Bethany Brookshire was a longtime staff writer at Science News Explores and is the author of the book Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains. She has a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in philosophy from The College of William and Mary, and a Ph.D. in physiology and pharmacology from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She was a 2019-2020 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT, the winner of the Society for Neuroscience Next Generation Award and the Three Quarks Daily Science Writing Award, among others.

All Stories by Bethany Brookshire

  1. Earth

    Stores and malls buy into ponds and rain gardens for flood control

    An extra bonus: These rainy-day ponds clean up that dirty water running off parking lots.

  2. Environment

    Warming cities may see more rain — and frequent flooding

    Scientists are seeking to understand why and how to mop up excess precipitation.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Scientists Say: Nicotine

    Nicotine is an addictive substance found in tobacco plants. It's what makes it so difficult to quit smoking or vaping.

  4. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Bond

    In chemistry, this attachment between atoms forms because of the power of attraction. Chemical bonds make up every solid object on Earth.

  5. Brain

    Let’s learn about touch

    Most senses are concentrated around your head. But touch all over your body, and you need every inch.

  6. Agriculture

    New technologies might help keep drought-prone farms green

    After learning how much damage drought can do to crops, two teens designed ways to detect a thirsty plant and make sure it gets enough water.

  7. Environment

    Local glacier could be gone in a decade, young scientist finds

    A teen calculated the volume of a glacier by drilling into it with jets of steam — then used that to estimate how long before all its ice will be gone.

  8. Plants

    Scientists Say: Pollen

    Pollen is a mass of tiny reproductive cells. These grains combine with egg cells to form seeds — but on the way, they can make some people miserable.

  9. Computing

    Will this smartphone app become your exercise coach?

    When one teen couldn’t go to the gym, she invented an app to bring her gymnastics coach to her home. She succeeded and won a major award for it.

  10. Chemistry

    Scientists Say: Metal

    Metals are substances that can be elements, alloys or compounds. They all conduct heat and electricity and can be formed into different shapes.

  11. Life

    Scientists Say: Genus

    A genus is a group of closely related species. It’s the first part of the two-part system called binomial nomenclature, used to name living things.

  12. Life

    Let’s learn about dogs

    From learning the names of their toys to sniffing out viruses in human sweat, dogs are far more than household pets.