Katarina Zimmer

Back in New York City

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About Katarina

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Katya Zimmer is a freelance science & data journalist based in New York City. She covers scientific research, environmental issues, and crime. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, The Scientist, VICE News, The New Food Economy, Quartz, NBC News, News Deeply, and other outlets.

She’s covered new findings in animal behavior, neurodegenerative diseases, the toxicology of widely used pesticides, shark poaching, problems in seafood transparency, and labor issues at sea.

Her degree in Biological Sciences sparked her interest in writing about science and environmental issues, but also in the use of computational methods to analyze our world. One of her favorite projects was building a machine learning algorithm for identifying species of bat based on audio recordings for a master’s thesis. She then transitioned into journalism with a master’s degree from Columbia Journalism School, specializing in data journalism.

Katya describes herself as half-German and half-British, having lived in both countries, and is fluent in both languages.

From the Blog

Bats, machine learning & tequila

When you’re having a shot of tequila at your next fiesta, make sure to raise a glass to bats. Yes, bats, because they’re the animal that pollinates the blue agave plant needed to make tequila. The small winged… Read More

Learning about learning – what mouse babies can tell us about the brain

Today I had the opportunity to speak to Jennifer Shiavo, a third-year PhD student and one of the many, many scientists collectively working to piece together one of the biggest puzzles of neuroscience: How the brain learns. It’s… Read More

Bombs, cyanide and trophic cascades: When fishing gets out of hand

“A continuous series of corals, sponges, sea anemones, and other marine productions, of magnificent dimensions, varied forms, and brilliant colors. In and out moved numbers of blue and red and yellow fishes, spotted and banded and striped in… Read More