Along with everything else, I do a lot of work for colleges and universities.
I’ve written articles, essays, and even the occasional obituary for institutions ranging from Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, and Yale to Denison, Johns Hopkins, and Juilliard. (I’ve also written a good deal of marketing and PR material for universities and research organizations, some of which you can see here.)
I love the variety—I’ve had the opportunity to tackle everything from molecular biology to financial engineering—and I’ve even been able to get back in touch with my roots as a failed academic. (Yes, that’s me in the photo, doing fieldwork in West Africa. Yes, I really am that pale. And no, I am not wearing a table cloth.)
For clips, just scroll and click.
Taming the System
Keeping the peace in the rough-and-tumble world of online gaming.
TECHER
Emerging from the Age of HIV
Behind the science that could end the virus once and for all.
Seek
Global Warming (PDF)
The joys and challenges of working and studying abroad.
Visual Arts Journal
Flood of Injustice
The latest health impact of a warming planet? Climate gentrification—the pricing of vulnerable populations out of their homes. (Also see Residents of the Danger Zone, which describes efforts to avoid the dangers posed by so-called bomb trains that transport highly explosive—and toxic—fracked oil.)
Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health
Why the Next Silicon Valley Might Be in Jakarta
An expert on worldwide trends in cybersecurity and venture capital talks about the global innovation hubs that are rising to prominence—and the startups that are changing the world.
Denison Magazine
The Organizer
Activist and organizer Dante Barry talks about the people and events that shaped him, and his ongoing fight for social justice.
Monmouth Magazine
Ethical Threads
Behind the global apparel industry’s push for human rights.
Hue
Up by the Roots
Inside New York City’s push to become a global fintech capital—and what its ascent can teach other cities.
Harvard Business School Alumni Bulletin
Unexpected Protection
An immune receptor thought to trigger allergic reactions turns out to do the opposite.
Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health
A Sense of Urgency
Undergraduate researchers turn a sociological lens on pressing social problems.
art/sci
The Fight for Gender Equity (PDF)
#MeToo comes to the creative industries, where outright harassment and implicit bias are rampant.
Visual Arts Journal
The Good Behavior Game: The Game that Keeps on Giving
A simple classroom management strategy pays dividends for a lifetime.
Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health
Outsmarting an Outbreak
Drone-deployed robotic traps zero in on mosquitoes.
Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health
What Next
Medical problem-solving comes in many forms. Here are three.
TCNJ Magazine
Beyond Recognition (PDF)
Profoundly mysterious and virtually untreatable, the disease known as face blindness is leading neuroscience into uncharted nooks of the brain.
Seek
Making Sense of What We Hear
An expert in speech perception studies cocktail parties, bilingualism, and more to help people communicate better in challenging surroundings.
art/sci
Deep Learning and the Future of Biomedical Image Analysis
Using artificial intelligence to analyze all manner of biomedical images could improve patient outcomes.
Biomedical Computation Review
The Power of Cold (PDF)
How cryogenic technology is unlocking a revolution in biology.
Seek
Understanding An Epidemic
Researchers delve into the expanding opioid crisis—and work to combat it.
Think
Food for Sight
Biofortified foods could save the vision—and the lives—of millions of children in the developing world.
Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health
Man in the Middle
As a child, Palestinian Christian Saliba Sarsar survived the Six Day War in his native Jerusalem. His experiences during and after the war have informed his life’s work as a political scientist here in the US: bridging the Israeli-Palestinian divide, and bringing peace to the Middle East.
Monmouth Magazine
Combating Zika
A CDC health education specialist works to minimize Zika’s impact in the US Virgin Islands.
Monmouth Magazine
All the World’s Genes, at Our Fingertips (PDF)
A powerful new tool for manipulating genes is transforming biomedicine—and raising tough ethical questions.
Seek
Mobile Health: BD2K Centers Harness Sensor Data
Mobile technology and data science are poised to revolutionize healthcare, and a pair of NIH-funded centers are paving the way.
Biomedical Computation Review
Supercharged
Is the electric car finally on the road to mass-market adoption?
