From Psychedelics to Wildlife Crime: Reporting at the Frontiers of Science and Society
Wednesday, November 5, 2025 | 4:30 – 6 p.m. | Gannett Auditorium (Weimer 1064)
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Rachel Nuwer
Rachel Nuwer is an award-winning freelance science journalist and author. She regularly contributes to The New York Times, Scientific American, Nature and more. She covers just about anything science-oriented except space, but her specialties are conservation, ecology and psychedelic drugs. Her first book, Poached: Inside the Dark World of Wildlife Trafficking, took her to a dozen countries to investigate the illegal trade of ivory, rhino horn, tiger bone, pangolin scales and more. Her latest book, I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World, delves into the history, science, politics, culture and therapeutic use of MDMA. Rachel holds masters degrees in ecology and science journalism, and is an adjunct professor at New York University’s Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. She lives in Brooklyn with a computer programmer and a bonded pair of rabbits.
The University of Florida’s Science Journalist in Residence Program (SJR) brings leading science writers to the UF campus in Gainesville, Florida, to interact with faculty and students. Visiting science journalists give public talks, speak in classes and meet with faculty and students with shared interests across the university. Based in the College of Journalism and Communications, the program has supported visiting science journalists with a wide range of interests and specializations — from sports science to the science of dogs, and from experts in weather science to social media and technology to COVID-19.
