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. The science of the strongest stitch

    Sewing connects most of the fabric products in our lives, from spacesuits to seatbelts. A teen scientist set out to find the strongest stitch.

  2. A teen’s invention helps log asthma symptoms

    When she was diagnosed with asthma, Annika Urban often found her symptoms disappeared by the time she got to a doctor. Her new invention helps log those symptoms when they occur — even at home. Later, they can be sent over the Internet to a doctor for analysis.

  3. Teachers: Deadline looms for solve-it program

    The deadline is almost over for teachers to enter their classrooms in a national program for middle- and high-school students. Each group selected will design projects to solve problems in their local community.

  4. A matchstick rocket may fail to launch

    An experiment with a matchstick rocket is supposed to have an explosive effect. In our tests, it fizzled.

  5. Some teens perform better when they multitask

    We are always told to focus on the task at hand. But two high school students show that for some teens, focus might not be the best way to get work done.

  6. Cookie Science 7: How many to bake?

    I have a hypothesis and I’m baking my cookies. To collect good data, how many people will need to sample them?

  7. Teen studies how germs resist our drugs

    Many bacteria become immune to the drugs meant to kill them. A high school student studied whether microbes might resist zinc as well. His findings ended up in a published paper.

  8. Animals

    Picture this: Too many walruses

    A giant herd of walruses have hauled out onto a beach in Alaska. They don’t belong there, but with no ice nearby, they have taken to land.

  9. Scientists need help to pinpoint penguins

    We all love looking at penguins. Now, you can help scientists by hunting for them in photos.

  10. IgNobel prize honors scoop on the way dogs poop

    A study shows that dogs spontaneously align themselves north to south when they poop or pee. A new app helps you collect your dog’s bodily habits for science.

  11. Summer students dig into crab stomachs

    The eelgrass in a Maine bay has been dying off. Two teens caught and dissected green crabs to figure out if this invasive species might be responsible.

  12. Cookie Science 6: Baking it up

    It’s time cookie science hit the ovens. I baked up three different batches of cookies. But I ran into some trouble along the way.