Hannah Waters

Hi there! I'm a science writer and senior associate editor for climate change at Audubon Magazine. In addition to Audubon, my writing on wildlife and environmental issues has been published by Scientific American, Smithsonian, Hakai, Vice Motherboard, and National Geographic.

I'm part biologist and part writer. As a child I escaped from a chaotic household into the Jersey woods, and there picked up a habit of pausing frequently to observe life around me. I went on to study ecology and evolution at Carleton College in Minnesota. While employed as a technician in a Philadelphia epigenetics lab, I frequently grew bored while waiting for results from DNA and RNA tests. So, I started writing about scientific studies on a blog eventually picked up by Scientific American. I soon left the lab and, after receiving training in science journalism during internships at The Scientist and Nature Medicine, launched a new career.

In addition to stints as a freelance writer and fact-checker for Audubon, Hakai, Discover, Quanta, Wirecutter, and other outlets, I spent three years at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History writing educational articles and advising exhibits on ocean science and climate change. I've now worked at the National Audubon Society telling stories about birds and climate change for more than three years.

In 2020, a 14-page section from the Fall 2019 issue of Audubon Magazine—Start Here! Your Guide to Climate Action—was nominated as a finalist in the service category for the National Magazine Awards: https://www.audubon.org/climate-action-guide