Popular Science - Venus Rising

This story about new Venus research for Popular Science was featured in the magazine’s Summer 2021 Heat Issue, which won a National Magazine Award for best single-topic magazine issue. This story was shared by aggregators and newsletters like Longreads and The Browser, and it was eventually republished in the anthology Best American Magazine Writing 2022. I think the article demonstrates my knack for storytelling and translating complex science for popular audiences. It also serves as a good example of my skills in developing sources and recognizing trends. Print magazines work with long lead times. Based on my research and conversations with sources, I correctly identified that Venus exploration might see new momentum and attention in 2021. I was able to report my story over several months and time its release with the announcement that NASA would greenlight two new Venus missions. (Admittedly, I got a little lucky that the missions were funded and the story had a happy ending.) I received positive feedback from the researchers whose work I covered. One of the deputy PIs told me in an email: “This is by far the best article anyone has written about Venus and VERITAS. Thank you so much for all your attention to detail, and for getting the story right!”