Amber X. Chen

✨ Fellow feature time! @amberonradio.bsky.social's summer at @smithsonianmag.bsky.social supported by @aspbofficial.bsky.social resulted in some incredible work. Read them all here: www.aaas.org/programs/mas...
#MassMediaFellowship #SciComm

Illinois Wants Climate Education in Schools. Now Teachers Need to Figure Out How to Make It Happen. - Inside Climate News It’s the seventh state to pass a law requiring climate education in public schools. The requirement will kick in next fall.

Starting next fall, public schools in Illinois will be required to teach climate education. Uprooter @amberonradio.bsky.social for @insideclimatenews.org insideclimatenews.org/news/2010202...

After the L.A. Fires, Locals Turn to Native Plants to Help Shield Homes From Flames and Clean Contaminated Soil Scientists and community members in Altadena are testing ways that California species can assist efforts to rebuild

"Scientists and community members in Altadena are testing ways that California species can assist efforts to rebuild" after the L.A. Fires. Uprooter @amberonradio.bsky.social for @smithsonianmag.bsky.social

www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

Illinois Wants Climate Education in Schools. Now Teachers Need to Figure Out How to Make It Happen. - Inside Climate News It’s the seventh state to pass a law requiring climate education in public schools. The requirement will kick in next fall.

In Illinois, educators and advocates are working together to bring comprehensive, community-based climate education to classrooms.

Read more in my first piece for
@insideclimatenews.org
insideclimatenews.org/news/2010202...

After the L.A. Fires, Locals Turn to Native Plants to Help Shield Homes From Flames and Clean Contaminated Soil Scientists and community members in Altadena are testing ways that California species can assist efforts to rebuild

Another great dispatch here from @aaasmassmedia.bsky.social fellow @amberonradio.bsky.social, on how native species can help Altadena recover after the fires. www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

A.I. Is on the Rise, and So Is the Environmental Impact of the Data Centers That Drive It The demand for data centers is growing faster than our ability to mitigate their skyrocketing economic and environmental costs

What are the environmental impacts of data centers? @amberonradio.bsky.social answers that question as A.I. increases the demand for more and more of them. @aaasmassmedia.bsky.social www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

Can You Really ‘Rot’ Your Brain by Scrolling Too Much on Your Smartphone? While that message has been spread on social media, researchers are just beginning to understand how the devices affect the mind

Can scrolling on your mobile phone really cause "brain rot"? @amberonradio.bsky.social digs into the science in this in-depth feature. www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu... @aaasmassmedia.bsky.social

And that's a wrap on the 2025 #MassMediaFellows and #MMF50th! 🎉 The last 10 weeks have flown by and the fellows will soon be taking flight after spending two days back in DC with panels and presentations on what could be next for them with their newly gained #SciComm skills!

Congratulations to our contributors @alexmusicwrites.bsky.social @amberonradio.bsky.social for completing the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship!

This New Bionic Knee Is Changing the Game for Lower Leg Amputees Scientists have developed a prosthesis that is directly integrated with muscle and bone in order to improve movement

Scientists at MIT have created a prothesis that is directly integrated with muscle and bone. @amberonradio.bsky.social reports on the innovation. @aaasmassmedia.bsky.social www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

This New Bionic Knee Is Changing the Game for Lower Leg Amputees Scientists have developed a prosthesis that is directly integrated with muscle and bone in order to improve movement

Got to cover some really cool prosthetic technology coming out of MIT for @smithsonianmag.bsky.social www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

Were Humans in Thailand Getting High Off Betel Nuts 4,000 Years Ago? Scientists believe they have found the earliest biochemical evidence of people chewing the popular psychoactive plant

In my latest feature for @smithsonianmag.bsky.social, I spoke to archaeologists on a new study that suggests that people in Southeast Asia have been chewing the psychoactive betel nut for thousands of years.
@aaasmassmedia.bsky.social
www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

Were Humans in Thailand Getting High Off Betel Nuts 4,000 Years Ago? Scientists believe they have found the earliest biochemical evidence of people chewing the popular psychoactive plant

People from South Asia to the Pacific Islands munch on betel nut to get high. @amberonradio.bsky.social reports on a new study that suggests they've been doing so for several thousand years. www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu... @aaasmassmedia.bsky.social

As Interest in Deep-Sea Mining Grows, Scientists Raise Alarms About the Possible Ecological Consequences Gathering minerals such as nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium from the seabed could affect everything from sponges to whales. The long-term effects of these extractions remain uncertain

As interest in Deep Sea Mining grows, scientists raise alarms about the potential ecological consequences, which could affect everything from sponges to whales.

The long-term impact of these extractions remains uncertain.

www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

As Interest in Deep-Sea Mining Grows, Scientists Raise Alarms About the Possible Ecological Consequences Gathering minerals such as nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium from the seabed could affect everything from sponges to whales. The long-term effects of these extractions remain uncertain

For @smithsonianmag.bsky.social, I wrote about the environmental harms of deep-sea mining.

