Carl Zimmer (original) (raw)

Portrait of Carl Zimmer

I write the Origins column for The New York Times and cover news about science.

What I Cover

I report on life — from microbes at the bottom of the sea to high-flying migratory birds to aliens that may dwell on other planets. For my column, I focus on how life today got its start, including our own species. Along with covering basic science, I write stories about how biological discoveries evolve into medical applications, such as editing genes and tending to our microbiome.

My Background

I wrote my first story for The Times in 2004. In 2013 I became a columnist. I began my career in journalism at Discover Magazine, where I rose to senior editor. I went on to write articles for magazines including The Atlantic, Scientific American, Wired and Time.

I also write books about science. My next book is “Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe,” to be published in February 2025. I am an adjunct professor at Yale’s Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, where I teach seminars on writing and biology lecture courses. I have also coauthored a textbook on evolutionary biology, now in its fourth edition.

My books and articles have earned a number of awards, including the National Academies Communication Award and the Stephen Jay Gould Prize, given out by the Society for the Study of Evolution. I have won fellowships from the Johns Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I contributed to the coverage that won The Times the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2021. I am, to my knowledge, the only writer after whom both a species of tapeworm and an asteroid have been named.

I live with my wife in Connecticut, alongside salt marshes rife with snapping turtles.

Journalistic Ethics

I strive to give readers as true a picture of biological research as I can. This means writing about important advances in science, but it also means writing about failures and conflicts. I do not have financial or other ties to companies I may write about in my coverage of biotechnology. I do not go on press junkets, and I do not accept speaking fees from potential subjects of my reporting. Before I talk to people, I generally try to agree on whether our conversation will be “on the record,” “on background,” or some other designation. Whenever I have a question about how I should proceed, I consult the standards editors at The Times and check our Ethical Journalism Handbook.

Contact Me

For speaking inquiries, contact the Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau. Other contacts are below.

Latest


  1. Origins
    How Early Humans Evolved to Eat Starch
    Two new studies found that ancient human ancestors carried a surprising diversity of genes for amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch.
    By Carl Zimmer

  2. Origins
    Why Do Apes Make Gestures?
    Chimps and other apes have been observed making more than 80 meaningful gestures. Three theories have tried to explain why.
    By Carl Zimmer