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. Get fascinated by the disgusting with “Gross Science”

    A new YouTube series uses some of nature’s most repulsive lifeforms to get people interested in science.

  2. Space

    Scientists Say: Gravitational lens

    A gravitational lens is an effect that occurs when a massive object lies between a viewer and something further away. The massive object’s gravity bends light arriving from the more distant object.

  3. Chemistry

    Form some bonds with a chemistry card game

    A new game can make aspects of learning chemistry fun. Pair charged elements together to create neutral compounds. Win points in the process.

  4. Cookie Science 15: Results aren’t always sweet

    From my latest experiment, I now know how to make a cookie that my friend can enjoy. But here’s a puzzle: I could not repeat some results from my first set of tests.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Scientists Say: Hormone

    This is a chemical that travels in the blood and acts as a signal. It can tell distant body parts what to do. When a chemical acts in this way, it has a special name.

  6. Microbes

    Making a microbe subway map

    We are surrounded by bacteria, fungi and other tiny organisms. Now, high school scientists have contributed to the first map of microbes in the New York subway system.

  7. Environment

    Scientists Say: Microplastic

    Bits of plastic smaller than five millimeters are called microplastics. They can end up in the ocean, where corals might mistake them for food.

  8. National festival calling all math lovers

    Math is important to everything from our computers to the magic in movies. Now there’s a national festival to show the fun side of numbers.

  9. Animals

    Scientists Say: Nematode

    Nematodes are a group of related small worms found all over the world. They can cause disease, but they also can be useful for scientists to study.

  10. The next MacGyver’s not a guy

    A famous TV show featured an engineering hero. Now, a contest plans to bring engineering back to the screen, and needs your ideas.

  11. Animals

    Mates or survival: Which explains a bird’s color?

    When male birds are brightly colored, we assume that’s because their plumage attracts the gals. But a new study with thousands of museum specimens shows that sometimes survival is just as important a factor behind bird color.

  12. Animals

    Scientists Say: Irruption

    Sometimes populations of animals can suddenly increase. The word for that is irruption.