Sarah Zielinski

Sarah Zielinski

Editor, Print at Science News Explores

Sarah Zielinski wanted to be a marine biologist when she was growing up, but after graduating from Cornell University with a B.A. in biology, and a stint at the National Science Foundation, she realized that she didn’t want to spend her life studying just one area of science — she wanted to learn about it all and share that knowledge with the public. In 2004, she received an M.A. in journalism from New York University’s Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program and began a career in science journalism. She worked as a science writer and editor at the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the American Geophysical Union’s newspaper Eos and Smithsonian magazine before becoming a freelancer. During that time, she started her blog, Wild Things, and moved it to Science News magazine, and then became an editor for and frequent contributor to Science News Explores. Her work has also appeared in Slate, Science, Scientific American, Discover and National Geographic News. She is the winner of the DCSWA 2010 Science News Brief Award and editor of the winner of the Gold Award for Children’s Science News in the 2015 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards, “Where will lightning strike?” published in Science News Explores. In 2005, she was a Marine Biological Laboratory Science Journalism Fellow.

All Stories by Sarah Zielinski

  1. For harbor porpoises, the ocean is a 24-hour buffet

    Scientists tagged harbor porpoises with monitoring equipment and found that the small cetaceans eat thousands of fish throughout the day.

  2. Animals

    Electric eels play defense with a mighty leap

    A biologist finds evidence that a 200-year-old report of electric eels attacking horses may be true.

  3. Animals

    Maximum size of giant squid remains a mystery

    A scientist has come up with a new estimate of the maximum size of giant squid. He says the animals could be as long as two public buses.

  4. Animals

    Animals get safe spots to cross the road — and car collisions drop

    Over- and underpasses built for wildlife in Wyoming proved a success for both the animals and the humans traveling the roads.

  5. Animals

    Counting cats is hard, but we know the numbers aren’t good

    Recent studies highlight the difficulty of counting big cats, but even imperfect counts show that these species are in trouble.

  6. Animals

    For baby sea turtles, it helps to have a lot of siblings

    After hatching, baby sea turtles must dig themselves out of their nest. This requires less energy if there are lots of siblings, a new study finds.

  7. Animals

    These mystery mounds are actually giant piles of earthworm poop

    The grassy mounds that dot a watery landscape in South America are created by giant earthworms, a new study finds.

  8. Animals

    The bizarre mating ritual of a bee parasite

    Stylops ovinae insects — parasites found in mining bees — have short lives filled with trauma.

  9. Animals

    Vultures are vulnerable to extinction

    Life history makes vultures more vulnerable to extinction than other birds, a new study finds, but humankind’s poisons are helping them to their end.

  10. Animals

    Crocodile eyes are optimized for lurking

    Crocodiles hang out at the water’s surface, waiting for a meal. A new study shows their eyes are optimized for spotting their prey from this position.

  11. Animals

    Cause of mass starfish die-offs is still a mystery

    Sea stars off the U.S. west coast started dying off en masse in 2013. Scientists are still struggling to figure out the cause.

  12. Animals

    Chemical behind popcorn’s aroma gives a bearcat its signature scent

    Bearcats smell like popcorn. Now scientists now why: The chemical responsible for popcorn’s alluring scent has been found in bearcat pee.