SARA TALPOS
Science Journalist & Editor
SELECTED WORK
My reporting has taken me from Seoul, South Korea, to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to San Francisco, California, to many places in between. I especially like to write longform articles that intertwine narrative and science.
Longform Reporting
Why It's So Hard to Treat Compulsive Hair Pulling
MOSAIC / THE ATLANTIC / THE GUARDIAN
This article was commissioned and fact-checked by Mosaic; it was republished by The Atlantic and The Guardian.
What the Amish Can Teach the Rest of Us About Modern Medicine
MOSAIC / DIGG
This article was commissioned and fact-checked by Mosaic; it was republished by Digg.
Other Features
Nurturing Controversy: The Real Science Behind the Artificial Womb
UNDARK / THE ATLANTIC
This article was commissioned and fact-checked by Undark; it was republished by The Atlantic.
In the Energy Drink Market, Advertising and Science Collide
UNDARK / THE ATLANTIC
This article was commissioned and fact-checked by Undark; it was republished by The Atlantic and elsewhere.
Industrial Pollution Is in Your Blood. Is That a Form of Battery?
UNDARK
This article was supported by a 2019 Frank Allen Field Reporting Grant from the Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources.
Experts Raise Questions Over 'Scary' Covid Heart Studies
UNDARK
IMAGE CREDITS: Steve Allen via Getty; Matthew Horwood via Getty; Jeffrey Sauger for Undark; Alex Mertz via UnsplashEssays & Poems
This poem was originally published in the literary journal Rivendell and has since been lightly edited.
Lab Notebook: Identifying Unknowns
KENYON REVIEW
To Fill a Room with "Nobody": Poetry and Mitochondria Under the Microscope
BROAD STREET
Nominated for Pushcart Prize
Science Writing As a Literary Art
KENYON REVIEW
Published as a blog post for Kenyon Review in 2016, when I was just starting to shift from creative writing to journalism, and thinking about essential differences — as well as potential overlap — between the two.
IMAGE CREDITS: Harfx2203 via Wikimedia Commons; Thirdman via pexels; Louisa Howard via Wikimedia Commons; Geane Lanes via Wikimedia CommonsEDITING
From 2018 to spring 2023, I was a senior editor at Undark. Each week, I read and discussed pitches with the editorial team, communicated with writers, and edited features. I'm now a contributing editor, dividing my time between editing and reporting.
Undark’s articles have received recognition from the American Society of Magazine Editors, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Society of Environmental Journalists, the National Center on Disability and Journalism, and the National Association of Science Writers, among others.
Journalists interested in contributing to Undark can find information here.
Sara grew up in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, back when local residents could still hear the Detroit Zoo lions roaring on the other side of Ten Mile.* From her earliest days, she loved to read; among her favorite books were The Wizard of Oz, Are You My Mother?, and anything from the Serendipity series.
Sara majored in English at the University of Michigan, where she went on to earn an MFA in creative writing. She spent ten years teaching writing classes, including creative nonfiction, at U-M. During this time, she developed a love of English grammar and punctuation, particularly the em dash and the Oxford comma. Sara also became increasingly interested in science; she enrolled in a local community college to better understand the fundamentals of microbiology, chemistry, and anatomy. Naturally, she started to write about them too.
For her first commissioned journalism assignment, published in 2016, Sara traveled to Tennessee, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to report on Amish and Old Order Mennonite communities and their sometimes fraught relationship with the modern healthcare system. Over the next few years, Sara reported on a wide range of science-related topics, including artificial wombs, energy drinks, concierge medicine, and PFAS contamination in west Michigan. She is now a contributing editor at Undark. Sara lives in Michigan with her husband, children, and beagle.