Virginia Gewin
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2023-24 Nova Media Fellow. 2024 James Beard media nominee. Science journalist. she/her @VirginiaGewin@bsky.social
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Articles by Virginia Gewin
El satélite de la NASA que permite hacer seguimiento a los días con mala calidad del aire
Imagen de Washington, en EE.UU., que a mediados del 2026 quedó cobijada por una capa de humo debido a los incendios de Canadá. El satélite de la NASA que permite hacer seguimiento a los días con mala calidad del aire Tiempo de lectura ¡Ahorra tiempo y mantente informado con El Espectador! Lee nuestros resúmenes para informarte con los puntos clave de cada noticia. Te contamos lo que debes saber en pocos segundos.
El satélite TEMPO de la NASA permite un mejor seguimiento de los días con mala calidad del aire
A principios de agosto, los cielos de Portland, Oregón, adquirieron un tono sepia cada vez más familiar, a medida que los vientos del este arrastraban hacia la ciudad columnas de gas y humo procedentes de los incendios forestales. En un momento dado, la calidad del aire de Portland se situó como la peor del mundo, lo que provocó el cierre de campamentos de verano y piscinas públicas, así como la cancelación de conciertos al aire libre.
Is exposomics the key to making personalized medicine a reality?
Researcher Ana Maretti Garcia collects transcriptomics data from clusters of cells exposed to ‘forever chemicals’.Credit: Gus Ruelas/USC The year is 2050. During routine medical visits, patients provide blood and urine samples, their postal code and a description of their lifestyle and habits. The samples are analysed to detect nutrients and pharmaceuticals that the person has consumed, the bacterial and viral infections they have had and any chemicals they have encountered.
From 22,000 Miles Up, This Satellite Tracks Airborne Health Threats Almost in Real Time
The new instrument, called TEMPO, captures hourly snapshots of the pollutants swirling in the daytime atmosphere over North America—“chemical weather” reports that are helpful to public health researchers and government officials In early August, the skies above Portland, Oregon, took on an increasingly familiar sepia tint as easterly winds wafted plumes of gas and smoke from wildfires into the air over the city.
From 22,000 Miles Up, This Satellite Tracks Airborne Health Threats Almost in Real Time
The new instrument, called TEMPO, captures hourly snapshots of the pollutants swirling in the daytime atmosphere over North America—“chemical weather” reports that are helpful to public health researchers and government officials September 18, 2026 2:02 p.m. Smoke from massive wildfires in Canada engulfed the New York City skyline, reducing visibility and casting an orange haze over city on July 16, 2026.
Is it safe to use consumer wearable devices for research?
Wuyoh Sui, a researcher at Western University in London, Canada, explains some of the ethical considerations of using digital wearable technology in research.Credit: Anna Sui Consumer wearables, such as smart watches or rings, can help people to track their daily steps, heart rate and sleep patterns. Given the devices’ popularity and ease of use, researchers are increasingly harnessing them to study health — for example, by investigating exercise regimes or monitoring chronic diseases.
NASA’s TEMPO satellite enables better monitoring of bad air days
In early August the skies above Portland, Oregon, took on an increasingly familiar sepia tint, as easterly winds wafted plumes of gas and smoke from wildfires into the air over the city. At one point Portland’s air quality was ranked worst in the world, leading to the closure of summer camps and public pools and the cancellation of outdoor concerts. In a summer of intense heat and wildfires, similar scenarios played out in cities across North America — New York, Denver, Chicago, Toledo.
NASA’s TEMPO satellite enables better monitoring of bad air days
6 hours ago Ice scientist Ines Otosaka says the Jakobshavn glacier in Greenland, for example, is now retreating up to 164 feet a day. About 12.5 trillion tons (11.3 trillion metric tons) of ice from glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica have melted since 1979, which is enough frozen water to stack ice 5 feet …
How does Make America Healthy Again hold up against scientific scrutiny?
The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative, spearheaded by US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, aims to “confront chronic disease, improve nutrition, and lower healthcare costs”. To achieve these laudable aims, those in the MAHA movement have set out to overhaul US health policies on aspects such as nutrition and vaccines and what they see as an over-reliance on medication. Such huge shifts in the United States are likely to have ripple effects around the world.
I want to see a prison-to-PhD pipeline
Ryan Rising started taking university courses while in prison and is now pursuing a PhD focused on how best to help formerly incarcerated individuals to reintegrate with society.Credit: Courtesy of Cynthia Mia of Lovely Hues Photography Ryan Rising was first incarcerated when he was 12 years old, and was characterized as a troublemaker. The label followed him in and out of prison over the next two decades. During that time, he replaced his addiction to drugs with one for gaining knowledge.
