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. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. Animals

    Scientists say: Hibernaculum

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

  7. 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.

  8. Give the gift of science without breaking the bank

    Many gifts for science lovers can get pricey. But there are lots of ways to share a love of science without having to spend too much.

  9. Book review: The Universe Verse

    Reading about science can get a bit boring. A new comic book will stop you from snoring. The book combines comics with poetry and rhyme, to help you learn science and have a good time.

  10. Tech

    Make your own mini hovercraft

    Hovercraft aren’t just the cars of the future. You can make your own with just a few household items.

  11. Dig dirt? It’s World Soil Day

    The food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe — all are influenced by the ground beneath our feet. On World Soil Day, take a moment to learn about the importance of good old dirt.

  12. Cookie Science 10: Finding the cookie difference

    To determine whether people ranked my cookies differently, I need to compare how much the groups of rankings differed. I can do this with a statistical test.