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John Pickrell on Muck Rack

John Pickrell

Sydney
As seen in: Nature, The Guardian, National Geographic, New Scientist, Scientific American, Reader's Digest (U.S.), Science Magazine, Science News, National Geographic España, Book Riot and
Covers:  Paleontology, fossils, dinosaurs, natural history, wildlife, nature, environment, ecology, evolution, conservation, Australia, travel, adventure, human evolution, archaeology, science, palaeontology
Executive Editor APAC & China, branded content at @nature. Author: Flames of Extinction; Flying Dinosaurs; Weird Dinosaurs @ColumbiaUP @newsouthpub @IslandPress

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John Pickrell’s Biography

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JOHN PICKRELL is an award-winning freelance journalist, the author of Flying Dinosaurs and Weird Dinosaurs and a former editor of Australian Geographic magazine. He has worked in London, Washington DC and Sydney for publications including New Scientist, Science, Science News and Cosmos. John’s articles can also be found online and in print at Nature, National Geographic, Scientific American, Focus, BBC Future, The Guardian and the ABC. He has been a finalist in the Australian Museum’s Eureka pr…

John Pickrell’s Journalist Portfolio

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Dinosaur-Era Bird Found With Shockingly Intact Skull

Dinosaur-Era Bird Found With Shockingly Intact Skull

A delicate but remarkably well-preserved fossil skull is providing new clues to how birds evolved from their …

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Moon's weird pull could help predict deadly volcanic eruptions

Moon's weird pull could help predict deadly volcanic eruptions

THROUGHOUT history, people have suspected the moon of messing around with life on Earth's surface. From induc…

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Prehistoric Toothless Whale Among Oldest of Its Kind

Prehistoric Toothless Whale Among Oldest of Its Kind

A fossil found on the South Island of New Zealand is now one of the earliest members of the filter-feeding fa…

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Prehistoric 'Sea Monster' May Be Largest That Ever Lived

Prehistoric 'Sea Monster' May Be Largest That Ever Lived

The ancient remains of a gigantic marine reptile have been found in southwestern England. Known as an ichthyo…

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Early birds may have been too hefty to sit on their eggs

Early birds may have been too hefty to sit on their eggs

Birds that lived at the time of the dinosaurs might have been too heavy to sit on clutches of eggs without br…

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Oldest Human Fossil Outside Africa Discovered

Oldest Human Fossil Outside Africa Discovered

Part of an upper jaw with teeth found in Israel shows that modern humans ventured out of Africa much earlier …

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Articles

Is the truth still out there?

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By John Pickrell, Elisabeth Marie
| Australian Geographic Verified
In the autumn of 1982, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) ranger Hans Naarding was birdwatching near Togari in the state’s far north-west. After a tiring day in the field, he parked his LandCruiser near a crossroads to sleep. At about 2am, with rain thrumming on the thickly forested landscape, something woke him, and he pointed his torch out into the night. “When I opened the window, the rain just poured in, and I shone the spotlight around at the end of the [torch] beam.
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Damping the deafening din

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By John Pickrell
| Australian Geographic Verified
The report, which was released on World Ocean Day on 8 June by the body behind a major UN treaty – the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) – details the three major ways human-created noise pollution is generated: shipping, primarily from engines and propellers; seismic airgun surveys used by the oil and gas industry to map the sea floor; and piledriving to install foundations for marine infrastructure such as offshore windfarms and oil rigs.
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High seas safeguard

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By John Pickrell
| Australian Geographic Verified
Image credit: Getty Images For the first time, oceans beyond national water boundaries have been officially recognised for protection. In March, United Nations member states settled on an international legal framework to protect areas of open ocean – the High Seas Treaty. This came hot on the heels of a decision in December last year by the world’s governments to endorse the groundbreaking 30×30 target, which seeks protection of 30 per cent of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030.
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Interview

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What was your first job as a journalist?

Intern at Science Magazine

How is social media changing news?

Making it much more immediate and fast-paced

How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?

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