These 5 Research Projects Show How AI Is Revolutionizing Bird Conservation
Conservation researchers will go to great lengths to survey birds—getting up before dawn, driving hours on back roads, undertaking grueling hikes—all for only a brief snapshot of which species or how many individuals are in an area. Such effort is worth it to collect data critical to monitoring and protecting avian populations in important habitats across the world, says Matthew Weldy, Audubon’s senior manager of quantitative science.
Meet the biologists deciphering marine-mammal histories from baleen, whiskers and tusks
Male narwhals fighting over the carcass of a female off Baffin Island, Canada.Credit: Flip Nicklin/Minden Pictures via Alamy In March, Kathleen Hunt unpacked the first shipments of equipment and samples at her new laboratory at Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute in Newport, on the Pacific coast. On empty benches, the conservation biologist began setting up centrifuges, a spectrophotometer, drills to turn samples into powder and a station for performing biochemical assays.
Best. Day. Ever. What does a good day in science look like?
This is the first of two articles about what makes for a good day in science. If you have an insight or anecdote to share, please get in touch at careersbriefing@nature.com. Science can be a slog: tedious, repetitive and maddening. Good days — the first moments after a newly discovered insight, holding an undescribed species or a student overturning a long-held assumption — are few and far between. But it’s these singular moments that remind researchers why they chose their career.
Keeping Clinical Trials on an Inclusive Track
Key Takeaways Experts advocate a “participation-to-prevalence” ratio—the representation of a specific population relative to their representation in a disease population—of 0.8 to 1.2 to ensure adequate representation in clinical trials. Digital tools can help reach target trial participants, but they also pose privacy and ethical challenges. Working with patient advocacy groups from the outset can help shape research priorities, improve clinical trial design, and increase health impact.
Meeting the moment: how scientific philanthropies are expanding their reach
Pranay Shah (presenter on left) of the UK Advanced Research and Invention Agency gives a talk alongside Jean-Paul Chretien (right), programme director of Renaissance Philanthropy’s Big if True Science Accelerator.Credit: Renaissance Philanthropy At the start of 2025, federal funding cuts rippled through the US research ecosystem.
Contrails are a climate puzzle written across the sky
At cruising altitude, jet engines often leave behind contrails: puffy white streaks that briefly lace the sky before thinning into nothing. Formed when hot, moist exhaust meets frigid, humid air, these manmade clouds have long been more aesthetic curiosity than environmental concern. They have inspired wonder, and occasionally provoked debunked conspiracy theories about toxic chemicals; but for decades they were treated as little more than a fleeting byproduct of flight.
I will continue the fight for environmental justice in Black communities
This Nature Q&A series celebrates individuals who have fought racism in science and who champion inclusion. The series often highlights initiatives that could be applied to other scientific workplaces. In the 1990s, Robert Bullard championed the then-emerging field of environmental justice.
Wearable Air Samplers Reveal How Wildfire Shapes the Exposome
Key Takeaways Wearable silicone-based devices are increasingly being used to measure chemical exposures, notably following wildfires. Indoor air exposures linger far longer than outdoor exposures. Researchers are working to correlate environmental exposures with health outcomes. Just over 1 year ago, devastating fires raged in Los Angeles (LA), California, killing 29 people [].
My professor said ‘Black people are not interested in the environment’. I set out to prove him wrong
This Nature Q&A series celebrates individuals who have fought racism in science and who champion inclusion. The series often highlights initiatives that could be applied to other scientific workplaces. Dorceta Taylor has a long history of firsts. In 1991, she became the first Black woman to earn a doctoral degree from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in New Haven, Connecticut.
‘Shattered’: US scientists speak out about how Trump policies disrupted their careers
The first year of US President Donald Trump’s second administration delivered a steady pulse of federal-agency lay-offs, grant terminations and funding cuts to universities. “The speed, the scope and the severity of the attacks on science are beyond anything we’ve ever seen,” says Gretchen Goldman, president and chief executive of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a non-profit advocacy organization in Washington DC.
The price honeybees may pay for biofuel
The Millers are a family of beekeepers in Gackle, North Dakota, a tiny farming town about 70 miles east of Bismarck. It was five decades ago when they began their labors here amid the endless swaths of sweet clover, alfalfa and the variety of other plant life that bees love. North Dakota has long been a top honey producer, churning out 40 million pounds every year and bringing in close to $67 million.
Os EUA aceleram o biocombustível de aviação. As abelhas estão pagando um preço
Bloomberg — Os Millers são uma família de apicultores na pequena cidade agrícola de Gackle, no estado americano de Dakota do Norte. Há cinco décadas eles começaram seu trabalho no local, em meio às intermináveis faixas de trevo doce, alfafa e uma variedade de outras plantas das quais as abelhas se alimentam. Há muito tempo, a Dakota do Norte é uma das principais produtoras de mel dos Estados Unidos, produzindo 18,2 milhões de quilos por ano e gerando cerca de US$ 67 milhões.
