Home / Sarah B. Puschmann

I am a freelance science journalist, science communicator, and translator.

Previously, I have written about the environment for ecoRI News, microbiology for the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, and popular science for Live Science. I have also written for the Smithsonian Insider, Hakai Magazine, and elsewhere.

ecoRI News • 24th October 2019

Providence Chemist Breaks Down Urban Composting

PROVIDENCE — On a recent Thursday afternoon, Mike Bradlee manned his composting stand at the Armory Farmers Market on the city’s West Side. His goal: to spread the word about the virtues of urban composting.

ecoRI News • 7th October 2019

Overfishing of Atlantic Striped Bass Prompts Action

A new assessment has revealed that striped bass off the Atlantic Coast are being depleted faster than they can replenish, and have been since 2013.

ecoRI News • 30th September 2019

Latest Kennedy Plaza Plan Concerns Transit Riders

A new plan to redistribute buses away from Kennedy Plaza and build an underpass under Washington Street between Kennedy Plaza and Burnside Park has raised the concern of local transit riders.

ecoRI News • 23rd September 2019

Solar-Powered Dream Home Saves Money and Lowers Emissions

This house — a 2,400-square-foot ranch powered solely by solar energy — is a dream Bennett, president of a solar panel installation company and a licensed contractor, has been steeping for the past 20 years.

ecoRI News • 26th August 2019

RIDOT Again Plans to Take Money from Bicycle, Pedestrian Projects

Patrick MacDonald’s first memory after the accident was waking up in the intensive-care unit and thinking it was the coffee shop in which he worked. Why was he tied down, he wondered, and why was his vision suffused with green light?

EMBL • 28th May 2018

The scientific origins of Edith Heard

EMBL’s next Director General reflects on the questions that drive her research.

European Molecular Biology Laboratory • 17th January 2018

Pol III enzyme grips DNA and begins reading fast

EMBL researchers uncover how a key enzyme that helps cells make new proteins starts its work.

European Molecular Biology Laboratory • 15th January 2018

Welcome: Matthieu Boulard

New EMBL group leader Matthieu Boulard will work with his team in the Epigenetics and Neurobiology Unit to explore how stable gene silencing works.

European Molecular Biology Laboratory • 8th January 2018

Welcome: Aissam Ikmi

As part of the Developmental Biology Unit, new group leader Aissam Ikmi will lead research into how environmental factors and genetics shape the unusual bodies of the sea anemone, including their ability to regenerate lost tentacles.

European Molecular Biology Laboratory • 22nd December 2017

Molecular biology as a force for peace

In this interview, Soraya de Chadarevian, a science historian at UCLA reflects on how the field of molecular biology emerged in the post-WWII period – driven in part by Sir John Kendrew’s powerful blend of vision and action.

European Molecular Biology Laboratory • 14th December 2017

A physical revolution

This year, two physicists-turned-biologists were given alumni awards for achievements in life sciences from EMBL: Matthias Mann, who was awarded the Lennart Phillipson Award, and Philipp Keller who won the 2017 John Kendrew Award.

European Molecular Biology Laboratory • 13th December 2017

Chromosomes don’t need key protein for all their folds

A crucial architectural protein, cohesin, is necessary for chromosomal folding on the mega-base scale but not large-scale compartmentalisation.

European Molecular Biology Laboratory • 8th December 2017

Alasdair McDowall’s slow road to flash freezing

In the late 1970s, water was the bane of the microscopist’s existence.

European Molecular Biology Laboratory • 7th December 2017

Cells grow pores from shrinking holes

New research shows how pores form in the membrane that surrounds a cell’s nucleus.

European Molecular Biology Laboratory • 30th November 2017

New technique for imaging the life aquatic

New method for 3D imaging microorganisms lends insight into the creatures that inhabit our oceans.

European Molecular Biology Laboratory • 14th November 2017

High-res model of Ebola virus could spark new questions

EMBL researchers create highest resolution 3D model of important structure within Ebola virus.

Queen's Alumni Review • 1st September 2017

Who's driving?

The first time Jeff Dawson showed off his newly built miniature car in action, he got a big reaction from his audience. After all, it wasn’t just a robotic car: it was a robotic car being “driven” by a small flying locust.

Leibniz Institute for New Materials • 23rd June 2017

Paddling Through the Amazon 100 Years After Teddy Roosevelt

Marc Meyers, Humboldt-Award winner and materials scientist originally from Brazil, was inspired to retrace the historical Roosevelt-Rondon-Expedition 100 years later.

Hakai Magazine • 15th May 2017

Tiny Zombie Worms Are the Beavers of the Deep

These deep-sea worms carve habitats out of whale bone.