Editorial Bios

MARIETTE DiCHRISTINA
Editor in Chief

Mariette DiChristina oversees Scientific American, ScientificAmerican.com, Scientific American MIND and all newsstand special editions. She is the eighth person and first female to assume the top post in Scientific American’s 165-year history. A science journalist for more than 20 years, she first came to Scientific American in 2001 as its executive editor. She was named an AAAS Fellow in 2011. She was also the president (in 2009 and 2010) of the 2,500-member National Association of Science Writers. She is a former adjunct professor in the graduate Science, Health and Environmental Reporting program at New York University. DiChristina is a frequent lecturer and has appeared at the New York Academy of Sciences, California Academy of Sciences, 92nd Street Y in New York, Yale University and New York University among many others.

Previously, she spent nearly 14 years at Popular Science in positions culminating as executive editor. Her work in writing and overseeing articles about space topics helped garner that magazine the Space Foundation’s 2001 Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award. In spring 2005 she was Science Writer in Residence at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her chapter on science editing appears in the second edition of A Field Guide for Science Writers. She is former chair of Science Writers in New York (2001 to 2004) and a member of the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Society of Environmental Journalists. DiChristina was honored by New York’s Italian Heritage and Culture Committee in its October 2009 celebration of Galileo’s contributions to science. In January 2010, she was honored by the National Organization of Italian American Women as one as one of its “Three Wise Women” of 2009.

DAVIDE CASTELVECCHI
Editor

Davide Castelvecchi covers physical sciences, including chemistry, biophysics, and mathematics for SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. He has a Ph.D in mathematics from Stanford University and has held positions at the University of California, Santa Barbara, at the University of Paris-Sud 11 and at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Before coming to SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, Castelvecchi was a Web editor at the American Institute of Physics and a reporter at Science News magazine. He has freelanced for New Scientist, Sky & Telescope and National Geographic News. He is fluent in Italian as well as English.

MARK FISCHETTI
Editor

Mark Fischetti is the editor in charge of environmental and energy coverage for SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. He was managing editor of the magazine’s Earth 3.0 special editions, and helped launch SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Mind. His 2001 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN article, “Drowning New Orleans,” predicted the widespread disaster that a storm like Hurricane Katrina would impose. Fischetti has written freelance for The New York Times, Smithsonian, Fast Company and many others. He co-wrote Weaving the Web with Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, which reveals how the Web was really created. He also co-wrote The New Killer Diseases with microbiologist Elinor Levy. Fischetti is a former managing editor of IEEE Spectrum and Family Business magazines. He has a physics degree and has twice served as the Attaway Fellow in Civic Culture at Centenary College of Louisiana, which awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Fischetti is a frequent broadcaster and has appeared on CNN, NBC’s Meet the Press, the History Channel and NPR News.

CHRISTINE GORMAN
Editor

Christine Gorman is the editor in charge of health and medicine features for SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. Gorman began her publishing career at Time magazine, where she worked for more than 20 years in the business, nation, science and health sections. She inaugurated the magazine’s personal health section, which won awards from the National Press Club and the Deadline Club. Her cover stories, which addressed such topics as AIDS, anxiety, cancer, diabetes and sleep disorders, consistently ranked among the magazine’s top sellers each year. Gorman received a 2008 Nieman Fellowship to study global health at Harvard University, followed by a three-month reporting trip to investigate the nursing crisis in Malawi.

FRED GUTERL
Executive Editor

Fred Guterl is the executive editor of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. Previously, Guterl was the deputy editor of Newsweek, where he wrote and edited a wide range of stories for both print and digital media. He was Newsweek International’s first science and technology editor, writing and editing dozens of cover packages and special issues on climate change, global health, energy, biotechnology and other subjects. His writing and editing have contributed to numerous awards and nominations from the American Society of Magazine Editors. His article “Riddles in the Sand,” in Discover, was named best magazine article in 1998 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and his Newsweek article “The Wasteland,” on Russia’s plan to accept the world’s nuclear waste, was honored by the Overseas Press Club for environmental writing. He has been a guest on CNN, MSNBC, Charlie Rose, The Today Show and other television venues. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Rochester and has taught science writing at Princeton University.