A ‘honeybee paradise’ may be paying the price for biofuel
But not anymore. That paradise is slowly being transformed into a heaving ocean of corn and soybeans. Corn production in North Dakota alone has quadrupled to 16.5 million acres since the turn of the century, crowding out the diverse vegetation bees depend on. Part of the reason has been the growing use of corn and soybean ethanol in biofuel, which mixes agricultural and waste feedstocks with fossil fuels for use in combustion engines.
The price honeybees may pay for biofuel
(Bloomberg) -- The Millers are a family of beekeepers in Gackle, North Dakota, a tiny farming town about70 miles east of Bismarck. It was five decades ago when they began their labors here amid the endless swaths of sweet clover, alfalfa and the variety of other plant life that bees thrive on.North Dakota has long been a top honey producer,churning out 40 million pounds every year and bringing in close to $67 million.
The Price Honeybees May Pay for Biofuel Original
Photographer: tomaszm83/iStockphoto/Getty Images (Bloomberg) -- The Millers are a family of beekeepers in Gackle, North Dakota, a tiny farming town about 70 miles east of Bismarck.
Dismantling of US federal agencies will ‘destroy science’
For 30 years, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has conducted controlled air-pollution studies at a state-of-the-art facility at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The facility is equipped to test numerous airborne pollutants, including ozone, diesel, wildfire smoke and chlorine.
Postdoc depression and anxiety rates are rising, finds survey of 872 researchers
A survey of the Max Planck Society’s postdoctoral researchers paints a stark picture of work life at the renowned German research institutes. The Max Planck Society (MPG) has more than 3,000 postdoctoral researchers across 84 institutes. The survey, conducted by the Max Planck PostdocNet, a network of postdocs across the organization, drew responses from 872 of them, representing 74 institutes.
How researcher visa curbs threaten science careers
Fatemeh Ajallooeian, was thrilled when, in June 2024, she received a Swiss National Science Foundation mobility fellowship to go abroad to continue her palaeoclimate research.
How your research can survive a US federal grant termination
Seven weeks after being awarded a US$12.9-million grant to assess dementia risks in vulnerable populations, Briana Mezuk received an e-mail informing her that it was being terminated. Mezuk, an epidemiologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, had honed her federal grant application over two years to take advantage of the National Survey of American Life — a seminal study of 7,000 participants that examined racial, ethnic and cultural influences on mental health1.
‘We were ready for this’: meet the scientists suing the Trump administration to reinstate terminated grants
Lawyers representing scientists are pursuing one of several court cases to reinstate US National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants terminated by the administration of US President Donald Trump on topics that it deems “unscientific” or that “no longer effectuate agency priorities”. The plaintiffs say the “boilerplate” termination letters did not provide adequate reasoning as to how any specific study failed to meet the agency’s standards for research.
#OpenToWork: how laid-off US scientists are coping with shattered careers
For the past six years, Lisa Neyman has been analysing marine vessel traffic to help find ways to avoid collisions with North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis). In January 2024, the marine mammal scientist left Florida’s state fish and wildlife agency to work as a contractor for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is based in Washington DC. “It was my dream job,” she says.
AI carves out a niche in ecology and conservation research - Nature Methods
Scientists who study biodiversity are in the rapid adoption phase of AI. They are finding that what AI can — and can’t — do is shifting rapidly.
Will Its $154 Billion Price Tag Keep Dust from Being Swept Under the Rug?
Wind erosion and dust may be invisible hazards, but in the United States, they have an eye-popping $154 billion annual price tag, according to the first comprehensive cost assessment in 3 decades. On the basis of 2017 data, the best available for the contributing factors assessed, the total is 4 times greater than the 1995 estimate. When compared to other billion-dollar disasters in 2017, dust’s cost was second only to tropical cyclones.
Is There Enough Evidence of Health Risks for the EPA to Ban Paraquat?
April 15, 2025 Update: Syngenta, manufacturer of the weedkiller paraquat, which has been linked to Parkinson’s disease, has entered into an agreement to potentially settle thousands of lawsuits against the company. Farmers use the herbicide paraquat, often sold under the brand name Gramoxone, to clear fields before planting.
Trump executive order puts STEM diversity efforts on hold
Amid the flurry of executive orders issued last week on the first day of President Donald Trump’s administration, one targeted at diversity programs is reverberating throughout federal science agencies. Many that have incorporated diversity, equity, and inclusion work as a central part of their mission in recent years are now closing DEI offices and doing away with DEI-focused language and initiatives.
I create routes through trees to help stop howler monkeys being electrocuted by power lines
“When I was a child living on the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, my parents would take me to see golden-mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata palliata) in the forest most weekends. Howler monkeys are like big, hairy gardeners, spreading seeds from many trees. I understood at an early age that if we preserve the forest, we preserve the species in it.
