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 like to explore scientific debates and write longform articles that intertwine narrative and science.

Longform Reporting

combs in motion - abstract

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.

IMAGE CREDITS: William Bunce and Lisa Jahovic for Mosaic; Rex Larsen for Science; Tim Robinson for Undark; Mike Ellis for Mosaic 

Other Features

Can Plastic Waste Be Transformed Into Food for Humans?

UNDARK / MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW / THE ATLANTIC

This article was commissioned and fact-checked by Undark; it was republished by MIT Technology Review and The Atlantic. 


Did the Battle Against 'MisInformation' Go Too Far?

UNDARK / NIEMAN LAB

This article was commissioned and fact-checked by Undark; it was republished by Nieman Lab. 

closeup of fetus

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.

cans of energy drinks on grocery shelves

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.

IMAGE CREDITS: Olga Pankova/Moment via Getty; Edwin Remsberg/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty; Undark/ Base image Westend61 and DigitalVision Vectors via Getty ImagesSteve Allen via Getty; Matthew Horwood via Getty

Essays & Poems

Antonina

This poem was originally published in the literary journal Rivendell and has since been lightly edited.

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 Commons

EDITING

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. 

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. Since then, Sara has 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.    

*Fact-checking note: Sara’s mother was unable to fully verify this childhood memory. In a text to Sara, she stated, “I remember animal noises, but I don’t remember what.”