ANNA KUCHMENT
Editor

Anna Kuchment edits the Advances news section of the magazine. Before coming to SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, Anna Kuchment was a writer and editor at Newsweek International and Newsweek magazine. At Newsweek, she worked out of the Moscow bureau and covered technology, science, and medicine among many other topics. She is also the author of the forthcoming book,“The Forgotten Cure,” due out in February 2011.

STEVE MIRSKY
Editor

Steve Mirsky has written the allegedly humorous Anti Gravity column for SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN since 1995 and is a member of the magazine’s board of editors. Since 2006 his primary responsibilities have been hosting the magazine’s weekly podcast, Science Talk, and overseeing the daily podcast, 60-Second Science. Mirsky received a master’s degree in chemistry from Cornell University in 1985, after which he was awarded a Mass Media fellowship by the American Association for the Advancement of Science to work for a summer as a science journalist at WSVN-TV in Miami. In 2009 he received an honorary doctorate in science from his alma mater, Lehman College of the City University of New York. Mirsky received a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the 2003 to 2004 academic year.

MICHAEL MOYER
Editor

Michael Moyer is the editor in charge of technology coverage for SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. He also covers digital culture, energy and the environment. Previously, he spent eight years at Popular Science magazine, where he was the articles editor. He won the 2005 American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award for his article, “Journey to the 10th Dimension.”

Moyer is a frequent broadcaster and has appeared on CNN Headline News, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, The Early Show on CBS, and many local TV and radio affiliates.

GEORGE MUSSER
Editor

George Musser is an editor at SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, whose primary focus is space science, ranging from planets to cosmology. Musser completed his undergraduate studies in electrical engineering and mathematics at Brown University and his graduate studies in planetary science at Cornell University, where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Prior to joining SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, Musser served as editor of Mercury magazine and of The Universe in the Classroom tutorial series at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, a science and science-education nonprofit based in San Francisco. He is also the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to String Theory. Musser has won numerous awards in his career. He was part of the editorial team that won a National Magazine Award.

RICKI RUSTING
Managing Editor

Ricki Rusting has been an editor at the magazine for more than 20 years and managing editor since 2002. Earlier, she worked in the popular books division of Macmillan Publishing Company (unrelated to today’s Macmillan) and on a weekly trade newspaper in the health field. She came to SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN from the American Diabetes Association, where she supervised publication of a magazine and other materials for people with diabetes. Ricki holds a master’s degree in journalism from New York University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

GARY STIX
Editor, Senior Writer

Gary Stix commissions, writes, and edits features, news articles and Web blogs for SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. His area of coverage is neuroscience. He also has frequently been the issue or section editor for special issues or reports on topics ranging from nanotechnology to obesity. He has worked for nearly 20 years at SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, following three years as a science journalist at IEEE Spectrum, the flagship publication for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He has an undergraduate degree in journalism from New York University. With his wife, he wrote a general primer on technology called Who Gives a Gigabyte?

KATE WONG
Editor

Kate Wong joined SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN in 1997. She edits and writes articles for the magazine about paleontology and anthropology, among other topics. She is the co-author, with Donald Johanson, of Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins. She has a B.S. in physical anthropology and zoology from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Online Editorial Bios

DAVID BIELLO
Associate Editor, Environment & Energy, ONLINE

David Biello is the award-winning online associate editor for environment and energy. He joined ScientificAmerican.com in November 2005 and has written on subjects ranging from astronomy to zoology for both the Web site and magazine. He has been reporting on the environment and energy since 1999. He is the host of the 60-Second Earth podcast, a contributor to the Instant Egghead video series and author of a children’s book on bullet trains.

