Bethany Brookshire

Bethany Brookshire was a longtime staff writer at Science News Explores and is the author of the book Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains. She has a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in philosophy from The College of William and Mary, and a Ph.D. in physiology and pharmacology from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She was a 2019-2020 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT, the winner of the Society for Neuroscience Next Generation Award and the Three Quarks Daily Science Writing Award, among others.

All Stories by Bethany Brookshire

  1. Cookie Science 13: The deal with gluten

    To find out how to improve my gluten-free cookies, I learned a lot about what gluten does, and what other baking ingredients might take its place.

  2. Animals

    Scientists Say: Plankter

    Plankton is the word used to describe a collection of these tiny free-floating organisms. This is what you call just one.

  3. Volunteers scoop poop to learn what animals ate

    Growing human populations in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California lead predators to change their ways. To find out how, scientists are dispatching volunteers to scout out scat.

  4. Fossils

    Scientists Say: Coprolite

    Every living thing and signs of its existence — right down to their wastes — can fossilize under the right conditions. When poop fossilizes, it gets a special name.

  5. Make 2015 a year of science

    Add some science to your new year. Every month has at least one event with a STEM —science, technology, engineering or math — theme. Mark your calendars to learn and celebrate.

  6. Ecosystems

    Scientists say: Biomagnify

    Chemicals in the environment can build up in an animal’s tissues. Predators who feed on these animals can accumulate more and more of the pollutants, a process known as biomagnification.

  7. Cookie Science 12: Heading to the library

    I have the results of my first experiment. Before I start, I need some new ideas. And for that, I’ll need to read some scientific papers.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Scientists say: Inflammation

    When cells are injured, they send out distress signals. The rescuing cells cause more blood to flow to the area, producing inflammation.

  9. Animals

    Picture This: Winter brings white noses

    White-nose syndrome, caused by a fungus, has killed millions of bats in the eastern United States. Now, scientists show that the disease comes and goes, by season. The finding could help scientists more effectively target any treatments.

  10. Environment

    Nature documentary puts people in the picture

    Many nature documentaries cut people out of the frame. A new series aims to show how we are entwined with our environments.

  11. Animals

    Scientists say: Hibernaculum

    This week’s word is hibernaculum, the word scientists use to describe the place where an animal goes to hibernate.

  12. Cookie Science 11: That’s the way the cookie crumbles

    I made cookies and had people taste them. Now it’s time to look at the results of my data.