Harvard Business School Alumni Bulletin
Dark Matters
An astrophysicist discovers a new law of nature—and challenges our understanding of how the universe works.
Think
A Shining Light
A chemist with a thing for lasers achieves breakthroughs in photochemistry while nurturing aspiring scientists.
art/sci
Taking a Stand on Physician-Assisted Suicide
As more states legalize physician-assisted suicide, bioethicists push medical organizations to ratchet up support for patients and their doctors.
Think
A Dance in the Sky
Famed architect William Pedersen leads a multibillion dollar project that is transforming the New York City skyline.
University of Minnesota
5 Challenges for America
A new initiative aims to bring public health strategies to five daunting challenges facing the U.S.
Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health
Tips for Pursuing a Career in the Arts While Raising a Family
Achieving a satisfying work-life balance is never easy. For artists with children, it can be especially challenging.
Visual Arts Journal
A Biologist’s Mission
Molecular biologist Emmitt Jolly battles monsters that lurk in the blood.
art/sci
Zika: Computational Biology to the Rescue
Zika is moving fast. But so are the scientists who are using computational methods to stop the virus in its tracks.
Biomedical Computation Review
From Pixar to Beyoncé
New York City’s School of Visual Arts celebrates 30 years of computer art.
Visual Arts Journal
Progress on Zika
Researchers combatting Zika are waging war on multiple fronts.
Yale Alumni Magazine
Wiser Weapons
Can personalized guns trim U.S. firearm injuries and deaths?
Johns Hopkins Public Health
Personalized Prevention
New research suggests that changes in lifestyle could make a big difference in breast cancer rates—and shows that statistics could be the key to preventing disease.
Johns Hopkins Public Health
Good Vibrations
How your coffeemaker could help turn off the lights.
Think
Fighting Cancer Fatigue
A researcher tries to figure out why cancer causes fatigue—and how to stop it.
Think
No Más
A documentary brings to light a game-changing episode in the history of reproductive rights, and the role that one woman played in it.
Pomona College Magazine
All That Buzz
The newest hope for disease control? Hack mosquitoes’ sense of smell.
Johns Hopkins Public Health
Sound Patterns
Why do some kids have trouble talking?
art/sci
Going Viral: Modeling Ebola
In the midst of the 2014 Ebola epidemic, computer modeling experts tried to predict the spread of the virus. Now they’re reflecting on the lessons learned.
Biomedical Computation Review
The Rise of Cryo-Electron Microscopy
Researchers rejoice over improvements to a (very) cool tool for analyzing the structure of biological molecules.
Biomedical Computation Review
Unintended Legacy
A kid’s autism risk skyrockets when mom is obese and diabetic.
Johns Hopkins Public Health
Climate Changing (PDF)
China is tackling some very big public health problems, and researchers at Columbia University are getting in on the action.
Columbia Public Health
Page to Pixel
Academic libraries—and the people who work in them—aren’t what they used to be.
Superscript
Snip vs. Shred
Microbial immune systems promise to revolutionize genetic engineering—and the fight against bad bacteria.
Johns Hopkins Public Health
A View Through the Bars
The Marshall Project shines a light into the dark corners of America’s criminal justice system.
Pomona College Magazine
Wanted: The Paralysis Genes
Could children’s genes determine whether or not they will develop a polio-like condition?
Johns Hopkins Public Health
Print Making
Artists explore the possibilities of 3D printing.
Visual Arts Journal
Serious Games and Biomedical Research
Scientists get serious about games.
Biomedical Computation Review
It All Adds Up (PDF)
Printing metal parts, layer by layer.
WPI Research
Historian at Heart
A Q&A with historian and best-selling author David Nasaw, accompanied by capsule summaries of five of his books.
Bucknell Magazine
At Their Own Risk
Do the dangers of concussion among our nation’s youth outweigh the benefits of contact sports?
At Buffalo
Restoring Justice
Restorative justice focuses on repairing the harm that crime does to individuals and communities. For Noreen Deiss, that meant confronting an accessory to her parents’ murder.
