Science/enviro writer covering climate change, geosci, nature. Arctic specialist. Bylines Smithsonian, NatGeo, Audubon, Eos and more. @ckatz99@threads.net
San Francisco Bay Area
Joined February 2009
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Thanks @Longreads for picking my Rockhoppers story in @SmithsonianMag as one of your Top 5! Love the write-up — you really captured the piece. Go Rockies (the penguin team, that is)!
In our Weekly Top 5:
• Bezos, paper, scissors @theatlantic
• Feast or famine @guardian
• One reason to stay here @newyorker
• Any way you slice it @slate
• The real Winter Olympics @smithsonianmag
longreads.com/2026/02/06/top…
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Great to see the Olympics finally ban PFAS in ski wax! I first reported on this environmental health hazard in 2011: scientificamerican.com/artic… ❄️
grist.org/culture/the-olympi… grist.org/culture/the-olympi…
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Thrilled to have my story called out in today's New York Times! No, it's NOT about Trump... it's about the world’s most badass penguins. See the 2nd part of Frank Bruni's column: "For the Love of Sentences." nytimes.com/2026/02/02/opini… @Longreads @NDGlongreads
From @SmithsonianMag: Rockhopper Penguins’ Athleticism Makes Them the Daredevils of the Animal World. Will a Warming Climate Slow Them Down?
by @ckatz99
The rugged topography of the Falkland Islands show the new challenges they face.
#Longreads #Longform
smithsonianmag.com/science-n…
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Rockhoppers—little balls of muscle with outsize personalities—are the badasses of the penguin world. But these tough birds are facing big challenges today. My story, reported from the Falkland Islands for @SmithsonianMag.
A visit to the Falkland Islands, where the fearless seabirds navigate the rugged topography with tenacious spunk, shows the new challenges they face. bit.ly/4psUbtR
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Southern Rockhoppers are the world’s cutest and most badass #penguins. From the Falkland Islands, I report on the problems they now face—and the pluck that may see them through. My story in @Smithsonianmag
smithsonianmag.com/science-n… @Longreads
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Hidden inside “big, beautiful” bill — opening 1000s of acres at edge of Minnesota’s irreplaceable Boundary Waters wilderness to mining.
publicdomain.media/p/boundar…
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Don’t miss the Weather & Climate Livestream, 5/28-6/1: a 100-hour nonpartisan talkathon about climate science and why it matters for everyone: wcstreamathon.netlify.app Scientists - sign up to speak and help Save America’s Forecasts
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No matter where you live, NSF-supported research has made your life better and safer. Unprecedented cuts to the National Science Foundation now endanger that research: theconversation.com/unpreced… via @ConversationUS
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My latest, for @NoemaMag, looks at the rising rate of California citizens’ propositions ending up in the “initiative graveyard.” In the US’ largest direct democracy, voters face a Nov. slate as significant for what’s not on it as for what is.
Record-breaking numbers of qualified measures are abruptly vanishing from California’s ballot before they can be voted on in this year’s election, Mark Baldassare & @ckatz99 report
noemamag.com/californias-van…
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I am honored to receive this year’s Science Writing Award from the American Society of Journalists and Authors! Thank you @ASJAhq, and congrats to all the winners!
ASJA AWARD WINNER!
Science
Winner: “An Icelandic Town Goes All Out to Save Baby Puffins” by Cheryl Katz in Smithsonian Magazine
Deftly weaving science into a lively narrative, this standout piece showcases the best in science journalism.
smithsonianmag.com/science-n…
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Yikes — global warming may be sparking spontaneous combustion in Arctic! sciencealert.com/mysterious-…
Be on the lookout for this Russian Arctic bathtub! thebarentsobserver.com/en/20…
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“Zombie” wildfires that smoldered over winter from last year’s blazing Canadian fire season have now started reigniting — spewing record emissions for so early in the year, @CopernicusEU reports.
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The world’s greenhouse gas output continues to soar, new @NOAA report shows. CO2 levels averaged a record 419 ppm last year, while methane topped 1922 ppb.
#greenhousegas #globalwarming #climatechange
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In the warming Arctic, tiny Svalbard reindeer are enjoying a “Goldilocks” moment. For now…
My latest, for Smithsonian Magazine:
smithsonianmag.com/science-n… @smithsonianmag
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Flying between Europe and North America this summer? It could be a very rough ride. The skies are growing noticeably bumpier as the atmosphere warms, new study shows, with dangerous “clear-air turbulence” up 55% over the North Atlantic since 1979.
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.…
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Now that the #Covid *emergency* is supposedly over, I’ve just gotten Covid for the 1st time. Tests and stuff are no longer free, insurance covers little if anything — and they cost a lot! Who else is in that boat? (Don’t cough too hard, or we’ll capsize…)
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Iceland’s puffin population has dropped a whopping 70% in past 30 years — nearly double previous estimates. Ocean warming largely to blame. But hunting has also taken a big toll, @ErpurHansen reports. #puffins #seabirds #Iceland #ClimateChange icelandreview.com/news/puffi…
A huge thanks to @ijnr_connect for your support! Your grant made this story possible.
Proud to be honored by @ASJAhq for my @hakaimagazine story on #Inuit youth in #Nunavut blending ancestral knowledge and modern science to preserve their traditions in the face of #ClimateChange.
hakaimagazine.com/features/w… asja.org/what-we-do/awards/c…