LARRY GREENEMEIER
Associate Editor, Technology, ONLINE

Larry Greenemeier is responsible for reporting, writing, editing and assigning online articles that pertain to a number of different areas of technology: robotics, computers, medicine and environment, to name a few. He previously covered information technology (computers, microprocessors, IT security, IT outsourcing, etcetera) for the trade magazine InformationWeek, 1999 to 2007. He earned his master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.

KATHERINE HARMON
Contributing News Reporter

Katherine Harmon covers the health, medicine and neuroscience beats for ScientificAmerican.com. She also has a soft spot for paleontology and evolution stories. She joined the online group in January 2009 after completing an M.A. in journalism at the University of Missouri–Columbia. Her previous work has won regional and national awards and appeared in books, magazines, newspapers and web sites.

ROBIN LLOYD
Contributing Online Editor

Robin Lloyd is responsible for editing and assigning stories for SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN’s Web site. She also manages SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN’s Twitter feed, @sciam. Previously, she was a senior editor for LiveScience.com and SPACE.com, part of Imaginova Corp. She has additional experience in print journalism (Pasadena Star–News); wire journalism (City News Service of Los Angeles); and network online journalism (CNN.com). She has a PhD in sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and received a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the 1998–99 academic year.

JOHN MATSON
News Reporter, ONLINE

John Matson writes about space, physics and mathematics for SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN’s Web site and coordinates its coverage of those subject areas. Much of his writing has focused on the search for extrasolar planets and the exploration of the solar system, through both the robotic projects already underway and the human missions planned for the future. He joined the editorial staff of ScientificAmerican.com in 2008 after two years as a copy editor for SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN magazine. He has an M.A. in journalism from New York University and a B.A. in pure mathematics from Pomona College.

PHILIP YAM
Editor

Philip Yam is chief news editor of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, responsible for the News Scan section of the print magazine and the overall news content online. He began working at the magazine in 1989, first as a copyeditor and then as a features editor specializing in physics. He is the author of The Pathological Protein: Mad Cow, Chronic Wasting and Other Prion Diseases.

BORA ZIVKOVIC
Blog & Community Editor, ONLINE

Bora Zivkovic is the Editor of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN’s blog network. Zivkovic is the former Online Community Manager at Public Library of Science. He writes “A Blog Around The Clock,” a blend of chronobiology, science, politics and education among other subjects. Born in Serbia, Bora emigrated to the USA in 1991. He received a MS degree in the Department of Zoology at North Carolina State University.

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Mind
Editorial Bios

SANDRA UPSON
Managing Editor, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND

Sandra Upson assigns, edits, and writes articles for SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND. Previously she was an editor at IEEE Spectrum, for which she traveled the globe in search of the world’s most interesting engineers. She has two master’s degrees from Columbia University’s School of Journalism and a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in Symbolic Systems, a multidisciplinary major that combines computer science, linguistics, philosophy, and psychology. Before becoming a journalist, Upson worked for Bosch Corporation’s research division developing a conversational dialogue system for cars.

INGRID WICKELGREN
Editor, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND

Ingrid Wickelgren solicits, writes and edits feature articles and other content for SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND. She has a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Stanford University. Her past work includes serving as a contributing correspondent for Science magazine and a freelancer for national publications including Health, Popular Science, Business Week and The New York Times. She has worked as associate editor for Current Science, a biweekly magazine for middle school students published by the Weekly Reader Corp.; a writer/reporter for Science News; and a reporter/fact-checker for Newsweek and Fortune magazines. She is the author of more than 200 news and feature articles as well as three nonfiction books: The Gene Masters: How a New Breed of Scientific Entrepreneurs Raced for the Biggest Prize in Biology; Math Coach: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Children Succeed in Math; and Ramblin’ Robots: Building a Breed of Mechanical Beasts. She also reported four news stories on-air for the television show Brink.