Dan Drollette

About

I cover science, preferably by going into the field with scientists while they do research. It's sort of like what George Plimpton did for sports reporting, but with physics. Or botany, chemistry, biology, astronomy . . . As a writer, you pick up a lot about the process of science by hiking in the jungle with a wildlife biologist. Or tip-toeing between the electromagnets and liquid helium tanks in the tunnel of an $8 billion superconducting supercollider with an experimental physicist. I think a great bonus to this approach is that it lets you learn about cool new stuff directly from the people who spend their lives studying it, on a wide variety of topics. So, I've done everything from snorkeling with a marine biologist while she studied the world's largest sharks, to working next to physicists searching for the Higgs Boson (aka "the God particle"). It's a great way to satisfy the 'experience addict' in me. And the more complex the topic, the better! It makes finding the right phrase sweeter. Whether I'm a writer or editor, freelance or staff, the goal's the same: to communicate in a clear and entertaining way about science, technology and the environment, and show how developments from the remotest parts of the Earth affect us all. For example, a book I wrote describes how one person rescued the world's rarest animals from extinction -- in a place synonymous with destruction -- and how his work could be a model for others. "Gold Rush in the Jungle: The Race to Discover and Defend the Rarest Animals of Vietnam's 'Lost World,' " delves into life in post-war Vietnam, Agent Orange, and why all the big animals are found in the most difficult places, or what biologists call "the border effect."