍♂️ www.reuters.com/world/us/how...

This is cool. The Guardian recreated a searchable climate future risk tool (wildfire, extreme heat, drought, hurricane, and coastal flood) for the US that was developed by FEMA but deleted by the Trump administration’s ‘climate’ purge.

Also in the post-fire environmental world: surfers, swimmers and beachgoers have been worried about what is lurking in the ocean after the fire debris runoff. Some answers have finally appeared: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

When the fires raged through LA, air toxins popped off the charts. But the AQI was often in the "good zone." That's because traditional air quality monitoring systems don't catch everything -- but some newer tech can. I wrote about it, for @sciam: www.scientificamerican.com/article/urba...

“We can see with our own eyes how extreme heat and extreme weather are harming people’s health,” said Veena Singla, an adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

I wrote about new research showing that fish in the wild can recognize individual divers -- and why we should be considering fish as individuals, too. For @nautil.us: nautil.us/when-fish-fo...

I love this move by @wired.com and hope other publications will follow. Public records (like public lands!) belong to all of us.

For a story: Have you tried to bring in eggs from Mexico? I'd love to hear the tale. DMs open.

I wrote about new research showing the megalodon -- star of screens everywhere -- was not, in fact, a chonky ancient monster but instead a slender torpedo. That's because being giant -- 80 feet long -- makes it important to swim efficiently through the water. nautil.us/what-megalod...

My dad worked for NOAA and went to sea for six weeks at a time when I was little. When he finally came back, my brother and I would get these weird little cups with our names on them. Every single time.

ProPublica looked into science grants that Ted Cruz's team flagged as "radical" and "neo-Marxist" and, uh. This would be good comedy if it didn't matter so much www.propublica.org/article/ted-...

For Nautilus, I wrote about a duo turning tree rings into art -- and exploring the deep history of science: nautil.us/the-language...

“Toxic contaminants from the wildfire debris could leach into the soil and the waterways. Onshore winds will undoubtedly carry these hazardous particulates, compromising the air quality where people live, work and play.” Story by @kategammon.bsky.social

Whenever you hear someone sneer about scientific research that seems useless to them — “they’re studying the spit of lizards?!” — remind them that’s exactly how we got Ozempic. globalnews.ca/news/9793403...

"In every living thing there ticks a clock...": @david-farrier.bsky.social superb & unsettling on how "wild clocks"––spruce saplings, oyster colonies, reindeer herds––are falling out of synchronization as the Earth transforms. It’s becoming harder to keep time. emergencemagazine.org/essay/wild-c...

This has been a devastating month, on a personal level and for all of LA. A bright spot was getting to witness the recent rescue of hundreds of tidewater gobies -- tiny endangered fish -- from a lagoon scorched by the Palisades fire. www.latimes.com/environment/...

Only one mammal in California had never been photographed alive -- until three undergrads decided to find the Mount Lyell shrew in the eastern Sierra. It only took 150 traps and three freezing nights. I wrote about their journey, here: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

“They were asking when food in the fridge had spoiled,” she said, as if it was possible to check expiry dates when her house had been reduced to ash. State Farm also repeatedly called and asked for the vehicle identification number of her car, even though she told them it had completely melted.

I wrote for the Atlantic about the ash raining down on LA, and how the risks of the "disaster after the disaster" are still coming into view: www.theatlantic.com/health/archi...

I kept seeing this horrific footage of the fires through home cameras, so wrote about the intimacy of watching climate disasters in other peoples' homes for @atmosmagazine.bsky.social: atmos.earth/home-cameras...

For a story, I'm looking for people who used home cameras to see the fires while safely away - is this you? Would love to connect.

I wrote about the winds, dry reservoirs, lack of personnel and other issues facing firefighters in Los Angeles, for @theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Pretty amazing that nonprofit Watch Duty -- which says it has 150 volunteers working around the clock to track wildfires -- has become the most trusted source of information on LA fires. Operated by retired/volunteer firefighters, dispatchers, and reporters. Real people. www.watchduty.org

This is true. LA County has a population greater than that of 40 individual U.S. states.

Interesting to notice that in a day where almost no one went out in Santa Monica (we are close to the evacuation zone), two reliable forces still came through: our neighborhood postal worker and yard guys still arrived to do their jobs.

Watching the skies darken with smoke from the Palisades fire. Here's a piece I wrote last year on what smoke does to our bodies. Smoke is worse than car pollution for our health. www.theguardian.com/us-news/arti...

The emergence of extreme wintertime wildfires in California is one of those classic “this is climate change” moments: A specific set of weather conditions is now occurring in such a way to produce the potential for rare disasters to become much more common. www.fastcompany.com/91256483/the...

For @nautil.us I wrote about the famines of our ancestors, and how they leave an indelible mark on our bodies, even four or five generations later. nautil.us/you-are-what...

An early & thoughtful conversation about LESSONS FROM THE CLIMATE ANXIETY COUNSELING BOOTH was conducted (in the orchestral sense) by @kategammon.bsky.social nautil.us/tame-your-cl...

For @sierramagazine.bsky.social, I wrote about computer science and environmental research joining forces. www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2024-...

We also love this @kategammon.bsky.social, '07, feature on hungry, hungry sea lions hakaimagazine.com/features/her... @rachelfritts.bsky.social, '20, deep diving into a mysterious 19th century sea monster in Maine hakaimagazine.com/article-shor...

Fun facts about milk regulation: before we had it, milk often carried tuberculosis and other infections and killed literally thousands of children every year. To make it seem drinkable producers added plaster dust, liquefied calf brains, and formaldehyde. www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

Mushrooms turn dead wood into food and medicine which is better than anything any tech start up has ever done

Thanks @kategammon.bsky.social for talking with me about LESSONS FROM THE CLIMATE ANXIETY COUNSELING BOOTH and asking good questions! nautil.us/tame-your-cl...

One year ago today, LA's famous mountain lion P22 was euthanized. He changed the way people here view nature -- and our role in it-- forever: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022...

I wrote about elephants and their potential impact on carbon storage for The Atlantic -- but more importantly, why it's important to protect species beyond their climate credit status. www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Psyched to share the Forbes 30 Under 30 List in science, which I helped edit. Spending time with the work of these super-young scientists gives me hope: from flying cars to smart wearables to smarter decarbonization, they are building the future. www.forbes.com/30-under-30/...