I am currently open for new projects during spring and summer 2023!
I am a science fact-checker, researcher, and consultant based in Seattle, WA. I bring a broad knowledge base and a wide comfort level with many branches of science topics to my fact-checking work. I specialize in biological science, especially ethology and conservation, but am comfortable tackling any science topic. I currently bring my fact-checking expertise to clients such as Complexly, Undark, Cancer Today, and Pearson Education, as well as individual non-fiction manuscript authors.
My journey to a career in professional fact-checking occurred entirely on accident. While running a science communication blog that teaches people to interpret animal media online, I realized that accurately answering reader questions required some digging to parse correct, well-sourced information from the viral junk that gets spread around the internet. After a few years I gained a reputation for being diligent and exhaustive in researching my answers. I loved it! The research was always fascinating and it was a joy to produce content that educated, entertained, and corrected misinformation. When a freelance fact-checking position crossed my desk, I applied on a whim - and the rest is history.
I wear quite a few hats in addition to my freelance fact-checking work. Why Animals Do The Thing, the science communication blog that launched my career, is still updated regularly and has just over 61,000 followers. On top of teaching people how to think critically about animal media they encounter online, I also study the structure and function of captive exotic animal businesses within the United States. I produce analytical, educational, and research materials about relevant legislation, litigation, regulation, activism, and the general zeitgeist. My work has impacted both state and federal lobbying efforts, and I have had multiple invited presentations at national and international industry meetings.
In my free time, I continue to undertake research and fact-checks! For fun, this time. My personal fact-checking projects tend to be exhaustive, and sometimes turn into papers submitted for peer-reviewed publication. Recent projects include determining if a viral factoid about killer whales hunting moose is correct (spoiler: nope) and publishing a census of individual big cats at federally regulated facilities in the United States. I like to joke that my main hobby is finding statements that don’t make sense and beating them relentlessly with a stick until answers fall out. I also study the impact legislation, litigation, regulation, and activism impacting exotic animal businesses within the United States.
I have been working with and around animal-related fields since childhood. Before transitioning to freelance fact-checking, I worked as a positive reinforcement-based dog trainer and held volunteer roles in education and animal care at multiple accredited zoos and aquariums. I still stay involved in the animal world on a personal level as well as professionally, even though I no longer work in it directly. I love photographing both domestic and exotic animals; in 2020 I assisted with the launch of an organization that provides support to zoological facilities after natural disasters, and I continue to volunteer for them during acute incidents.
In non-pandemic times, I can commonly be found road-tripping across the continental United States, attending as many conferences as physically possible, and participating in multiple styles of social dance. I’ve traded all of that in lately for teaching myself to cook fancy things and attempting to read my way through my entire (constantly expanding) professional library.
I maintain membership with the Northwest Science Writers Association, the Editorial Freelancer Association, and the Freelancers Union.
Want to know what it’s like to work with me? Jaime Green wrote an article for Catapult about her experience having me fact-check her (fantastic) book The Possibility of Life.