Amy Maxmen Explained

Amy Maxmen
Thesis Title:Pycnogonid development and the evolution of the arthropod body plan
Thesis Url:http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/230879147
Thesis Year:2006
Alma Mater:Harvard University
Website:Amy Maxmen

Amy Maxmen (born 1978) is an American science journalist who writes about evolution, medicine, science policy and scientists. She was awarded the Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting for her coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, and other awards for her reporting on Ebola and malaria.

Early life and education

Maxmen was an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, where she majored in biology and English. She moved to the East Coast of the United States for graduate studies, where she received a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from Harvard University.[1] Her doctoral research, published in the journal Nature, suggested that sea spiders belong to an early lineage of arthropods and that their claws may be similar to the 'great appendages' seen in fossils dating back to the Cambrian explosion.

Research and career

Maxmen is a popular science journalist. She has been a reporter at Science News and Nature and an editor at Nautilus Quarterly. Her articles have also appeared in publications including the New York Times and National Geographic. She writes about issues related to evolutionary biology, health technology, science policy and medicine. In 2015, Maxmen wrote about the origins of humanity.[2] The article, which featured in Nautilus Quarterly, was part of "The Best American Science and Nature Writing" in 2015.[3] During Ebola virus epidemics, Maxmen reported from Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[4]

Maxmen was part of the 2020 cohort of the Knight Science Journalism fellows at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology[5] and a 2022-2023 press fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.[6] Maxmen has been regularly featured on the Nature podcast, the CoronaPod.[7]

Awards and honors

Selected publications

Science writing

Notes and References

  1. Maxmen . Amy . Pycnogonid development and the evolution of the arthropod body plan . 2006 . 230879147 .
  2. Web site: Maxmen. Amy. 2014-09-25. Digging Through the World's Oldest Graveyard. 2021-09-30. Nautilus.
  3. Book: Skloot . Rebecca . The best American science and nature writing, 2015 . 2015 . Houghton Mifflin Harcourt . 978-0-544-28675-7 . 907292623 .
  4. Web site: AAAS Kavli Winners Reflect on Covid-19 and Public Health Reporting American Association for the Advancement of Science. 2021-09-30. www.aaas.org. en.
  5. Web site: Amy Maxmen. 2021-09-30. Knight Science Journalism @MIT. en-US.
  6. Web site: Amy Maxmen at the Council on Foreign Relations . CFR . 29 December 2022.
  7. Web site: Podcasts Nature. 2021-09-30. www.nature.com. en.
  8. Web site: 2016-09-13 . 2016 Science in Society Journalism Award winners . nasw.org . 2021-10-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210607094908/https://www.nasw.org/article/2016-science-society-journalism-award-winners . 2021-06-07 . live .
  9. News: Maxmen . Amy . How the Fight Against Ebola Tested a Culture's Traditions . https://web.archive.org/web/20210308231136/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/150130-ebola-virus-outbreak-epidemic-sierra-leone-funerals-1 . dead . March 8, 2021 . 29 December 2022 . National Geographic . January 30, 2015.
  10. Web site: Awardees. 2021-09-30. Bricker Award. en-US.
  11. Web site: Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism: 2018 winners . AHCJ . 29 December 2022.
  12. News: Maxmen . Amy . Malaria's ticking time bomb . 29 December 2022 . Nature . July 2018.
  13. Web site: 2020-11-09. 2020 Magazine - Gold. 2021-09-30. AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards. en.
  14. Web site: Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism: 2019 winners . AHCJ . 29 December 2022.
  15. Web site: ASTMH - Communications Award. 2021-09-30. www.astmh.org.
  16. News: Maxmen . Amy . Exclusive: Behind the front lines of the Ebola wars . 29 December 2022 . Nature . September 11, 2019.
  17. Web site: 2021-08-05. Helen Branswell and Amy Maxmen share 2021 Victor Cohn Prize. 2021-09-30. CASW.
  18. Web site: Medical Journalists' Association Awards 2022 . MJA . 29 December 2022.
  19. Web site: 2022 NIHCM Trade Journalism Award Winners . NIHCM . 29 December 2022.
  20. Web site: ASTMH - Communications Award. 2021-09-30. www.astmh.org.
  21. News: Maxmen . Amy . Inequality's deadly toll: A century of research has demonstrated how poverty and discrimination drive disease. Can Covid push science to finally address the issue? . 29 December 2022 . April 18, 2021.