DC-area writer, mostly science and environment, specialties include climate, ecology, conservation, physics, forests, trees & soil.
Mount Rainier, MD
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The wood-wide web is everywhere: hit TV shows, bestselling books, kids' books, K-12 classrooms. It's probably the most popular idea to emerge from forest science in the last 25 years. But is it real? My investigation for @NYTScience nytimes.com/2022/11/07/scien…
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Way late to the game (been on extended an X/Twitter hiatus) but for those still on this platform, here is my latest freelance story!
Why do some natural habitats get overrun by invasive species while others seem to repel outside threats? One of the most important questions in ecology has a new answer. @GabrielPopkin reports: quantamagazine.org/the-ecosy…
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My latest story
Four computerized residents. Thirty-two solar panels. Walls packed with insulation and a basement full of efficient appliances. This is what it takes to go net-zero.
Learn how the NIST net-zero house has advanced building science: nist.gov/feature-stories/hou…
ALT Photograph of residential home
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Honored to receive my second honorable mention from @sejorg. Thanks to all the editors, photographers, designers and others who contributed to these stories, and congratulations to all the other winners!
2nd Honorable Mention — Outstanding Beat Reporting, Small — #SEJAwards
"Nature As Solution to Our Climate and Biodiversity Woes"
@gabrielpopkin and @evanmbarrientos for @AudubonMag, @AnthropoceneMag, @ScienceMagazine and @YaleE360
sej.org/outstanding-beat-rep…
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Have you ever wondered how time works? Like, how does your phone always know the time? And how do our phones all tell the same time?
To answer these questions, my @NIST colleagues and I created an animation on the secrets of atomic clocks. Check it out!
piped.video/watch?v=nnAL_A-e…
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Every time I read about how sad it is that you can't buy pawpaws in the grocery store, I think about writing a counter-piece about why we should keep the pawpaw weird and wild. Now I've finally written that piece. Enjoy! open.substack.com/pub/gabepo…
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We know global warming caused by excess greenhouse gases is causing all sorts of problems. But how do we measure the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere? My latest piece, with awesome contributions from the talented graphic artists at @NIST nist.gov/how-do-you-measure-…
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Want to know how much carbon is stored in a peat bog? A new model described as "the peatland equivalent of special relativity" might provide the answer! My latest math-meets-ecology story for @QuantaMagazine
How much carbon can a peat bog lock away? A new equation helps quantify the value of these soggy, sensitive lands in reducing climate change and could help protect them from being destroyed. @GabrielPopkin reports: quantamagazine.org/simple-eq…
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If you live in the eastern US, you've probably been told to squash every spotted lanternfly you see. In my latest post for The Nature Beat, I argue that all this squashing of lanternflies is unnecessary and a waste of energy. Give it a read!
gabepopkin.substack.com/p/th…
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Devastated that @wamu885 is shutting down @DCist and laying off most of its reporters, including @JacobFenston, the only person I know covering DC-area environmental news. With @washingtonpost also cutting local coverage, how are we supposed to know what's happening around us?
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These cuts clearly represent a failure of leadership, but I'm afraid they also represent a failure of all of us to adequately support local news coverage, both financially and vocally. It's easy to fault managers for not fixing journalism's business model...
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Question: Does any tree-planting program anywhere - whether it be municipal, restoration, climate/EJ-focused, etc - include two years of followup watering (that is actually done, not just promised) plus structural pruning and maintenance for as long as the trees need it?
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Fascinating, beautiful story about a sustainable forest-based industry. My only skepticism is about the headline. For cork to displace a meaningful amount of plastic, cork oak forests would have to expand hugely. Where else could they grow at that scale? washingtonpost.com/climate-s…
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My latest newsletter post, on a fascinating study showing that our forests in the eastern U.S. are thriving (so far at least) in the era of climate change. Give it a read and please share or subscribe if you feel moved to do so!
open.substack.com/pub/gabepo…
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Fascinating essay exploring our changing relationship with the big, bright natural satellite that passes over our heads each night.
The Moon is special. And we should treat it accordingly.
The controversy over sending cremated human ashes (though they didn’t make it, this time) is just the beginning.
In @nytimes @nytopinion I wrote about what’s coming and why all of us should care:
nytimes.com/2024/01/21/opini…
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Wondering what I've written in 2023? Feel like you might have missed a few stories? Check out my year-end post: open.substack.com/pub/gabepo…
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Honored to be featured by @sejorg. I have to admit I did this interview so long ago I had forgotten about it, but the insights seem to be as relevant and needed as ever. Journalists, let's do a better job of telling the nature-climate story!
Check out the work of journalist @GabrielPopkin on #nature-based #climate solutions and the complexities beyond easy narratives, in this #SEJournalInsideStory Q&A. Plus, five crucial factors to create impactful #journalism.
sej.org/publications/inside-… #SEJournal @sejorg
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Interesting @NYTScience on how American housing policy has influenced bird populations, with one unfortunate oversight: urban ecology is much more than a quarter century old. Ecologists were studying the ecosystems of Berlin as far back as the 1950s. nytimes.com/2023/11/21/scien…
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Just because American ecologists didn’t discover cities into the 1990s doesn’t mean that’s when the field started. Maybe if American ecologists had paid more attention to their European counterparts, they could have begun addressing urban biodiversity disparities sooner.
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I covered the origins of Berlin’s urban ecology movement last year for @ScienceMagazine science.org/content/article/…
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