The race to save America's native plant species, one seed at a time
One day last January, close to two dozen people rose at dawn to hand-sow thousands of pounds of native plant species across a vast swaths of sand, silt and clay that had emerged when the reservoirs behind four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River in Oregon were drained. The Klamath once boasted the third-largest salmon population in the West.
The Race to Save the American Landscape One Seed at a Time
One day last January, close to two dozen people rose at dawn to hand-sow thousands of pounds of native plant species across a vast swaths of sand, silt and clay that had emerged when the reservoirs behind four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River in Oregon were drained. The Klamath once boasted the third-largest salmon population in the West.
The Race to Save the American Landscape One Seed at a Time
(Bloomberg) -- One day last January, close to two dozen people rose at dawn to hand-sow thousands of pounds of native plant species across a vast swaths of sand, silt and clay that had emerged when the reservoirs behind four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River in Oregon were drained. The Klamath once boasted the third-largest salmon population in the West.
The Race to Save the American Landscape One Seed at a Time
(Bloomberg) -- One day last January, close to two dozen people rose at dawn to hand-sow thousands of pounds of native plant species across a vast swaths of sand, silt and clay that had emerged when the reservoirs behind four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River in Oregon were drained. The Klamath once boasted the third-largest salmon population in the West.
EPA funded citizen science to address gaps in air monitoring. Will it result in cleaner air?
Reporting for this story was supported by the Nova Institute for Health. In the decades since Congress passed the Clean Air Act in the early 1960s, air quality monitoring has become one of the EPA’s central tools to ensure the agency delivers on the promise to protect people from polluted air.
In largest study of its kind, researchers track health effects of Hawaii wildfires
Alika Maunakea vividly recalls how he learned of the disastrous wildfires raging on the island of Maui in his home state of Hawaii. The University of Hawaii epigeneticist was giving a talk on 9 August 2023 at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. That morning, his phone buzzed with increasingly grim alerts, including the declaration of an emergency by local officials as the largest of four fires on the island torched roughly 900 hectares around the town of Lahaina.
Are our rock-climbing shoes shedding plastics?
“I spent the first two years of my PhD research studying the environmental fate of chemicals that are added to tyres to prevent their degradation. These tyre additives include a rubber-stabilizing chemical called 6PPD, a breakdown product of which was linked in 2020 to salmon deaths. It is estimated that tyre-wear particles contribute roughly 50% of global microplastic emissions. My initial research documented how these compounds can be taken up by lettuce.
I pioneered a method to study cement using a particle accelerator
“When I was a master’s student at Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran, I learnt how to use different types of radiation to study minerals. I focused on how liquid flows through rocks, to better inform oil and gas operations. I thought there should be a way to create microscale images to study the porosity of these samples, using X-rays. We do not have a synchrotron in Iran, a device that would allow me to test my ideas.
Rescuing Kelp Through Science
Plus: Imperiled NYC community composters, tire chemicals in lettuce, and more Our independent, investigative journalism about the U.S. food system is supported by members and donors like you.
Tire Microplastics, and Their Chemicals, Might Be In Your Food
A version of this article originally appeared in The Deep Dish, our members-only newsletter. Become a member today and get the next issue directly in your inbox. In the last few years, vehicle tires have emerged as a shockingly prolific producer of microplastics. It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise. Each year, roughly 3 billion new tires are made, consisting of as well as natural rubber, metal, and other materials. And each year, about 800 million of them become waste.
How I’ve helped to discover nearly 40 species in the Amazon
“In the past, scientists thought it was impossible to find fossils in the Amazon, because the vegetation is dense and there are few exposed rock outcrops to dig into. It’s also a constantly changing landscape: specimens that become exposed on riverbanks can disappear in a rainstorm.
“How Did We Miss This for So Long?” The Link Between Extreme Heat and Preterm Birth
This story was originally published by Grist, Vox, and The 19th as part of the package “Expecting worse: Giving birth on a planet in crisis.” When Rupa Basu was pregnant with her second child, her body temperature felt out of control—particularly as her third trimester began in the summer of 2007. It wasn’t particularly hot in Oakland, California, with high temperatures reaching 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Still, she felt uncomfortably warm even as her colleagues and friends were unbothered.
‘How Did We Miss This for So Long?’: The Link Between Extreme Heat and Preterm Birth
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‘How Did We Miss This for So Long?’: The Link Between Extreme Heat and Preterm Birth
This story was originally published by Grist. This story is part of the series “Expecting Worse: Giving Birth on a Planet in Crisis,” a collaboration between Grist, Vox, and The 19th that investigates how climate change impacts reproductive health — from menstruation to conception to birth. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here. When Rupa Basu was pregnant with her second child, her body temperature felt out of control — particularly as her third trimester began in the summer of 2007.
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