Gargoyle
A Gutsy Endeavor
Tissue engineering could make lab mice obsolete.
Johns Hopkins Medicine
The Only Thing We Have To Fear
Why failure isn’t such a bad thing, but fear of failure is.
Denison Magazine
Fighting Ebola
The key to stopping the virus: Changing people’s behavior.
Johns Hopkins Public Health
Defining Identity
Columbia University is expanding its diversity initiatives. Here’s how—and why.
Superscript
Outfitted for a Sustainable Future
Paul Dillinger helps Levi Strauss make clothes that look good without breaking the planet.
Washington Magazine
Prostate Cancer: Crunching the Numbers
How computation can make prostate cancer less menacing.
Biomedical Computation Review
Smooth Moves
Question: How are human cells like the Energizer Bunny? Answer: They keep going and going and going…
JHU Engineering
Computation in the Surgical Suite: Navigating the Brain
Computers help surgeons steer through complex terrain.
Biomedical Computation Review
Building Homes, Rebuilding Communities
Adria Crutchfield helps communities rebuild in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.
Washington Magazine
Bringing Pedagogy into the 21st Century
Columbia University’s new Teaching Center aims to help future faculty cope with the age of flipped classrooms and MOOCs. (With an accompanying profile of anthropologist and former Barnard College president Judith Shapiro.)
Superscript
The Weakest Link
Cybersecurity experts turn their attention to the weakest link in any computer system: The person using it.
WPI Research
Internationalism Evolves: Columbia and the Global Centers
A university expands its global reach. (Also see the accompanying profile of scholar and former New York Public Library chief Paul LeClerc.)
Superscript
Unlocking the Secrets of Insulin (PDF)
A breakthrough in understanding the molecular structure of insulin could make managing diabetes easier.
Think
The Biology of Interacting Things: The Intuitive Power of Agent-Based Models
Biomedical applications of ABMs are taking off.
Biomedical Computation Review
The Historian
How an historian of prejudice in the United States helped remake a college culture.
Denison Magazine
Turning Spaghetti into Numbers
A mysterious new condition robs sufferers of the ability to see letters and numbers.
Johns Hopkins Arts & Sciences
The Race Against Alzheimer’s
Want to keep your aging brain in tip-top shape? Don’t get too excited.
Johns Hopkins Arts & Sciences
Minimizing Resistance
In a troubling turn, researchers find that mass treatment for a blinding disease in Tanzania led to increased antibiotic resistance.
Johns Hopkins Public Health
Behind the Connectome Commotion
Exploring the truth—and the hype—behind efforts to map connections in the brain.
Biomedical Computation Review
Open-Door Policy
How a small group of faculty and students helped bring gay life at Denison University out of the closet.
Denison Magazine
Information Overload
Biomedical data is piling up like snowflakes in a blizzard, but a new PhD program is training students to figure out what to do with it all.
Dartmouth Medicine
Untangling Integrative Analysis
Biomedical researchers are finding new ways of simulating systems that contain many different moving parts.
Biomedical Computation Review
Life in My ($135) Bargain Shorts
Test-riding a pair of fancy-fabric action pants. For free.
Pomona Magazine
Interdisciplinary Training
A clutch of new research centers at the University of Illinois forces students to leave their comfort zones.
Engineering at Illinois
Social Science
Pioneering biologists (and husband-and-wife team) Joseph and Jean Sanger refute the myth of the lone scientist.
Dartmouth Medicine
Zooming In on The Microbiome: Dealing with the Data Deluge
Bioinformatics and computational biology enable microbiome research.
Biomedical Computation Review
Malarial Gut Check
The words “parasite,” “bacteria,” and “digestive system” do not necessarily give comfort when nestled alongside one another—unless, that is, they are being used to describe the work of malaria researcher Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena.
Johns Hopkins Public Health
The Wizards of Washburn (PDF)
Metallurgists use their magical powers for good.
WPI Research
What I’m Doing with My Law Degree (PDF)
One degree, many paths: Four graduates of the University of Wisconsin Law School demonstrate how legal education launched their careers.
