Mary Heglar on Leading with the Heart, not the Head

Mary Annaïse Heglar writes beautiful, urgent essays about climate change—essays that acknowledge the emotional complexities of the crisis and often make clear its links to racism and colonialism. And she does it all in her spare time. Nine to five, she is the publications director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where she edits and oversees technical reports about environmental research and policy. Here, Heglar tells TON about her process, her thoughts on the role of emotion in climate communication, and her sudden rise.

Emma Marris Oct 22, 2019

Riding the Emotional Roller Coaster of Being a Science Writer

In June 2019, a New York Times reporter tweeted a viral graph about the highs and lows of writing. How can science journalists better manage those emotions and cope with frustrations like writer’s block and negative feedback? Having published a book about cognitive bias and human error, writer David Robson asks what psychological tricks could help us in this journey.

David Robson Oct 15, 2019

The Craft of Science Writing:
Selections from The Open Notebook

We are thrilled to announce that The Open Notebook‘s print anthology, The Craft of Science Writing, is now available for pre-order! The book includes indispensable (if we do say so ourselves!) articles on the craft of science writing by some of the most skillful science journalists working today, as well as interviews with leading journalists offering behind-the-scenes inspiration and practical advice.

Storygram: Ed Yong’s “North Atlantic Right Whales Are Dying in Horrific Ways”

This spring, North Atlantic right whales started rapidly dying. In fact, they were dying so quickly that when Ed Yong, a staff writer at The Atlantic, reported the alarming trend in a news story, he needed to revise the text within hours of publishing. It can be difficult to pull off doom-and-gloom conservation stories, especially those involving charismatic megafauna. Here, Nadia Drake, a contributing writer at National Geographic, takes a look at what makes Yong’s piece excellent.

Nadia Drake Oct 8, 2019

Elizabeth Shogren Uncovers Censorship of Science at the National Park Service

The National Park Service greenlighted a project studying the effects of climate change on coastal parks—then buried its results. Reporter Elizabeth Shogren, of Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, tells TON how she used public-records laws to pull back the curtain on scientific censorship by top Park Service officials.

Jennifer Lu Oct 1, 2019

Environmental Journalism: A TON Collection

The Open Notebook has published hundreds of interviews and reported articles on the craft of science journalism. Here, we present a few dozen that focus on environmental journalism.