Hannah Waters is a science writer fascinated by the natural world, the history of its study, and the way people think about nature. On top of science blogging, she runs the Smithsonian's Ocean Portal, a marine biology education website, and is science editor for Ladybits.
Hannah is a child of the internet, who coded HTML frames on her Backstreet Boys fanpage when she was in middle school. Aptly, she rose to professional science writing through blogging (originally on Wordpress) and tweeting profusely. She's written for The Scientist, Nature Medicine, Smithsonian.com, and others.
Before turning to full-time writing, Hannah wanted to be an oceanographer or a classicist, studying Biology and Latin at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. She's done ecological research on marine food webs, shorebird conservation, tropical ecology and grassland ecosystems. She worked as a lab technician at the University of Pennsylvania studying molecular biology and the epigenetics of aging. And, for a summer, she manned a microphone and a drink shaker on a tour boat off the coast of Maine, pointing out wildlife and spouting facts over a loudspeaker while serving drinks.
Email her compliments, complaints and tips at culturingscience at gmail dot com.
So Long, Culturing Science
This is my last post on Culturing Science. I’m leaving the network as Scientific American is taking it in a new direction. Thank you for reading my writing on ecology, conservation and whatever else over the past four years.
The Global Perspective of Space and Deep-sea Explorer Kathryn Sullivan
There is currently a person on this planet who has traveled to outer space and to the deep sea. Many of us dream of one or the other; to dream of both at once seems overly ambitious or even greedy.
Weather Radar Captures Flocks of Birds Taking Off
Several times a week, if not every day, I look at Doppler radar maps so I know whether to take an umbrella when I leave the house. These maps, shown on TV weather reports or websites, are commonplace enough that they don’t feel like impressive technology: mere green blobs slowly shifting across the screen at [...]
#IAmANaturalist Campaign Flourishes Online
#IAmANaturalist because to try and understand a completely different way of living, of being, is to transcend oneself.
Our Biases in the Gulf’s Recovery from the Oil Spill
Last month, I set out to write a fairly basic story about the Gulf oil spill and whether the oil really caused deformities in fish. I first called an oil chemist to get some background on how oil could cause those problems in the first place.
Glacial Poetry: Photos Don’t Do Them Justice
I have never seen a glacier (or any sea ice for that matter) in real life, though I’ve seen them in countless photos. I’m spellbound by James Balog’s Extreme Ice Survey, at the shapes and scale of ice in the Arctic.
Warming Gives Us One More Month of Flowers in the Rockies
No matter the temperature, I don’t consider it to be really spring until I spot the first spring beauties of the year. These sweet whitish/pinkish mid-Atlantic florets (Claytonia virginica) are among the first to stretch out of the mud and leaf litter to add a spritely touch to an otherwise brown woodscape.
So What’s An Adorable Kitten Got to Do With an Unstable Bluff and Mount St. Helens?
Fiddler crabs are strange little beasties. Males have what amounts to one giant claw, which can be as long as his body is wide, and one tiny T.
How One Little Molecule Influences Earth’s Climate
A seemingly humdrum little molecule has found itself responsible for not just one but two positive feedback loops, one moderating climate and the other gathering animals across the food web.
What The Ruling on Gene Patenting Means
The Swan Song of the Cicadas
Why Do Sequences Think They Are So Special?
I am one of the winners of a ScienceSeeker award!
May We All Have The Option of Double Mastectomy
Bermuda Bluebirds Aren't Native: They Moved In 400 Years Ago
The Narcissism of De-Extinction
A Museum Chapel for Microscopic Biodiversity
Seeing the Blue Marble for the First Time
Why Sociable Weavers Nest Together
Managing Wild Cats: Additional Reading
Cigarette Butts May Help Birds Ward Off Parasites
Used cigarette filters in nests may protect hatchlings
Cats Are Ruthless Killers. Should They Be Killed?
Age of Miracles: What If Climate Change Were Sped Up?
A Hilarious Behind-the-Scenes Tour of Montana's Natural History Museum