Gargoyle
Zooming In on Blood Coagulation and Viscosity: Computation Takes On Blood Behavior
Understanding blood flow and coagulation is crucial to treating disorders such as hemophilia, AIDS, and malaria. It’s also bloody difficult.
Biomedical Computation Review
Another Way That TB Subverts the Immune System
Sometimes it really does pay to shoot the messenger.
NYU Physician
Sticky-Fingered Culprit
The same blood cells that help wounds heal also give cancer a boost.
HHMI Bulletin
Are the Steps to Wisdom Worth the Climb?
With debate raging over the merits and costs of higher education, the liberal arts have taken a particularly severe beating.
Denison Magazine
Innovation NYC
NYU-Poly’s business incubators aim to give startups a boost.
Cable Magazine
Privacy and Biomedical Research: Building a Trust Infrastructure
As medical records and genetic data go digital in a big way, data privacy experts are trying to find ways of making that information available to researchers without compromising patient privacy.
Biomedical Computation Review
Dogs, Doses and Devices: The FDA’s Ambitious Plans for Computational Modeling
How the Food and Drug Administration is using computer models to evaluate everything from vaccines to artificial hips.
Biomedical Computation Review
Distant Drums
How I got my Ghanaian groove back.
YorkU Magazine
Law School Rallies around One of its Own (PDF)
When Jimmy Anderson was injured in a tragic car crash, his fellow students at the University of Wisconsin Law School circled the wagons.
Gargoyle
Risky Business?
See how you may be supplying everything a hacker could ever wish for (and then see exactly how to crush their hopes and dreams).
The Florida Engineer
Exploding the Piano (PDF)
Avant-garde pianist Kathleen Supové gives the piano recital a much-needed makeover.
Pomona Magazine
Carrying on the Leopold Legacy
Paleobotanist Estella Leopold has spent her career trying to understand and protect the environment. And why not? It’s the family business.
On Wisconsin Magazine
The Case of Inmate No. A246292
Dean Gillispie has spent 20 years in prison for kidnapping and rape. Former Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro believes he is innocent—and has made it his job to free him.
Denison Magazine
Ebola and Barbed Wire
What Senator Richard Lugar saw on a tour of weapons caches and biological research facilities in East Africa might just keep you up at night.
Denison Magazine
Saving Haiti’s Frogs (PDF)
Biologist Blair Hedges takes a stand for the island’s embattled amphibians.
The Penn Stater
Bye Bye, USPS?
The United States Postal Service helped create the United States as we know it. Are we really ready to let it go?
Denison Magazine
A Star Is Born
Meet astrophysicist Steve Doty, obstetrician to the stars.
Denison Magazine
Listen Up
Amid the growing din of radio’s talk and shock, Roe Conn leads Chicago’s airwaves as the voice of reason.
Denison Magazine
Kitchen Cred
Former Top Chef Lee Anne Wong cooks up a great career.
Hue Magazine
A New World of Possibility (PDF)
Scientists and engineers at New York University and NYU-Poly team up to break new ground in science and technology. (Click here for a related article on research into shockproof battle armor, nanoscale biodetectors, and synthetic DNA.)
Cable Magazine
A Personal Approach
The quiet power of Bernard Haitink.
The Juilliard Journal
Financing a Columbia GS Degree in the 21st Century
Making ends meet at Columbia University’s School of General Studies.
The Owl
Waste Not…
David Stoller wants to turn your garbage into fuel.
The Pennsylvania Gazette
Facing the Unthinkable
Pennsylvania Police Commissioner Jeffrey Miller remembers the Amish schoolhouse slayings of 2006.
The Penn Stater
Bed Head
Aaron Stewart, bed-linen designer.
FIT Network
In Memoriam: Vagn Flyger
The man who loved squirrels.
The Penn Stater
Leveling the Playing Field
Wi-fi for all at St. John’s University.
The ACUTA Journal of Communications in Higher Education
The Life Aquatic
Dances with whales.
FIT Network