"Genes Offer New Clues in Old Debate on Species' Origins" - This is a recent article that I wrote for the Times' Darwin issue. Some say that Darwin, despite naming his famous book On the Origin of Species, never really addressed how species arise. In the article I look at that question and new findings on how species originate.

"To Catch a Snake, Grab the End that Bites" - The most fun I ever had on assignment while completely terrified.

"Angangueo Journal: In Forest, Odor of Dead Monarchs" - After the biggest known die-off of monarch butterflies in their overwintering grounds in Mexico, I went, with family in tow (Merrill took photographs, kids marvelled at butterflies and Mexico, in general) to see the devastation first-hand. Had to hand out bribes and yell at various people in terrible Spanish to actually get into areas where dead butterflies stood in sickening piles.

"Of Drunken Elephants, Tipsy Fish and Scotch with a Twist" - I enjoy writing quirky stories like this one. Other particuarly odd stories include one that pondered why women have two breasts as opposed to some other number, and how the Darwin-fish car emblem evolved. "Loyal to Its Roots" is a more recent story on how plants appear to be able to detect which plants are close kin of theirs and other surprising sensory capabilities.

"Ernst Mayr: Pioneer of Tracing Geography's Role in the Origin of Species" - One of the real honors of writing for the newspaper is being able to record the important work of some really signiicant figures in biology. This is the obituary I wrote for Ernst Mayr, probably the most influential evolutionary biologist ever, aside from Darwin. I also had the honor of writing Stephen Jay Gould's obituary, but much too early.

"Redesigning Nature: A special report; Altered Salmon Leading Way to Dinner Plates, but Rules Lag" - This was part of the first long-term investigative project I ever did for the paper. I spent months wrangling to get and then poring over government documents, regulatory paperwork and industry studies, to see what really had been established - and it was shockingly little - about the potential ecological risks from biotech organisms being released.

"Ominous Findings on Seattle Quake Risk" - This story ran just a month before the biggest earthquake in Washington state history. The article's apparent prescience left the main newsroom reporters wondering what kind of access the science desk had and to what powerfully, deep sources.