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Yao-Hua Law on Muck Rack

Yao-Hua Law

Verified
Malaysia
As seen in: Macaranga, CNN, Medium, BBC, Nature, The Atlantic, Al Jazeera English, South China Morning Post, Phys.org, Popular Science, Science Magazine and
Covers:  ecology and evolution, health and medicine, agriculture.
Doesn't Cover: fashion, cars
Environment and science journalist with @macarangatweets. 2021-2023 is all about forests as a Pulitzer RIN Fellow. Once an insect ecologist. Loves durians.

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Yao-Hua Law’s Biography

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Having enjoyed the first 19 years of my life in warm, humid, tropical Malaysia, I flew over to Canada where I spent the next 4 years in the cold but crudely romantic Montreal, completing my B. Sc. (Env. Biology) in McGill University. The East Coast winter was beautiful, but I missed the warmth (and the inconvenience of a snow jacket was too much to bear) and so I hopped over to California, where I completed my Ph.D. (Entomology) in the University of California-Davis, studying cannibalism behavi…

Yao-Hua Law’s Journalist Portfolio

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Improving detection of genomic alterations for targeted therapy with NGS | News for Doctor, Nurse...

Improving detection of genomic alterations for targeted therapy with NGS | News for Doctor, Nurse...

The genomics of cancer patients affect their responses to therapies. Some genomic alterations in cancer genes…

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Stick insects lure ants with fatty knobs

Stick insects lure ants with fatty knobs

Stick insects are masters of camouflage, fooling predators, prey, and even rivals into thinking they're nothi…

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Where would you go to find the most colourful wildlife?

Where would you go to find the most colourful wildlife?

Where would you go to bask in nature's most dazzling colours? Many of us would head for the tropics. Since th…

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Once An Industry Wonder, Now A Silent Killer

Once An Industry Wonder, Now A Silent Killer

Asbestos has long been woven into human history, but we are only just beginning to feel its devastating impac…

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5 pills of advice for health reporters

5 pills of advice for health reporters

By Yao-Hua Law [SEOUL] Journalists have much room to improve on in healthcare reporting. To help journalists …

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Study bats for initiatives to parry rubber estate boom

Study bats for initiatives to parry rubber estate boom

Growing demand for natural rubber will expand rubber estates in the tropics, and scientists are calling for m…

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Articles

10 billion snow crabs have disappeared off the Alaskan coast. Here’s why

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By Jude Coleman, Yao-Hua Law Verified, Saima S. Iqbal
| Science News Verified
From 2018 to 2021, an estimated 10 billion snow crabs disappeared from the eastern Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska, with the population plummeting to record lows in 2021. Researchers had only speculated as to what happened to the missing crabs. Now, a study in the Oct. 20 Science finds that a marine heat wave probably spurred a mass die-off, in part by causing crabs to starve.
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Ants may be the first known insects ensnared in plastic pollution

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By Jake Buehler Verified, Yao-Hua Law Verified
| Science News Verified
Some Canary Island ants have picked up an unwelcome stowaway — plastic waste. Plastic entanglement is commonly associated with aquatic and ocean life. Finding plastic-wrapped ants suggests that humankind’s pernicious polymer pollution affects a wider range of wildlife than previously thought, researchers report September 18 in Ecological Entomology. Scientists noticed the tangled insects while studying 113 ants they’d collected from the volcanic island of La Palma.
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A new DNA leaf swab technique could revolutionize how we monitor biodiversity

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By Darren Incorvaia Verified, Jude Coleman, Yao-Hua Law Verified
| Science News Verified
Just a few swabs from a handful of leaves can say a lot about what animals are roaming in the area. Two dozen leaf swabs from plants in Uganda’s Kibale National Park revealed a stunningly accurate genetic picture of the park’s vertebrate diversity, researchers report in the Aug. 21 Current Biology. The swabs picked up environmental DNA, or eDNA, shed from 52 animals, 30 of which could be identified to the species level.
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Interview

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What was your first job as a journalist?

A news story of male spiders enticing females with gifts to mate.

Have you ever used a typewriter?

Yes!

What tools and software do you use to do your job?

Word, Google, Zotero.

Awards

Asian Scientist Writing Prize

2015 - Science writing

Asia is home to a steadily expanding community of scientists who are driving the region's economic success. To increase public awareness of the region's scientific excellence, Science Centre Singapore and Asian Scientist Magazine have co-organized the Asian Scientist Writing Prize to find the best science writing from Asia. The Prize begins on 2 April, 2015 and the deadline for submissions is 30 June, 2015. Winners will be announced at a prize ceremony on 27 July, 2015 at the Singapore Science Centre, in conjunction with the Singapore Science Festival 2015 and Science@50 celebrations. Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine at: http://www.asianscientist.com/aswp/

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One World Media Award

2020 - Print

Presented by the One World Media Trust, the One World Media Awards "recognise the best media coverage of developing countries, celebrating those whose work brings to light underreported stories. The focus is on stories, topics or issues in, about or related to developing countries." (from Award website) Journalists and filmmakers worldwide are eligible for all 15 categories of the Awards.

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