Companies looking to mine the deep-sea claim that the practice is sustainable, while its minerals are needed to build more renewable technologies. Scientists disagree.
www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

As Interest in Deep-Sea Mining Grows, Scientists Raise Alarms About the Possible Ecological Consequences Gathering minerals such as nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium from the seabed could affect everything from sponges to whales. The long-term effects of these extractions remain uncertain

How will deep-sea mining affect the environment? @amberonradio.bsky.social reports in her first feature for @smithsonianmag.bsky.social. Another great story by a @aaasmassmedia.bsky.social fellow. www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

📣 Congratulations, @amberonradio.bsky.social, on your 2025 @aaas.org #MassMediaFellows selection!👏

#ICMYI #SciComm

Collage of fellows from the Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellowship by AAAS, celebrating its 50th anniversary. Includes Welcome to the new class of 2025 banner.

Meet the 2025 Class of Mass Media Fellows! Our 50th anniversary class includes 17 early career collegiate scientists who will use their scientific knowledge & communication skills to report news to the general public at outlets nationwide. Learn more about the Fellows: www.aaas.org/page/current...

Headshots of the 2025 AAAS Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellows

This news is hot off the press! We are so excited to present the 2025 #MassMediaFellows! These 17 scientists will spend their summer writing, reporting, and working on their #SciComm skills in news outlets across the country! Learn more about the #MMF50th class here: www.aaas.org/news/aaas-ma...

This week, the #SEJSpotlight is on @amberonradio.bsky.social, a freelance journalist, writing fellow at The Nation and student at UC Berkeley, focusing on environmental justice and the intersection of climate change and politics. Learn more and connect with Amber: www.sej.org/sejspotlight...

Hi new followers! I'm the Politics Director @teenvogue.bsky.social, and 1/2 of our small but mighty politics team. We run reporting, opeds + explainers/guides by + for young people navigating these ~chaotic~ times.

We cover education, labor, US history + government, social justice advocacy + more.

Altadena residents question why evacuation warnings came so late For many, warning of the approaching firestorm came either very late or not at all. The county is now investigating.

In my latest for @lapublicpress.bsky.social, I spoke to and gathered testimony from over 30 Altadena residents — many of whom shared with me that they never received Wireless Emergency Alerts from LA County ordering them to evacuate. lapublicpress.org/2025/01/alta...

Your School Burned to the Ground. What Happens Now? A growing number of students are losing their schools to environmental disasters.

For @teenvogue.bsky.social, I spoke to students who have lost homes and schools to the LA fires about the future of their education.

~ 20 schools have been severely damaged or completely leveled by the Eaton and Palisades fires. www.teenvogue.com/story/school...

“I lost pretty much all of my belongings, so it’ll be difficult to attend school," Dayton Johansen, a junior, tells
@amberonradio.bsky.social

He + his friend rushed back to Pasadena to assist Eaton Fire Relief, a youth-led coalition working to clear burned houses www.teenvogue.com/story/school...

Black Sci-Fi Writer Octavia Butler Predicted the Dystopia of the LA Fires by Studying History This week, her hometown of Pasadena has seen at least 5 killed and 5 schools burned to ash.

@leximcmenamin.bsky.social wrote this beautiful commentary on Octavia Butler + the LA fires: www.teenvogue.com/story/la-fir...

+ @amberonradio.bsky.social reported out a piece on what happens when your school burns down: www.teenvogue.com/story/school...

Clothes, toiletries – and a free stylist: the LA teen creating a space for peers amid the fires Avery Colvert created Altadena Girls, an organization now with celebrities sending products, eateries reaching out to cater and a surplus of volunteers

For @theguardian.com, I visited Altadena Girls — a new organization focused on fire relief for teen girls.

“I want these girls to feel confident in themselves again and to feel normalcy in a time where nothing else is normal for them."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The “Save Chinatown” Coalition Goes on the Defensive in Philadelphia The construction of a new basketball arena threatens to fill the neighborhood with more traffic and raise rents.

For @thenation.com, I co-wrote a piece on the citywide coalition organizing to stop a new 76ers arena from being built in Philadelphia Chinatown.
www.thenation.com/article/acti...

The election is over, but the fight for Black America continues. At Capital B, we’re here to tell the stories that matter most to our communities and we can’t do it without you. Support us today: capitalbnews.fundjournalism.org/donate/?camp...

Looking for climate and environmental journalists of color to follow? You’re in luck.

The Uproot Project (@uprootproject.bsky.social), which I am a board member of, has *the* starter pack for you!!

(h/t to @prosaaquino.bsky.social for putting this together) go.bsky.app/TX5sFaj

The US Military Has Polluted Guam for Decades. This Year, It Could Get Even Worse. The relocation of 5,000 U.S. Marines to Guam could soon exacerbate its military-rooted environmental catastrophe.

"The relocation of 5,000 U.S. Marines to Guam could soon exacerbate its military-rooted environmental catastrophe." Uprooter Amber X. Chen for Truthout buff.ly/3X2rbNp