Erin Garcia de Jesús

Staff Writer

Erin Garcia de Jesús is a staff writer at Science News. She holds a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Washington, where she studied virus/host co-evolution. After deciding science as a whole was too fascinating to spend a career studying one topic, she went on to earn a master’s in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her writing has appeared in Nature News, Science, Eos, Smithsonian Voices and more, and she was the winter 2019 science writing intern at Science News.

All Stories by Erin Garcia de Jesús

  1. vaccine
    Health & Medicine

    What to know about the new RSV vaccine for pregnant people

    Data on the FDA-approved Pfizer vaccine are promising. Questions about safety and how it might be used in conjunction with another new RSV shot remain.

  2. A photo of a COVID-19 test kit and a person using the test.
    Health & Medicine

    What should we expect from the coronavirus this fall?

    The virus may be reaching a phase of baseline circulation, says epidemiologist Aubree Gordon. But it’s unclear what will happen in the next few months.

  3. A photo of several beige-colored macaque monkeys sitting around on rocks.
    Animals

    Macaques in Puerto Rico learned to share shade after Hurricane Maria

    Animals that spent more time together on hot afternoons were less likely to die during the years following the storm, a new study finds.

  4. A photo of a young American chestnut tree growing in a large field.
    Health & Medicine

    ‘Blight’ warns that a future pandemic could start with a fungus

    ‘The Last of Us’ is fiction, but the health dangers posed by fungi are real, a new book explains.

  5. An image of fluorescent antibodies light up the nervous system of a dead, transparent mouse, lying on its back with its head to the left. Colors show how deep nerve cells are in the animal, from blue (closest to the camera) to pink to yellow (farthest away).
    Health & Medicine

    With a new body mapping technique, mouse innards glow with exquisite detail

    Removing cholesterol from mouse bodies lets fluorescently labeled proteins infiltrate every tissue, helping researchers to map entire body systems.

  6. A photo of a ringtail possum sitting on a tree branch looking down at the camera.
    Life

    In Australia, mosquitoes and possums may spread a flesh-eating disease

    Field surveys show that genetically identical bacteria responsible for a skin disease called Buruli ulcer appear in mosquitos, possums and people.

  7. A close up photo of a mosquito resting on a person's finger.
    Health & Medicine

    Four things to know about malaria cases in the United States

    Five people have picked up malaria in the United States without traveling abroad. The risk of contracting the disease remains extremely low.

  8. A close up photo of several squash bug nymphs climbing over a green plant.
    Life

    Young squash bugs seek out adults’ poop for an essential microbe

    Squash bug nymphs don’t rely on their parents to pick up a bacterium they’d die without. They find it on their own.

  9. A photo of the pages of a book called the Dresden Codex.
    Astronomy

    50 years ago, a search for proof that the Maya tracked comets came up short

    The mystery of whether the ancient civilization tracked comets endures, but recent evidence hints the Maya tracked related meteor showers.

  10. A photo of four cats perched on a ledge.
    Life

    A gene therapy shot might keep cats from getting pregnant without being spayed

    Even after mating with fertile males, females given the cat contraceptive, which targets an ovulation-preventing hormone, did not get pregnant.

  11. A photo of a wooden walkway leading between several gray and white boxes in a large grassy field.
    Life

    Air pollution monitoring may accidentally help scientists track biodiversity

    Filters in air monitoring facilities inadvertently capture environmental DNA, which could give scientists a new tool to track local plants and animals.

  12. Two scuba divers investigating a coral reef
    Life

    Coral reefs host millions of bacteria, revealing Earth’s hidden biodiversity

    A new estimate of microbial life living in Pacific reefs is similar to global counts, suggesting many more microbes call Earth home than thought.