Rachel Nuwer

Rachel Nuwer is an award-winning science journalist who regularly contributes to the New York Times, Scientific American, Nature andAudubon, among others. She is the author of Poached: Inside the Dark World of Wildlife Trafficking and I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World. She lives in New York.

Consider the Parasite

Beyond the ick factor, freeloading creatures are essential—and some species are in trouble

By Rachel Nuwer June 23, 2025

In this story: animals, Gee Whiz

Close-up photo of a trypanorhynch tapeworm with its four tentacles

How to Make the Endangered Species Act Last the Next 50 Years

What if saving endangered species meant giving up on some of them?

By Rachel Nuwer December 12, 2023

In this story: endangered species, climate change

On a misty day, a polar bear and seagulls stand on a sandpit next to a barge that has "Sam M Taalak Barrow Alaska" painted on it.

Diving Beetles' Sexual Choices: Coercion or Promiscuity

A colorful beetle with a dizzying sex life

By Rachel Nuwer September 27, 2022

In this story: animal rights

Colorful photo of the underside of a Colorful photo of the underside of a diving beetle with many suction cups. with many suction cups.

Heeding the Pandemic’s Warnings

The trade in legal wildlife is a ticking time bomb

By Rachel Nuwer October 30, 2021

In this story: wildlife, animals, international, science

Beautiful pinky-purple pangolin with overlapping scales and a curved tail against a dark background.

Nature Is Returning

The pandemic gives us a chance to reset our relationship with the animal world

By Rachel Nuwer October 28, 2020

In this story: coronavirus, wildlife

Close-up of a rat on it hind feet.

Meet Eco-Hip-Hop's Nate & Hila

They're at the vanguard of the movement

By Rachel Nuwer June 27, 2020

In this story: music

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Green Beats and Environmentally Conscious Rhymes

Inside the burgeoning eco-hip-hop genre

By Rachel Nuwer June 27, 2020

In this story: music

Nate and Hila perform "Plant Sex" at the House of Yes in New York. They are each sitting in a huge flower while people in insect costumes dance below.

China Could End the Global Trade in Wildlife

The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the dangers of the wildlife trade

By Rachel Nuwer March 27, 2020

In this story: wildlife, coronavirus

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Arrest of Key Ivory and Rhino Horn Trafficker Signals a Game Change

Conservationists, law enforcement team up to infiltrate wildlife crime syndicates

By Rachel Nuwer June 25, 2019

In this story: wildlife

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The Endangered Species Act Is Still America's Most Radical Law

A portrait gallery of creatures we've saved from extinction

By Rachel Nuwer February 28, 2019

In this story: endangered species

American bald eagle