Sarah Zielinski

Managing editor, Science News for Students

Sarah Zielinski is a science writer and editor with more than a decade of experience covering a wide breadth of science, from astronomy to zoology. A former editor at Smithsonian magazine, she has been published in Scientific American, Discover, National Geographic News, Science and Slate. She received the DCSWA 2010 Science News Brief Award, and an honorable mention in 2017. She has a B.A. in biological sciences from Cornell University and an M.A. in journalism through New York University’s Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. She has two cats, Oscar and Saffir.

All Stories by Sarah Zielinski

  1. Science & Society

    Eight stories you missed while on summer vacation

    Catch up on the science you missed, from earthquakes in California to weather in space to ploonets.

  2. Ecosystems

    Tiger sharks feast when migratory birds fall out of the sky

    Migrating land-based birds that fall from the sky as they cross the Gulf of Mexico can end up in the belly of a young tiger shark.

  3. Animals

    Analyze This: Amphibian populations are on the decline

    The chytrid fungus has been wiping out amphibians around the world. Scientists have tallied up the declines and found that the fungus is responsible for dozens of extinctions.

  4. Ecosystems

    Warming pushes lobsters and other species to seek cooler homes

    Plants and animals are moving toward the poles, changing timing of important events and more — all in response to climate change.

  5. Ecosystems

    Photographing wildflowers and other ways you can help fight climate change

    Citizen scientists can help with climate and conservation research by counting birds, taking pictures of flowers and deciphering old weather records.

  6. Animals

    To monitor penguin diet from satellites, look to poop

    Scientists have figured out what foods dominate an Adélie penguin colony’s diet by looking at Landsat imagery. But to do so, they had to start with penguin poop.

  7. Tech

    MythBusters Jr. puts kids in charge of testing myths — for science

    Six young makers and scientists become official MythBusters in this new Science Channel series.

  8. Animals

    How Hannibal the cannibal led to a discovery about cobra diet

    How a snake named Hannibal led to a discovery about cobra cannibalism

  9. Animals

    This penguin prey knows how to fight back

    Scientists attached cameras to gentoo penguins off the Falkland Islands. The video revealed that their tiny prey can sometimes win in a fight.

  10. Science & Society

    Climate change sets people on the move

    As their homelands experience uncomfortable changes to weather, many people have begun migrating to places with a better climate.

  11. Earth

    Explainer: Where fossil fuels come from

    Despite one oil company famously using an Apatosaurus as its logo, oil, gas and coal don’t come from dinosaurs. They do, however, come from a long time ago.

  12. Chemistry

    Explainer: CO2 and other greenhouse gases

    Carbon dioxide is just one of several chemicals that contribute to the greenhouse effect. Nitrous oxide, methane and CFCs are other big contributors.