I’m a freelance science writer who makes video and podcasts. Currently, I write (and sometimes host) for Journey to the Microcosmos, and I co-host (and sometimes write) for Tiny Matters. I’m also the editorial assistant for the podcasts Dear Hank and John and SciShow Tangents, which have given me a stockpile of weird animal facts and science history trivia to pull out at dinner parties. In the past, I’ve also hosted Crash Course Organic Chemistry and That’s Public Health.
Before all that though, I was a scientist. I received my PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University, where I worked on ways to make immune cells better at fighting cancer. But it turns out I’m much more interested in exploring science from outside the lab. I’ve done work for media organizations, nonprofits, academics, and industry.
I got my start in science communication making animated explainers as an intern for Scientific American, and since then I’ve gone to write and host YouTube series and podcasts including Crash Course Organic Chemistry, Tiny Matters, and Journey to the Microcosmos. My goal is to encourage people to think about how science is informed by both our own experiences and the culture that surrounds it. Sometimes that means I’m writing about an existential crisis sparked by an amoeba, or thoughts about two writers examining fish, or a chaotic game about bacteria’s affect on the culture.
In addition to science, I talk about books and science writer life on my youtube channel okidokiboki. I have a cat, an ability to make everything about Vanderpump Rules, and a pair of running shoes that are finally getting used again. I’m currently based out of western Massachusetts. I use she/her pronouns.
Some of My Work
I keep a running list of my latest work here.
Writing
(* indicates Episodes that i hosted in addition to writing)
*Where Is This Anemone Really From? (Journey to the Microcosmos, YouTube)
One of the things I love most about writing for Journey to the Microcosmos is being able to connect the things we see to the experiences we have away from the microscope. When I began working on this episode, I thought my only crisis would be about how I don’t know how to say “anemone.” But the more I learned about the starlet sea anemone, the more personal the story became.
Amoebas: Occasional Brain-Eaters (Journey to the Microcosmos, YouTube)
It always feels like cheating to say that my favorite microbe is an amoeba. But it’s all due to this episode, which comes from early in the show when I was still finding my footing as a writer. Working on this episode and finding a way to connect the amoeba’s prevalence in pop culture to their phylogenetic messiness ended up helping me figure out what the show is to me.
*Summer of Science Reading, Episode 2: Life beneath Our Feet (Science Talk, Podcast)
I loved working on the Summer of Science Reading series, in part because it helped me buckle down and finally read the science books I’ve been meaning to read for a while. In this episode, I talked about Entangled Life, by Merlin Sheldrake, and Gathering Moss, by Robin Wall Kimmerer—two beautifully written books that have made me think more about the ground I walk on
Hosting
Synthesis, Distillation, & Recrystallization (Crash Course, YouTube)
Hosting Crash Course Organic Chemistry was a special experience for a lot of reasons, and I’m so grateful to have worked with such a brilliant team of writers, illustrators, animators, and producers who were able to turn such a challenging subject into something that’s helped students navigate it. Not to mention, so much of this series was produced during the pandemic! And this episode is particularly special because the illustrators and animators created a little homage to my grandparents, who were also organic chemists.
Why don’t we have an HIV vaccine? (Tiny Matters, Podcast)
I spent a few summers in college working on computational models that described the spread of mutations in HIV. So I was really curious when Sam said we were going to be doing an episode diving into HIV because I know the field has made so much progress since then, and yet has still been stymied.
How do social determinants impact public health? (American Public Health Association, YouTube)
The team behind “That’s Public Health” put so much thought and care into breaking down down how our world and individual experiences are shaped by public health, and how so many issues in public health connect to other societal issues.