Jonathan Lambert

Staff Writer, Biological Sciences, 2019-2021

Jonathan Lambert was a staff writer covering biological sciences at Science News from 2019 to 2021. He earned a master’s degree from Cornell University studying how a bizarre day-long mating ritual helped accelerate speciation in a group of Hawaiian crickets. A summer at the Dallas Morning News as a AAAS Mass Media fellow sparked a pivot from biologist to science journalist. He previously wrote for Quanta Magazine, NPR, and Nature News.

All Stories by Jonathan Lambert

  1. Animals

    Bloodthirsty vampire bats like to drink with friends over strangers

    Cooperation among vampire bats extends beyond the roost. New research suggests that bonded bats often drink blood from animals together.

  2. Animals

    Streetlights, especially super bright LEDs, may harm insect populations

    Greenery under streetlights housed half as many caterpillars as darker areas did, researchers found.

  3. Animals

    A giant tortoise was caught stalking, killing and eating a baby bird

    Video captures the first documented instance of a tortoise hunting another animal.

  4. Animals

    These baby greater sac-winged bats babble to learn their mating songs

    Greater sac-winged bat pups babble their way through learning their rich vocal repertoire, similar to how human infants babble before speaking.

  5. Life

    Probiotics help lab corals survive deadly heat stress

    In a lab experiment, probiotics prevented the death of corals under heat stress, suggesting beneficial microbes could help save ailing reefs.

  6. Health & Medicine

    How different COVID-19 testing plans can help keep kids safe in school

    As children head back to school in the United States, here’s a look at various testing strategies that could keep kids safe during in-person learning.

  7. Animals

    Squirrels use parkour tricks when leaping from branch to branch

    Squirrels navigate through trees by making rapid calculations to balance trade-offs between branch flexibility and the distance between tree limbs.

  8. Health & Medicine

    New delta variant studies show the pandemic is far from over

    The coronavirus’s delta variant is different from earlier strains of the virus in worrying ways, health officials are discovering.

  9. Life

    ‘Wild Souls’ explores what we owe animals in a human-dominated world

    The new book Wild Souls explores the ethical dilemmas of saving Earth’s endangered animals.

  10. Life

    Pikas survive winter using a slower metabolism and, at times, yak poop

    Pikas endure bone-chilling temperatures on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau by reducing their metabolism, and when possible, eating yak poop.

  11. Health & Medicine

    Human cells make a soaplike substance that busts up bacteria

    Nonimmune cells can fight off pathogens by releasing a detergent-like molecule that dissolves bacterial membranes.

  12. Earth

    Mixing trees and crops can help both farmers and the climate

    Agriculture is a major driver of climate change and biodiversity loss. But integrating trees into farming practices can boost food production, store carbon and save species.