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. Health & Medicine

    The latest Ebola outbreak may have started with someone infected years ago

    Rather than stemming from a virus that jumped from an animal to a person, this outbreak might have originated from someone who had a dormant virus.

  2. Animals

    Cone snail venom may trick mate-seeking worms into becoming meals

    Cone snail venom contains worm pheromone mimics, suggesting the chemicals may be used to lure worms during hunting.

  3. Health & Medicine

    The COVID-19 pandemic is now a year old. What have scientists learned?

    As we enter the pandemic’s second year, researchers share what they’ve learned and what they look forward to.

  4. Animals

    Female green tree frogs have noise-canceling lungs that help them hear mates

    When inflated, female green tree frog lungs resonate in a way that reduces sensitivity to the sounds of other species.

  5. 50 years ago, U.S. commercial whaling was coming to an end

    Commercial whaling has brought many whale species to the brink of extinction. But after bans, some show signs of recovery.

  6. Health & Medicine

    Global inequity in COVID-19 vaccination is more than a moral problem

    Wealthy countries are vaccinating at much higher rates than low-income countries. Such inequities could ultimately prolong the pandemic for all.

  7. Health & Medicine

    The U.K. approved the world’s first COVID-19 human challenge trial

    Dozens of young, healthy volunteers will be deliberately exposed to the coronavirus to find out how much virus it takes to get someone sick.

  8. Life

    Meatier meals and more playtime might reduce cats’ toll on wildlife

    Outdoor cats kill billions of birds and mammals each year. Simply satisfying their need to hunt or supplementing their diets could lessen that impact.

  9. Science & Society

    ‘Under a White Sky’ explores whether we must tinker with nature to save it

    In ‘Under a White Sky’, Elizabeth Kolbert examines the technological innovations we might need to save a planet we are actively destroying.

  10. Animals

    A new chameleon species may be the world’s tiniest reptile

    The newly described critters, found in the northern forests of Madagascar, may be threatened by deforestation.

  11. Animals

    Naked mole-rat colonies speak with unique dialects

    Machine learning reveals that these social rodents communicate with distinctive speech patterns that are culturally inherited.

  12. Science & Society

    Biden administration outlines its ambitious plan to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic

    Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, an adviser to the Biden transition team, talks about the plans to tackle the public health crisis COVID-19 created.